TAMPA, Fla. — Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat scored on the power play and Yanni Gourde added a short-handed goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 Saturday to snap a season-high four-game losing streak.
Alex Killorn scored his 24th goal of the season to help the Lightning win for the first time since an 11-game winning streak. Andrei Vasilevskiy ended a three-game losing streak with 18 saves.
“We knew coming into this game that we wanted to have a great effort and win that game,” Gourde said. “It felt really good to come out with the `W’ tonight.”
The victory came soon after the Lightning announced team captain Steven Stamkos will undergo surgery for a core muscle injury and was expected to miss the rest of the regular season and potentially the first round of the playoffs. Tampa Bay is second in the Atlantic Division and the playoffs are scheduled to begin the week of April 6.
Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary, which had a three-game point streak come to an end. David Rittich finished with 30 saves.
“Overall we didn’t play 60 good minutes to win a game against one of the best in the league,” Lindholm said. “We had some moments, a couple of minutes here and there, but it wasn’t good enough.’
Killorn made it 4-2, taking a feed from Blake Coleman to come in alone from the circles in and pull the puck to his backhand and tuck a shot inside the post at 14:57 of the second period.
“Coleman finds me and I just take it to the net and make a play,” Killorn said. “I think they were in the middle of a change so I got some open space there.”
Tampa Bay opened the scoring as Johnson sat in the middle slot to tip Mikhail Sergachev’s shot past Rittich at 13:52 for Tampa Bay’s first power play goal at home since Jan. 7 against Vancouver. The Lightning had just six power play goals since Jan. 2 before Saturday.
“We emphasized that we wanted to keep things a little bit more simple and shoot the puck and that’s really all it was,” Johnson said. “Sometimes it’s not always the prettiest of plays that are the most effective.”
Palat scored Tampa Bay’s second power play goal of the game at 7:05 of the second period, settling a pass from Kucherov in the right circle before getting off a wrist shot that deflected off defenceman Derek Forbort for a 2-0 lead.
Gourde made it 3-0 with a shorthanded goal, his second of the season and fifth of his career, with a shot from the right circle at 11:50. The goal came 54 seconds after Barclay Goodrow was turned aside on a shorthanded breakaway.
The Flames answered with two goals 52 seconds apart to pull to within one.
Mangiapane raced in down the left wing side and fired a slap shot that went through Vasilevsiy on the short side at 13:12. Lindholm followed that up with a slap shot from the top of the right circle that grazed the stick of Palat and beat Vasilevskiy.
Monahan scored on the power play with 2:49 left for the Flames.
“We had stretches of puck in their zone, but not nearly enough,” Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “We’ve just got to put this one aside right now because we’ve got a back-to-back. I don’t think any of us are happy with our game today but the good thing is we’re going to come back tomorrow and we’ll be desperate to get two points.”
NOTES: Lightning RW Pat Maroon returned after missing Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury. … Calgary allowed its ninth shorthanded goal of the season. … Lightning LW Blake Coleman, who missed Thursday’s game after his wife gave birth to a baby girl, picked up his first point with Tampa Bay since being traded from New Jersey on Feb. 16. … Flames C Mikael Backlund extended his scoring streak to six games.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
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.”
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.
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.
