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Maple Leafs shake off dust from embarrassing Hurricanes loss – The Globe and Mail

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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen makes a glove save as Carolina Hurricanes forward Justin Williams looks on at Scotiabank Arena on February 22, 2020.

John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

A week ago, after a wretched loss to an emergency backup goaltender, the Maple Leafs teetered on disaster. Riddle that they are, they have done something unexpected since then: win three in a row against tough opponents and secure their grip on a playoff position.

After Saturday night’s 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, Tyson Barrie said the embarrassing defeat by David Ayres and the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 22 may have been the tipping point in the season.

“We are very proud people and didn’t get to where we are without being that way,” the Toronto defenceman said in front of his dressing stall at Scotiabank Arena. “When something like that happens, you want to crawl into a hole.

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“The good thing is that there is always another game and another opportunity to turn things around. We came out and responded in a good way. After that, we came with two nice wins on the road and again tonight.”

The Maple Leafs shut down one of the league’s most potent offensive teams. They held the Canucks’ most dangerous players – Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Tyler Toffoli and Bo Horvat – to one point among them. After allowing two goals on the first three shots he saw, Frederik Andersen stopped the next 24 in his 28th victory of 2019-20.

Martin Marincin scored the game-winner, his annual goal of the season, and Toronto got others from Frederik Gauthier, Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman. The latter was an empty-netter in a sequence during which Hyman blocked a shot, dived in front of a Vancouver player to prevent another and then broke away after a fierce battle for the puck. “I would hate to play against Hyman,” his teammate, defenceman Travis Dermott, said. “He fore-checks hard and has a big impact for the time he is in there. He works until he is dead.”

The goal was the 45th for Matthews, who is two behind David Pastrnak of Boston for most in the league.

Marincin has scored only five times in six NHL seasons, but put Toronto ahead 3-2 only 18 seconds into the third period on a lovely wrist shot after a fancy toe drag and a break toward the net. It was his first goal since March 15 of last year. “You don’t see it often from [him], but when he brings it out, it’s usually a treat,” said Matthews, who has 31 goals in 33 home games.

Marincin logged 20 minutes 48 seconds of playing time – a season high for him – with the team filling defensive gaps caused by injuries to Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Cody Ceci. Marincin also blocked six shots and delivered three hits.

He received the game basketball the Maple Leafs hand out to the night’s top player, a gesture that began this season as a tribute to the Raptors.

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“When he is called upon, he gives everything he has,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. Marincin has been shuttled back and forth between the AHL Marlies and the NHL club multiple times this season. “When you are bounced around, up and down and in and out, that takes a lot of heart.”

The Maple Leafs headed off on a California road trip on Sunday in third place in the NHL’s Atlantic Division. The Florida Panthers are a few points back in fourth. The first three teams in the division automatically advance to the postseason.

The Canucks players were angry and shouting expletives as they entered the visitors’ dressing room on Saturday night. The Maple Leafs, who play in San Jose on Tuesday, Los Angeles on Thursday and Anaheim on Friday, were giddy and whooping it up.

After winning tough games against Tampa Bay and Florida on the road, they put together another solid performance with the cast contributing. Barrie and Dermott each had two assists, John Tavares had an assist and went 15-11 in the faceoff circle, and Jason Spezza went 9-5. Nine players found the score sheet.

Keefe believes there is a connection between the way the team is playing now and the loss to Ayres a week earlier. The 42-year-old emergency goalie with a transplanted kidney saved eight of 10 shots while beating them.

“[It’s] a real shock to the system when you have a night like that,” Keefe said. “The connection is we got a wake-up call. When we ended on the road, we got the guys attention on the importance of getting your stuff together, responding well.

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“It’s going to be tough the rest of the way, all the way through, and we can’t have any lapses.”

Toronto dressed six defencemen, including three who have spent time in the AHL this season.

Barrie, now the eldest statesman in the defensive corps, played a game-high 25:40. He has four assists in the three games since last Monday’s trade-deadline day. The team received inquiries about Barrie, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

“I think he has played well,” Keefe said of Barrie. “We have leaned on him a lot more because of our youth and inexperience.”

Barrie said he was anxious for the last two days before the deadline.

“You have to focus on what you can, but it can be tough,” he said.

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On Monday, he noticed a missed call on his phone from Kyle Dubas and figured he had been dealt.

“My first thought was, ‘I’m out of here,’” he said. “’Where am I going?’”

Dubas was calling to tell him he was not being traded.

“Now, I wanted to see it through here and finish with these guys,” Barrie said. “We are fighting to get in.”

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Fernandez and Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals

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TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.

The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.

Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.

“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”

Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.

Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.

Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.

Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Penguins re-sign Crosby to two-year extension that runs through 2026-27 season

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PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.

The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.

Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.

At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.

Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar wins Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal

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MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.

Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.

The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.

“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.

“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”

Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.

The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.

“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”

It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.

Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.

“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”

Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.

He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.

Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.

“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”

Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.

“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.

Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.

Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.

“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”

Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.

Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.

Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.

Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.

Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.

“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.

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