Sports

Kane’s natural hat trick leads Oilers to comeback win

Published

12 months ago

November 16, 2023

Harry Miller

Evander Kane celebrates a goal at the Oilers bench. Photo by Codie McLachlan /Getty Images

Kraken 3, Oilers 4 (OT)

If the Edmonton Oilers were writing a script for the first 50+ minutes at Rogers Place on Wednesday, surely the working title would have been “How Not to Win a Hockey Game”. The Oilers made a steady stream of mistakes both with and without the puck and beat a steady path to the penalty box in the process. As the clock wound down into the single digits, the visiting Seattle Kraken held a 3-1 lead that felt like (and easily could have been) 5- or 6-1. Thankfully the combination of Stu Skinner, a splendid penalty kill unit, and some old-fashioned puck luck around the Edmonton net kept the score within range.

Then Evander Kane went to work. Out of the blue he scored on a deflection and the Oilers were back in it at 3-2. Then after a couple of near misses at both ends, Kane struck a second time with his goalie on the bench to tie it up in the final minute of regulation. And wouldn’t you know, 3 minutes into overtime, it was Kane again playing the hero, completing the natural hat trick on a splendid three-way passing play with Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard to send the sellout crowd home happy.

The stunning comeback was Edmonton’s third win in a row and another important step in climbing out of the 2-9-1 hole in which they started the season. At 5-9-1 they still have a long ways to go, but at least there appears to be a way forward.

Seattle held a 36-31 edge on the shot clock and a 21-14 advantage in high danger shots, while our own analysis at the Cult of Hockey had the visitors leading 12-11 in Grade A shots and 8-5 in the subset of 5-alarm chances (running count). The Oilers had just 38% of the expected goals but, crucially, 57% of the actual goals, a pleasant change after seeing too many games from the early season go the other way. This is what the figure filberts call “regression to the mean” and we’ve finally started to see some of it.

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 6. He had a wretched first 40 minutes, starting on his first shift with a horrible turnover to Oliver Bjorkstrand for a clear 5-alarm chance. That was the first of several turnovers behind his own blueline. Earned an unlikely assist on Edmonton’s first goal when he blocked a shot that bounced straight to Draisaitl and then on to McDavid on the counterattack. Lost a strength battle to 153-pound Kailer Yamamoto in the corner on the second Seattle goal, then allowed a pass on the 3-1. Drilled Draisaitl with a point shot. But bounced back hard thereafter. Set up Kane’s first goal with a good move up the side boards and a bullet pass that the big winger tipped home. Delivered another splendid point shot that RNH tipped just wide. Made a fine play on the overtime winner with a fake shot that froze a defender before slipping a pass to Hyman in the corner. In the end he “outscored his mistakes” with a boxcar line of 0-3-3, +2. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +3/-5; Special Teams 0.

#5 Cody Ceci, 6. Active on the attack, and even jumped in on a first-period breakaway that he couldn’t bury. His biggest moment might have been an emergency defensive play that chipped the puck away from what appeared a certain goal. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST 0.

#10 Derek Ryan, 5. Played a quiet 11 minutes where his greatest contribution by far was 3½ clean minutes on the penalty kill, most of any Edmonton forward. He and the Oilers dodged a mighty bullet when he took an uncharacteristic penalty on that unit 200 feet from his own net early in the third, only to have it cancelled when Bjorkstrand retaliated. A long 3-on-5 at that point might well have been decisive. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 5. Very active game but not a particularly steady one. 4 shots, 3 blocks, 2 takeaways, 1 giveaway, 1 hit and 1 assist in 22:37 of action. Was among those beaten on both the second and third Kraken goals, failing to suppress the goal scorer in each case, and was especially lost at sea on the latter of those. Earned credit for a crucial won battle to maintain zone possession on the 3-2. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0.

#18 Zach Hyman, 6. Fairly quiet game with 2 shots, 2 blocks and 2 minutes for “low-sticking” on a ducking Yanni Gourde. Had a bad turnover that led to a 2-on-1, but Ceci snuffed out the danger. Came up big in OT with a strong shift that culminated with a splendid cross-seam pass to Kane for the GWG. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0.

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#21 Adam Erne, 2. Played just 7:18 on a fourth line that struggled to move the puck north, and when it did, went offside on the zone entry. Brought some physical play with a couple of hits, but crossed the line and took a seriously bad penalty with just 9 minutes left when he elbowed Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the chops, and was lucky to get away with just a minor. Expect Department of Player Safety to come calling tomorrow. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 6. Oilers ice-time leader in both all-situations (25:46) and on the penalty kill (4:03). Jumped into the rush for a great chance that was thwarted by a fine defensive play by Justin Schultz of all people. But did his best work defensively with 5 shot blocks, 3 hits, and some splendid penalty killing. Made a game saving stop of Jaden Schwartz’s attempt at the empty net, then delivered a fine 2-way shift in overtime. GAS: ES +3/-2; ST +0/-1.

#27 Brett Kulak, 4. Played just 12 minutes on a night the third pairing had its problems, getting badly outshot in the process. Among those beaten on the first Seattle goal. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 8. Strong performance included a pair of primary assists, sending McDavid in alone for the 1-0, and making a superb one-touch pass to Kane on the doorstep on the 3-3. Played 23 minutes and led the team in both shot attempts (9) and shots on goal (5). Just 12/28=43% on the faceoff dot, though he won the key one in the seconds before the Oil connected for the tying goal. GAS: +3/-1; ST +1/-0.

#37 Warren Foegele, 4. Rare off-night for the worker bee forward, whose line was significantly outshot and outscored 0-2. Was in the neighbourhood but unable to contain the goal scorer on the 3-1. 0 shot attempts or hits. Did chip in 2:10 on the PK. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST 0.

#57 James Hamblin, 3. Centred an ineffective fourth line that was outshot 1-6 and outscored 0-1 during his 6:44. 0 shot attempts or hits. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#62 Raphael Lavoie, 3. Had a tough time with the puck inside his own blueline, with one malfuction at the junction setting the stage for a great Seattle chance that somehow failed when a snakebitten Brandon Tanev missed the wide open net. Just 1 shot attempt, a deflection that sailed over the crossbar, in a team-low 5:52. Oilers were outshot 0-7 during that time and outscored 0-1. Brought a little physicality with 3 hits. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.

#71 Ryan McLeod, 5. On the wrong side of his man on the 1-1. Didn’t get a lot done at even-strength, but did help out on the PK with 3¼ minutes of solid play. 6/12=50% on the dot in 15 minutes of action.

#73 Vincent Desharnais, 4. His pairing with Kulak spent most of its time in the Edmonton end with poor shot shares. While Desharnais wasn’t burned on any Grade A Shots, he came within an inch of the all-time blooper reel when his attempt to kill time during a delayed penalty very nearly resulted in an own-goal. Thankfully, it wound up on the “good” side of the goal post. No official hits but he delivered plenty of grease in defending the net front. Saved his night with some standout penalty killing in nearly 4 minutes of action. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#74 Stu Skinner, 7. A third consecutive solid game from the young stopper, who appears to be seizing the #1 role in November for the second season in a row. Made a stellar save off Bjorkstrand just a minute in. Gave up all 3 goals in a tough middle frame that saw numerous breakdowns, 2 that took favourable bounces off of shin pads and the third by a man left all alone in front with time to make a move. A couple of greasy rebounds along the way. Did his part on the penalty kill. His full-stretch glove grab of Eeli Tolvanen’s labelled wrister with 2 minutes left in regulation was a game saver. 36 shots, 33 saves, .917 save percentage.

#89 Sam Gagner, 3. A difficult game for the vet, whose only numbers on the Event Summary were 2 giveaways. Among those beaten on the 2-1 goal. Spoiled a promising rush by mistiming the zone entry and causing an offside. Did have one fine moment with a splendid pass to Kane in the blue paint in the dying seconds of the first period, otherwise had a tough slog in 13½ minutes. GAS: ES +1/-1, ST 0.

#91 Evander Kane, 9. Smoked Vince Dunn with a big hit in the early going. He was up and down for 40 minutes, but rose to the occasion in a major way down the stretch. Scored the game’s final 3 goals in a span of just 9½ minutes to snatch victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat. Netted all of them by going to the net front with his stick on the ice. Tipped home Bouchard’s hard pass with 6 minutes left to give Oilers life. Dragged them all the way back by controlling, then burying Draisaitl’s areial pass into the blue paint with just 45 ticks on the clock. Then put the game away with a fabulous shift in overtime, winning first the faceoff and then 2 subsequent puck battles to keep the heat on, finally getting open for Hyman’s pass and ripping it upstairs for the natural hat trick that essentially stole 2 standings points for the Oil. His sixth hat trick in just 126 games as an Oiler including playoffs. GAS: +4/-1.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Played a solid 2-way game whose lone downbeat was yet another minor penalty, his eighth of the young season. But lots of good, including a drawn penalty the other way. Excellent on the penalty kill. Assisted on the tying goal after first providing winger support on the all-important faceoff win. Was 4/5=80% on the dot himself, 6 shots attempts, 3 on net, though his best chance went right through the crease. Played 19½ minutes in all situations, flipping between centre and the wing throughout the game. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0.

#97 Connor McDavid, 7. Scored a nifty breakaway goal from a Draisaitl feed to open the scoring. Fired 4 shots on net, landed a couple of hits. His hands aren’t all there just yet, but his 8/11=73% on the faceoff dot are a very encouraging sign after recent struggles in that discipline. Was flying on jet fuel during his lone overtime shift. GAS: ES +5/-1; ST 0.

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

___

AP cricket:

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Sports

Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Sports

Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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