Sports

MacKinnon scores shootout winner as Avalanche top Maple Leafs

Published

2 weeks ago

March 15, 2023

Harry Miller

Nathan MacKinnon scored the only goal of the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Mikko Rantanen scored in regulation for Colorado (38-22-6), which got 18 saves from Alexandar Georgiev.

Morgan Rielly replied for Toronto (40-18-9). Ilya Samsonov stopped 28 shots.

After a frantic overtime that saw terrific chances at both ends, MacKinnon beat Samsonov on a nice deke on the Avalanche’s second shot.

Georgiev then denied Mitch Marner to seal both points for the visitors.

Colorado improved to 4-4 in shootouts, while Toronto dropped to 0-2.

Coming off Monday’s 4-3 home loss to Buffalo where Toronto held a 2-0 lead late in the second period, the Leafs opened the scoring three minutes into the first when Rielly scored his third after hitting the post earlier.

The Avalanche responded on a power play later in the period when Rantanen’s pass went in off Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe for his 44th.

Samsonov stopped Valeri Nichushkin on a short-handed breakaway in the second before Cale Makar nearly went end-to-end on a breathtaking rush, but saw the puck trickle just wide of Toronto’s goal.

Georgiev matched his Russian counterpart at the other end by denying Rielly on a power play and Calle Jarnkrok from in close to keep things even through 40 minutes.

After the Leafs killed two penalties early in the third, William Nylander and Auston Matthews had a good chance on Georgiev.

Samsonov then denied Evan Rodrigues from the slot with his blocker to keep things even through regulation.

RANTANEN RISING

The big winger’s 44goals are the most by a Finnish-born player since Teemu Selanne scored 48 times back in 2006-07.

EARLY START

Marner factored in on the game-opening goal for the 19th time this season, which trails only MacKinnon (20) for the most among all players.

WAITING ON GABE

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, who has yet to play this season, continues to work his way back from knee surgery.

Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said following Tuesday’s practice there’s still no timeline for the winger’s return.

“Making progress,” Bednar said. “Gonna keep grinding to get back as soon as he can. I don’t know when that will be. I don’t know if it’ll be regular season, beginning of post-season. It’s all going to be up to him.”

SCHENN’S BACK

Luke Schenn returned to Scotiabank Arena as a member of the Leafs for the first time in more than a decade.

Acquired from Vancouver prior to the trade deadline, the veteran defenceman rejoined the club after his wife recently gave birth to the couple’s third child.

The Leafs selected Schenn, who didn’t dress against Colorado, with the fifth overall pick in 2008 before trading him to Philadelphia in 2012.

“Coming into this dressing room, it’s surreal,” the 33-year-old said Wednesday morning. “You appreciate what it means to play in Toronto, but not to the extent I do now.”

LOSING LEHKONEN

Artturi Lehkonen will be out at least four weeks with a broken finger suffered in Colorado’s 8-4 victory over Montreal on Monday, adding to the club’s season-long injury misery.

The gritty winger was scheduled to have surgery Wednesday in Colorado.

“One of our identity guys,” Bednar said. “One of the hardest-working guys on the ice in every single game.”

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Maple Leafs clinch playoff berth with Panthers loss to Senators

Published

8 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Harry Miller

The Toronto Maple Leafs clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday.

The Maple Leafs (44-20-9), who clinched when the Florida Panthers lost 5-2 to the Ottawa Senators, are second in the Atlantic Division, 22 points behind the Boston Bruins and seven ahead of the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning.

It’s the seventh straight season Toronto has clinched a playoff berth. It hasn’t won a postseason series since 2004.

The Maple Leafs are led by forwards Mitchell Marner (94 points), William Nylander (81), Auston Matthews (77), and John Tavares (75). Ilya Samsonov is 24-9-3 with a 2.46 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and three shutouts in 36 games (35 starts). Matt Murray is 14-8-2 with a 2.97 GAA, .905 save percentage and one shutout in 25 games.

Toronto made several moves prior to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3, acquiring forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 17, defenseman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 27, defenseman Erik Gustafsson from the Washington Capitals on Feb. 28 and defenseman Luke Schenn from the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 28.

O’Reilly is expected back before the playoffs begin April 17. He hasn’t played since getting hit in the hand by Matthews’ shot in the second period of a 4-1 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on March 4 and was projected to be out four weeks.

The Maple Leafs have won the Stanley Cup 11 times, once each as the Toronto Arenas (1917-18) and the Toronto St. Patricks (1921-22). They are without an NHL championship since 1967.

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Canadian Bianca Andreescu retires from Miami Open match after suffering injury

Published

9 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Harry Miller

Canadian Bianca Andreescu suffered an apparent leg injury during the second set of her match against Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Miami Open on Monday.

Andreescu leaving the court in a wheelchair (unable to put weight on left leg) … retires from the match, of course

Bianca had been playing so well this week

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 28, 2023

Andreescu was injured in the third game of the second set of the Round of 16 match while trying to run down a ball in the back court. She remained down on the court, before receiving medical attention and leaving the court in a wheelchair.

Alexandrova won the first set of the match 7-6, Andreescu was up 2-0 in the second set when she retired from the match due to the injury.

The match was delayed for an hour by rain in the middle of the opening set.

The 22-year-old Canadian was playing well at the Miami tournament, entering play on Monday with victories over Emma Raducanu, No. 7 Maria Sakkari and Sofia Kenin earlier in the competition.

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Sports

Quick Reaction: Wizards 104, Raptors 114

Published

22 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Harry Miller

	O. Anunoby37 MIN, 29 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 11-21 FG, 4-10 3FG, 3-4 FT, 3 BLK, 1 TO, 18 +/- From the opening tip OG was a force offensively and continued to flash the self creation signs that everyone wants to see, he had a career high 18 in the first quarter and hit a lot of tough jumpers off the bounce, as well as spaced the floor with catch and shoot triples.
	P. Siakam34 MIN, 19 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 7-17 FG, 1-3 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -3 +/- Pretty poor game from Pascal by his standards, a lot of shots seemed forced and he couldn’t finish through contact, very well, his playmaking also was muted because he seemed to be hunting his own shot.
	J. Poeltl26 MIN, 12 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 6-9 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 7 +/- Jakob’s floaters and push shots worked wonderfully tonight and he did a great job not rushing it like he does most games, offensive rebounding was also key as well, Jakob had 6 in this game which led to countless second chance points.

	S. Barnes32 MIN, 13 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL, 5-14 FG, 0-2 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- Solid game in his first game back from injury, hit some tough looks in the paint, passing looked good tonight as well, efficiency was a bit off but we can chalk that up to being rusty.
	F. VanVleet36 MIN, 28 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST, 3 STL, 10-21 FG, 5-9 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 11 +/- Offensive masterclass from Fred VanVleet, he was zooming all over the floor and he was really burning Washington with his outside shooting, but his playmaking shined really bright tonight as well.
	W. Barton04 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/- Left the game early with an injury.
	C. Boucher22 MIN, 6 PTS, 7 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- Boucher was battling on the class yet again and often gave Toronto an extra look tonight, he also was solid as a rim protector as well.

	J. Dowtin Jr.19 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 14 +/- Didn’t add a whole lot offensively but he was harassing guys on ball as a defender, and moving the rock well as well, would like to see Dowtin look for his own a bit more often
	C. Koloko15 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 3 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 7 +/- Koloko entered the game by recording a steal and then a block on back to back possessions, and then he continued to play solid defense in drop coverage, really strong game for the rook.
	M. Flynn07 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-3 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -10 +/- Didn’t take advantage of his looks on the floor tonight.
	P. Achiuwa06 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -10 +/- Another rough night for Precious as he tries to regain his footing, just couldn’t find it defensively, ran the floor in transition just fine during limited time.
	Nick Nurse Although Toronto was healthier, Nurse didn’t force anyone into minutes that were going to damage the team.