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Mikko Koskinen stands tall, flat-out steals win for Oilers

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Blue Jackets 1, Oilers 4

Mikko Koskinen picked a great time to stand up and be counted. Just at a time when his Edmonton Oilers teammates collectively lost their skating legs, Koskinen delivered a pair of brilliant performances that garnered the Oilers four huge points they didn’t fully deserve. First he stopped 42 of 43 drives in Dallas on Tuesday as the Oilers snuck out of town with a 2-1 overtime win. Then he came on in relief in Chicago with his team down 4-1, slammed the door and helped spark a comeback that just fell short. Back in Edmonton on Saturday, he faced another barrage of rubber as the Oilers grimly held on to a 1-0 lead seemingly all night long. Koskinen stopped the first 45 shots he faced, losing his shutout in the final minute after the game was safely in hand. But as in Dallas, he was by far the primary reason the Oilers emerged from a largely one-sided game with two valuable points.

The first period was especially painful to watch for Oil fans. After Alex Chiasson gave the club the lead on the game’s first shot, the Blue Jackets completely took command, peppering Koskinen with 21 shots before the buzzer finally, mercifully, sounded. The home team struggled to make or take a pass, to make good decisions with the puck or to win it back after they’d coughed up possession. Shift after shift saw the puck locked into Edmonton’s zone, the visitors surging but unable to solve Koskinen.

But as the old saying goes, “they don’t ask how, they just ask how many”, and “how many” for the Oilers is now 82 points, based on a 37-24-8 record through 69 games. That puts them in an exact tie with Vegas Golden Knights for first place, with Edmonton listed first by virtue of a couple more regulation wins. The two teams will meet head-to-head in Edmonton on Monday night.

It was the fourth straight win for Edmonton over Columbus, by scores of 4-0, 4-1, 4-1, 4-1. Total domination, right? But whereas the earlier victories — especially the two in Columbus — were largely deserved, this one was a classic example of winning ugly. The Blue Jackets outshot the Oilers by a ghastly 46-24, and had a massive 17-9 edge in Grade A scoring chances. What the visitors did not have, however, was the better goalie.

Player grades

 

#4 Kris Russell, 5. Struggled mightily to move the puck, and spent far too much time chasing it in his end as a result. Did manage an assist on the winning goal with a rote D-to-D pass along the blueline to Jones.

#6 Adam Larsson, 4. His turnover in the game’s first minute set the stage for what was to come. Victimized on 5 Grade A chances. Did some solid grinding in the trenches, even as he struggled to move the puck, especially on his backhand. Made one important stop with a sliding play to cut out a pass. Made a strong rush to the net but was hooked down just as Draisaitl’s pass arrived, crashing hard into the goal frame. Ended the night with a +3 rating.

#15 Josh Archibald, 4. Oilers’ checking line were playing chase all night, getting caved by all possession numbers. Archibald was among the culprits on 4 Grade A scoring chances against, none for. He had not so much as a shot attempt or even a hit. But he escaped unscathed with an assist and a +1 thanks to a blocked shot in the final minute which Sheahan recovered and lobbed into the empty net.

#16 Jujhar Khaira, 6. A strong physical presence with 4 hits and, more importantly, 2 goalie screens that were instrumental to the game’s first two goals. Charged with 3 giveaways but had a clean sheet in terms of mistakes on Grade A chances. Took a penalty. 4/9=44% on the dot in his third straight game at pivot.

#18 James Neal, 5. Had identical boxcars to his linemate Khaira (0-1-1, +2, 2 PiM) on a night the bottom six looked after most of the scoring. His passes were part of the build-up to the game’s first two goals.

#19 Mikko Koskinen, 9. Absolutely brilliant right out of the gate, and had to be in a first period that saw him turn aside all 21 shots he faced. Among the 9 Grade A chances in that opening period were a number of point blank drives. After a quieter middle frame he faced 16 more shots in the final frame. Had Zack Werenski’s number in particular, stopping the 20-goal blueliner no fewer than 8 times. Was a minute away from a brilliant shutout but alas, it wasn’t to be. In 2½ games for the Oil this week, he stopped 97 of 99 shots including 38 of 40 of the Grade A variety. 46 shots, 45 saves, .978 save percentage.

#23 Riley Sheahan, 4. Dominated in flow of play to the tune of 2 shots for, 13 against during his 10 even strength minutes. As with Archibald he did chip in on the penalty kill. Blocked 3 shots. Drew a late penalty and scored an even later empty-net goal from 148 feet away to seal the win. 10/17=59% on the dot.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 5. Was among the most energetic and proactive Oilers. Made a number of strong plays on the puck. Found a soft spot in the Columbus defence to get open for a cross-ice feed from Ennis, and was denied by a fine stop by Joonas Korpisalo. Made a splendid defensive play to stop a dangerous Pierre-Luc Dubois rush in open ice, but took a borderline roughing penalty in its aftermath. Was the nearest Oiler on the scene when Eric Robinson took a chop at Koskinen, and didn’t take kindly to it at all, engaging the interloper in a spirited scrum. 3 shots, 3 hits.

#28 Andreas Athanasiou, 4. A few moments here and there, but looked like a fish out of water on the checking line.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 4. Another Oiler who couldn’t find his rhythm and had his struggles behind his own blueline. Finally came on in the third period when his line started to dominate possession, even as they couldn’t find the back of the net. Set up his new linemate Ennis a few times but no finish was forthcoming. A rare pointless night ended badly when Draisaitl made a series of poor plays and decisions in the final minute that collectively cost Koskinen his shutout. Just 1 shot on net, but led all forwards again with ice time of 21:06. 14/24=58% on the dot.

#39 Alex Chiasson, 7. Became the eighth Oilers forwards to hit double digits in goals when he opened the scoring just 3 minutes in with a slapper through traffic which caught a favourable deflection on the way through. Chipped in an assist on the 2-0 tally over 52 minutes later with a simple pass on the cycle. Had one other good shot on net, and zero issues on the defensive side of the puck.

#44 Zack Kassian, 5. Struggled mightily to make or take a pass, or to shoot the puck in deep for that matter. Made amends for a sloppy night with a nifty pass in tight to the net that McDavid tapped home for the 3-0.

#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 5. Pesky on the puck as usual, and contributed to a couple of strong cycles in the final play. Took a nasty blow under the eye from a wicked high stick by Riley Nash which somehow went unnoticed by the officials on a night the Oilers mustered just a single powerplay.

#63 Tyler Ennis, 6. Generated a few scoring opportunities with his new linemates Draisaitl and Yamamoto but struggled to finish, twice taking a puck from an open spot in the slot to behind the net, not exactly the high-danger area. All 3 of his shots were dangerous, including a fine mid-air tip of an outside shot that tested Korpisalo. Made a fine cross-ice pass to Nurse for a dangerous chance. Chipped in a strong defensive stop in the early going. Led the club in all three of shots (3), hits (4) and takeaways (2).

#74 Ethan Bear, 4. Among the many Oilers d-men who wilted at times under the heavy Columbus forecheck. One bad turnover led directly to a great chance, but once again Koskinen bailed out his teammate(s).

#77 Oscar Klefbom, 4. A weird admixture of polish and rust on his return to the line-up. Showed his quality here and there with a slick play or pass, but the “simple” plays were anything but at times. Still wound up a tidy +3 on the night, even as he had little to do with the scoring plays. Did make a nice stretch pass in the build-up to the first tally. Credited with 4 hits to lead the Oilers, a rare honour for the smooth defender.

#82 Caleb Jones, 5. His pairing with Russell struggled to move the puck. Delivered the first game-winning goal  of his career with a quick-release wrist shot from the right point which took a slight deflection and fooled Koripisalo. Drew the lone Oilers powerplay when he was clipped by a knee-on-knee check.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 4. Switched out from the Draisaitl line to the McDavid line which doesn’t sound like a hardship, but he had lots of trouble clicking. The play died on his stick multiple times, including twice on the Oilers’ one and only powerplay of the night, which went nowhere as a result. One slow line change aborted a McDavid rush by putting the play offside (though barely). Just 1 shot on net. But earned a late assist when he won a puck battle in the corner and fed Kassian in the slot.

#97 Connor McDavid, 5. Reportedly playing through some sort of illness, and it showed. Second straight game where he was involved in but a single Grade A scoring chance, a long way from his usual output. The good news was that one chance was turned into a goal when McDavid tapped home Kassian’s fine pass to stretch the lead to 3-0. Had his struggles at the other end as well, with few sightings of his trademark speed. 7/13=54% on the dot and an honest effort under tough circumstances.

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Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

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The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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AP sports:

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Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

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NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

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TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

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