CALGARY – Sure enough, the Oilers got a chance to retaliate with a stick flip of their own.
It came with 24 seconds left in the second period, a split-second before the first goalie versus goalie fight in the Battle of Alberta’s history.
Yep, you read that right.
Despite all the bad blood flowing for decades between north and south of this great province, it took a matchup between goalies who switched sides this summer to come to blows.
With Cam Talbot throwing blockers into the face of Alex Chiasson as part of an old-school melee in the Flames end, Mike Smith skated to centre ice with hopes of attracting a dance partner.
As Matthew Tkachuk and Ethan Bear traded punches and several others wrestled one another to the ice, Talbot obliged, prompting Smith to first toss his stick, much like David Rittich did to punctuate his shootout triumph Wednesday. His mask and gloves followed.
“Old fashioned hockey right there,”said Smith, one of the few goalies to earn the career Gordie Howe hat trick.
“Obviously Talbot gets in there and mixes up a little bit, throws some blockers. I didn’t really like that. I was just seeing what was happening there. He obliged.”
Sporting some swelling on his forehead, Talbot said he regretted being ejected, forcing Rittich to return.
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“I didn’t like the fact (Sam Gagner) comes in and spears me when I’m on my back after the whistle,” said Talbot of his rationale for engaging in his first NHL fight.
“It kind of sets you off. I reacted accordingly. Probably not the smartest reaction on my part. It was a highly emotional game and my emotions got the best of me.”
If there was ever any doubt Rittich’s inadvertent Joey Bautista impression rubbed the Oilers the wrong way Wednesday, their anger was on display as they chirped Rittich while he skated to the bench after being pulled earlier.
Smith and others confirmed it afterwards.
“I’m not going to start a media circus here – I was fortunate enough to play with Ritter so I have a relationship with him,” said Smith.
“He’s a fiery guy, but sometimes it goes a little too far. I think sometimes what goes around comes around.”
Added Leon Draisaitl, “It’s just disrespectful. We hit two posts and he’s celebrating like they just won the Stanley Cup. I get it. They’re excited. Good for them. They won the game in the shootout. But show some respect.”
The goalie fight was simply another product of intense hatred between two rivals, fuelled by a scrum started with Gagner poking a puck that was underneath Talbot into the net. As the goal was waved off, Mark Giordano jumped Gagner and all hell broke loose.
Talbot went after former Flame Alex Chiasson, Andrew Mangiapane tackled Chiasson and Smith awaited the main event.
Once Talbot got to centre, the six-foot-four, 196-pound netminder was greeted with a series of furious rights by the six-foot-five Smith who outweighs Talbot by 25 pounds.
As the officials skated through a tangled mess of lumber, gloves and helmets, they decided to send both teams to the dressing rooms to sort out the issues.
When they returned from the intermission for the final 24 seconds of the second period, both goalies had been ejected. Unfortunately from there, sanity prevailed, with no sign of Milan Lucic for the fourth time in the battle.
A discussion for another day.
“You’re trying to get at something there and I’m not going there,” said Flames coach Geoff Ward when asked if he’d seen enough of Lucic the last three games against Edmonton.
“I have a long history with that player and he’s been good for us this year. I’m not going there.”
The media will on Monday, when the man acquired to be a nuclear deterrent will get his say on how he saw things unfold.
In a game the nation must have watched in awe, there were 75 shots, 11 goals, four goalies, three fights and two fans in turtle suits as part of an 8-3 win for the Oilers – their first in four provincial matchups this year.
The goalie grappling represented the NHL’s first all-netminder fight since Braden Holtby and Ray Emery went at it in 2013.
When reached in Arizona during the game, Grant Fuhr said he was shocked to hear no other goalie tandem got at each other during the Battle before.
“I know, and there have been some ugly games,” said Fuhr, who was asked if he recalled fighting anyone as an Oiler or Flame.
“No, but four or five bench clearing brawls.”
In a game the Oilers led 2-0 just 65 seconds in, the Flames played catch up all night.
Buddy Robinson’s first as a Flame ignited a raucous Saturday night crowd filled with Oilers faithful, only to have Connor McDavid score back-to-back goals, ending Rittich’s night… For the time being.
Between those two goals, Robinson tried turning the tide by fighting Jujhar Khaira, to no avail.
Talbot made several huge stops immediately to help the lift the Flames claw back to with one following goals by Tkachuk and Elias Lindhom. Alas, a minute later Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored and the route was on.
The Oilers controlled play most of the evening, outshooting the hosts by a whopping 49-26, to give the Oilers a feeling of superiority they earned.
They deserved the win, and with it, sole possession of second place in the Pacific, ahead of the fourth-place Flames by two.
In Calgary, the talking point will be Lucic, and the goalie fight.
“I think that’s obviously just the cherry on top a little bit,” said Draisaitl.
“Respect to both goalies for doing that. Obviously Smitty’s a tough customer out there. That was an entertaining game.”
They next meet on the final game of the season, in Calgary Apr. 4.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
