CALGARY — The NHL’s top two scorers helped unleash the Edmonton Oilers’ firepower in a 7-3 romp Wednesday over the host Calgary Flames.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists, and Leon Draisaitl assisted on three goals for Edmonton (19-13-0).
McDavid tops the league’s scoring race with 56 points followed by teammate Draisaitl with 49.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, Dominik Kahun, Darnell Nurse, Zack Kassian and Alex Chiasson also scored for the Oilers, who avoided a third straight loss.
Defenceman Tyson Barrie had a career-high four assists, and Mike Smith made 30 saves for the win.
“It’s pretty incredible the skill we have on this team,” Barrie said. “It’s world-class, as good as it gets.”
Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund and Johnny Gaudreau replied for the Flames (14-13-3), who lost their first game under Darryl Sutter since he took over as head coach.
Geoff Ward was fired March 4. The Flames won three in a row with Sutter behind the bench, but the wheels fell off Wednesday when Calgary trailed 7-1 midway through the third period.
Jacob Markstrom turned away 23-of-30 shots in the loss. Sutter said he never considered pulling his starter for David Rittich.
“Not for one shift, second, minute, anything,” Sutter said. “Every team I’ve ever coached, I do not pull the goalie.
“I believe they fight their way out of it just like everybody else. It’s basically a trust thing because I think he’s an awesome goalie. But he has to be able to battle too.”
Edmonton ranks third in the North Division, and leads the season series against Calgary 4-2 with four games remaining.
The Flames were three points back of the Montreal Canadiens, which held down the fourth and final playoff spot.
Calgary trailed in a game for the first time under Sutter. The Oilers scored three consecutive goals before the Flames responded.
The Oilers poured four goals into Calgary’s net in a span of just under seven minutes to start the third period.
Calgary hadn’t allowed a power-play goal in five straight games, but gave up three Wednesday.
“It’s three-one going into the third and we feel like we have a chance,” Flames captain Mark Giordano said.
“We take two penalties and they score on both and it’s five-one. They’re sitting back and waiting for us to get through them. You can’t play open against a team like that, that has that much skill.”
Gaudreau scored a power-play goal and Backlund also scored late in the third period to make the score less lopsided.
Kassian played his first game since breaking his hand in a fight Feb. 8 and produced Edmonton’s seventh goal at 8:38.
“It’s crazy how momentum swings once the big guys take over,” Kassian said. “It just trickles down the lineup. From top to bottom, we were solid tonight from Smitty on out.”
McDavid rushed the puck deep into Calgary’s zone and fed Nurse for the defenceman to beat Markstrom glove side at 5:55.
Chiasson tipped a Nugent-Hopkins shot home at 3:44. Barrie at the point passed to McDavid, whose quick -release wrist shot beat Markstrom between the pads at 1:50.
“When you’re playing against Connor McDavid, especially when you’re trailing, when you chase the game and you give chances, and play that run-and-gun style, he’s sniffing for blood,” Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk said.
Tkachuk circling from behind the net sent a goal-mouth pass across to Lindholm to finish at 9:04 of the second period. Kahun roofed a between-the-legs pass from Draisaitl 25 seconds earlier.
The visitors led 2-0 on Puljujarvi’s power-play goal at 7:22 of the first period. He redirected a Barrie shot from the point between Markstrom’s pads.
McDavid turned a Milan Lucic defensive-zone turnover into a goal at 4:39 of the first period. McDavid dished the puck across to Nugent-Hopkins to shovel over a diving Markstrom.
The Oilers have a quick turnaround facing the Winnipeg Jets at home on Thursday. The Flames head to Toronto for back-to-back games against the division-topping Maple Leafs starting Friday.
Notes: Draisaitl extended his point streak to eight games with seven goals, eight assists in that span . . . McDavid stretched his streak to seven games with four goals, 12 assists . . .Edmonton forward Jujhar Khaira didn’t dress Wednesday because of an upper-body injury sustained in a fight Monday with Calgary’s Brett Ritchie.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2021.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
