The Edmonton Oilers overcame a pair of disallowed goals and two broken sticks the Calgary Flames converted into goals to win 5-3 and even their playoff series at one victory apiece Friday.
Zach Hyman scored the winning goal shorthanded in the third period.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid’s goal and assist Friday made him the fastest active player to reach 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in a single post-season, and fastest among any player since Mario Lemieux in 1992.
“He’s willing to pay a price to win. He’s driven to win,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He has an effect on everybody in our organization with that desire to take his game to the next level.
“The way his guy is playing right now, it’s special. He’s driving our team forward.”
Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Duncan Keith each had a goal and two assists and Evan Bouchard also scored for Edmonton.
After he was pulled early Calgary’s 9-6 win in Game 1, Oilers goaltender Mike Smith made 37 saves and assisted on Draisaitl’s insurance goal.
WATCH | Smith assists on Draisaitl’s goal:
Oilers goalie Mike Smith records assist on Leon Draisaitl’s breakaway goal
14 hours ago
Duration 1:02
Goalie Mike Smith gets the primary assist on Leon Draisailt’s goal to seal Edmonton’s 5-3 victory over Calgary in Game 2.
“Losses are no fun and wins are lots of fun,” McDavid said. “I thought we battled harder.
“Winning some 50-50 pucks. We didn’t win many in Game 1. I thought we did a good job of that. I thought we defended better. Still gave up some chances. Smitty played well.”
Michael Stone, Brett Ritchie and Tyler Toffoli scored for Calgary, which led 3-1 early in the second period.
Johnny Gaudreau had two assists. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 35 shots in the loss.
The best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal heads to Edmonton’s Rogers Place for Sunday’s Game 3 and Tuesday’s Game 4. The Oilers went 18-4-2 at Rogers Place over their final 24 games of the regular season.
Calgary (50-21-11) topped the Pacific Division ahead of runner-up Edmonton (49-27-6) in the regular season. The Alberta rivals are squaring off in the playoffs for a sixth time, but the first since 1991.
One of the NHL’s top teams five-on-five, the Flames were shorthanded for almost 11 minutes Friday. Edmonton scored its first power-play goal of the series midway through the second period to send the game into the third deadlocked 3-3.
“We missed a lot of opportunities,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said. “Markstrom was really, really good for us. Individual skill was what stood out tonight, and situations that they scored on. That’s hard to handle, but some of that is also not [playing] five-on-five.
“There was a four-on-four goal, a five-on-four goal, a five-on-four goal for us, shorthanded goal for them. If you’re not playing five-on-five, that’s definitely to their team’s advantage.”
Calgary’s offensive-zone turnover with a man-advantage turned into a shorthanded chance for Hyman in the third period.
WATCH | Hyman scores short-handed marker:
Zach Hyman’s shorty lifts Oilers over Flames in Game 2
15 hours ago
Duration 1:04
Zach Hyman’s short-handed goal in the third period is the game winner as Edmonton beats Calgary 5-3 to tie their second round series at 1-1.
After breaking his stick on Calgary’s first goal and having one of his own disallowed in the second, Hyman went upstairs on Markstrom at 10:14 for the game-winner.
“You’ve just got to keep working,” Hyman said. “It’s the playoffs. Doesn’t matter. All that matters is you get the win, right?”
Smith head-manned the puck to Draisaitl, who is playing through a lower-body injury, to score the insurance goal on another breakaway at 12:36.
Broken Oiler sticks contributed to a Flames goals in the first and second periods. Defenceman Darnell Nurse was hampered without his deep in Edmonton’s zone in the second.
Gaudreau threaded a pass to the crease for Elias Lindholm to flip to Toffoli, whose power-play goal at 2:04 gave Calgary a 3-1 lead.
Draisaitl’s goal at 2:31 of the second was waived off. Flames head coach Darryl Sutter successfully challenged goaltender interference by McDavid.
But McDavid scored a four-on-four goal seconds later to draw Edmonton within one.
He rolled off Calgary defenceman Nikita Zadorov into open ice, took a pass from Keith and stickhandled the puck by Markstrom’s outstretched pad at 3:05.
Bouchard pulled the Oilers even at 15:03 during Stone’s double minor for high-sticking.
After setting the record for the fastest two goals to start a playoff game in the series opener with a pair within 51 seconds, Calgary struck early again, 63 seconds after puck drop.
Edmonton, and Smith, recovered their composure faster than in Game 1, however.
Hyman celebrated a goal with just over four minutes left in the opening period, but officials waived it off. The whistle blew before the puck crossed the goal-line in a crease scramble.
Keith halved a two-goal deficit at 13:45. McDavid circling out from behind the net held off Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson with one arm and held the puck on his stick with the other.
McDavid shovelled a one-handed pass to Keith, who beat Markstrom far side.
The hosts led 2-0 at 6:02 when Smith bobbled an Erik Gudbranson shot. Ritchie pounced on the loose puck in the crease and put a backhand by the Oilers’ goalie.
Hyman broke his stick and wasn’t able to retrieve another from the bench before Stone’s slapshot from the point beat Smith bottom corner glove side at 1:03.
The Flames were minus top shutdown defenceman Chris Tanev for a third straight game. He was injured in Game 6 of Calgary’s first-round series against Dallas. Tanev skated in practice this week, but hasn’t dressed for games.
Calgary went 1-for-5 with a man advantage in the game, while the Oilers were 1-for-6.
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.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
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