Sports

NHL roundup: Johnny Gaudreau’s hat trick leads Flames past Lightning

Published

3 years ago

March 11, 2022

Johnny Gaudreau produced his first hat trick in three years and Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves as the Calgary Flames added another impressive victory to their collection, defeating the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Thursday.

Mikael Backlund added a goal and Rasmus Andersson had two assists as the Flames improved to 15-2-1 since Jan. 29.

Calgary rebounded from a rare defeat Tuesday against the Washington Capitals and added a victory over the two-time defending champion Lightning to one over the league-leading Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Alex Killorn scored for the Lightning and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves as Tampa Bay lost its second consecutive game. It is the first time the Lightning have dropped back-to-back games since a three-game losing streak Dec. 30-Jan. 2.

Sharks 4, Kings 3 (OT)

Tomas Hertl’s wraparound goal in overtime gave San Jose a comeback victory over host Los Angeles.

Hertl ended his five-game point drought with a goal and an assist. Alexander Barabanov and Brent Burns also had a goal and an assist apiece. Nick Bonino scored the Sharks’ other goal. Defenseman Erik Karlsson tallied two assists in his return to the ice, having missed the previous 15 games due to left forearm surgery. Rookie goalie Zach Sawchenko saved 33 of 36 shots for his first NHL win.

Trevor Moore had a goal and two assists for the Kings. Phillip Danault and Andreas Athanasiou each had a goal and an assist. Jonathan Quick finished with 26 saves.

Panthers 6, Flyers 3

Sam Reinhart scored three goals and Carter Verhaeghe tallied twice as Florida defeated Philadelphia in Sunrise, Fla.

The Panthers got four assists each from Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad as Florida won its fifth straight game. Huberdeau leads the NHL with 64 assists, a Panthers record. Anthony Duclair also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves.

Philadelphia, which had its two-game win streak broken, got goals from James van Riemsdyk, Cam Atkinson and Travis Konecny. Carter Hart made 31 saves.

Islanders 6, Blue Jackets 0

Anders Lee posted his first career hat trick and Ilya Sorokin stopped all 25 shots he faced as host New York rolled to its most resounding victory at its new building at the expense of Columbus.

The shutout was the sixth of the season for Sorokin and the ninth of his career. Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Islanders, who had not scored more than four goals in any of their first 27 games at UBS Arena.

Goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 27 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four straight (0-2-2). Columbus is 13 points behind the Washington Capitals in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Senators 4, Kraken 3 (OT)

Josh Norris scored twice, including a power-play goal at 2:34 of overtime, as Ottawa defeated visiting Seattle.

Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist and Parker Kelly also scored for the Senators, who won their second in a row following a five-game skid. Goaltender Anton Forsberg made 30 saves.

Jared McCann, Ryan Donato and Mason Appleton scored for the Kraken, who rallied from a three-goal deficit in the final 11 minutes of regulation. Chris Driedger stopped 23 of 27 shots for Seattle, which suffered its fourth consecutive defeat and dropped to 1-9-2 in its past 12 games.

Bruins 4, Blackhawks 3

David Pastrnak’s second goal and third point of the game with 17.2 seconds left in regulation lifted Boston over visiting Chicago.

Taylor Hall slid the puck from the corner through traffic to set up Pastrnak in the slot for the game-winner. It was his team-leading 33rd goal of the season. The Bruins also got goals from Charlie Coyle and Jack Ahcan as they improved to 8-1-1 in their past 10 games. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves to win his seventh consecutive start.

Brandon Hagel scored twice for Chicago, and Alex DeBrincat extended his goal-scoring streak to five games. In just his third start since returning from injury, Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves.

Blues 6, Rangers 2

Robert Thomas scored twice and Ville Husso made 27 saves as host St. Louis ended a four-game winless streak by routing New York.

Ivan Barbashev, Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron and Jake Walman also scored for the Blues and Jordan Kyrou had two assists.

Ryan Strome and K’Andre Miller scored for the Rangers and Adam Fox had two assists. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin allowed four goals on 17 shots before Alexandar Georgiev replaced him 15 seconds in the second period.

Sabers 3, Golden Knights 1

Craig Anderson made 30 saves to become the sixth American goaltender to win 300 NHL games and also helped to spoil Jack Eichel’s much-anticipated return to Buffalo in the win over Vegas.

Anderson also became the 39th goalie in NHL history to hit the 300-win mark. Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, both obtained from Vegas in the trade for Eichel on Nov. 4, each scored a goal, and Victor Olofsson scored what proved to be the game-winner on a power play with 3:44 remaining.

Ben Hutton scored a goal, and Laurent Brossoit stopped 21 of 23 shots for the sputtering Golden Knights, who suffered their second straight loss. Vegas has just 24 goals over its past 12 games, including just four in its past three games.

Wild 6, Red Wings 5 (SO)

Matt Boldy scored two goals, and visiting Minnesota pulled out the shootout victory over Detroit.

Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Fiala scored during the shootout for the Wild, who earned their second consecutive win. Zuccarello also had a regulation goal.

Jakub Vrana scored two goals in his second game back from shoulder surgery for the Red Wings, who have lost four straight.

Coyotes 5, Maple Leafs 4 (OT)

Jakob Chychrun scored his second goal of the game at 2:17 of overtime as Arizona won in Toronto.

The Maple Leads scored three straight goals in the first 8:17 of the third period to tie the game at 4 and force overtime. In OT, Chychrun scored his seventh goal of the season, from the left circle on a pass from Matias Maccelli.

Alex Galchenyuk recorded a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who have won four straight. Travis Boyd and Christian Fischer also scored for Arizona. Maccelli added two assists. Alexander Kerfoot tallied a goal and two assists for Toronto. Pierre Engvall, Auston Matthews and William Nylander also scored for the Leafs, Matthews netting his league-leading 44th goal.

Jets 2, Devils 1

Kyle Connor scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway late in the second period to lift the Winnipeg over the New Jersey in Newark, N.J. Defenseman Brenden Dillon also scored a goal as the Jets won their second consecutive game and fourth in their past six.

Eric Comrie gave workhorse goaltender Connor Hellebuyck a breather and made 33 saves to win his fourth straight start. Comrie was victorious in his lone appearance while playing with the Devils last season.

New Jersey’s Jack Hughes scored a power-play goal late in the first period to extend his home point streak to 13 games (nine goals, 12 assists). Hughes trails only two-time Stanley Cup winner Patrik Elias (17 games, 1999-2000) for the longest such run in franchise history. Nico Daws turned aside 28 shots for the Devils.

Predators 4, Ducks 1

Matt Duchene had two goals and an assist to lead Nashville past visiting Anaheim.

Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, Colton Sissons also scored, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for the Predators, who have won five of seven following a four-game losing streak. Saros has allowed two goals in the three-game winning streak for Nashville.

Adam Henrique scored, and John Gibson made 26 saves for Anaheim in the second game of their five-game road trip. Gibson had been removed three times in eight starts since representing the Pacific Division in the All-Star Game on Feb. 5.

Hurricanes 2, Avalanche 0

Ethan Bear scored his third goal of the season with 5:40 remaining as Carolina finally broke through to defeat Colorado in Raleigh, N.C.

Antti Raanta made 36 saves for his second shutout of the season and his 10th victory. Sebastian Aho added an empty-net goal with 1:32 to play.

The Avalanche lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since October, when it dropped its second through fourth games of the season in regulation.

–Field Level Media

Sports

DeMar DeRozan scores 27 points to lead the Kings past the Raptors 122-107

Published

5 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.

Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.

The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.

RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.

Takeaways

Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.

Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

Key moment

The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.

Key stat

Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.

Up next

Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.

Kings: Host the Clippers on Friday night.

___

AP NBA:

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Sports

Whitecaps take confidence, humility into decisive playoff matchup vs. LAFC

Published

5 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.

Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.

“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.

“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.

First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.

Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.

No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.

Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.

“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.

This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.

The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.

“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”

Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.

Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.

“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”

The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.

Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.

“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”

LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.

“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Sports

PWHL unveils game jerseys with new team names, logos

Published

5 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has revealed the jersey designs for its six newly named teams.

Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.

The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.

Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.

“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.

“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”

Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.

Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.

Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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