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NHLTopPlayers: Top Goalies, Nos. 5-1 – NHL.com

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From Stanley Cup champions to Vezina Trophy winners to all-stars, the NHL has many great goalies. NHL Network producers and analysts chose the top 10 goalies in the League right now, and Nos. 5-1 were revealed Wednesday in the second of an eight-part series featured on “NHL Tonight.” Here is the list:

5. Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues

Binnington has proved that last season was no fluke. In 2018-19, he was a finalist for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year (24-5-1, 1.89 goals-against average, .927 save percentage, five shutouts) and won 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help the Blues to their first NHL championship. This season, he was third in the NHL with 30 wins (30-13-7) and had a 2.56 GAA, a .912 save percentage and three shutouts in 50 games (all starts). Binnington also was selected to the 2020 NHL All-Star Game and helped the Blues finish with the best record in the Western Conference (42-19-10, .662 points percentage).

“He’s been fantastic,” NHL Network analyst Mike Rupp said. “When goalies break into the League, some goalies get hot for 20 games and we think they’re the next great [goalie], and then the market kind of corrects itself. Not with this guy though. I love the way he’s come and attacked this season, that’s why the St. Louis Blues are my favorite to win the Stanley Cup again this year.”

Video: FLA@STL: Binnington robs Weegar on breakaway

4. Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars

Bishop, who was the runner-up to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Vezina Trophy as the best NHL goalie in 2018-19, had another strong season, going 21-16-4 with a 2.50 GAA, a .920 save percentage and two shutouts to help the Stars earn a playoff berth. After he was 1-4-1 with a 2.84 GAA and .889 save percentage in his first six games, Bishop went 11-2-1 with a 1.70 GAA and .947 in his next 16 games. Over the past three seasons, he is tied for second in the NHL with Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask in GAA (2.33), behind Binnington (2.30), and tied for third in save percentage (.923), behind Arizona Coyotes goalies Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta (each .924). Bishop was a Vezina finalist three times in six seasons from 2013-19.

“I love his game. He’s huge (6-foot-7, 210 pounds), he’s athletic, he’s competitive, he’s down there in Dallas,” Rupp said. “They’ve got a very good structure in front of him, which I think is showing all of his talents. He’s a dominant goalie in the League right now.”

Video: DAL@MTL: Bishop extends his pad for clutch save in OT

3. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Hellebuyck went 31-21-5 with a 2.57 GAA, a .922 save percentage and a League-leading six shutouts to help the Jets to a berth in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, when they will play the Calgary Flames. He was tied for first with Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens among NHL goalies in games (58), faced the most shots (1,796), and made the most saves (1,656). Hellebuyck, who allowed two goals or fewer in 32 games this season, has made the most starts (182) and has the second-most wins (109), behind Vasilevskiy (118), in the past three seasons. He was the runner-up to Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators for the Vezina in 2017-18.

“This is a big, bounce-back year for him because we knew how good he was early on, a few years back,” Rupp said. “He was a little bit inconsistent. Well this year, what does he do? This team loses four of their top six defensemen coming into the season, and he is unbelievable. He’s been fantastic, puts the Winnipeg Jets into this preliminary round.”

Video: VGK@WPG: Hellebuyck stymies Vegas to earn the shutout

2. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins

Rask went 26-8-6 and led the NHL with a 2.12 GAA, was second in save percentage (.929), behind Stars goalie Anton Khudobin (.930), and was tied for second with Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights with five shutouts. He, along with Jaroslav Halak, helped Boston win the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the NHL (167). Rask allowed two or fewer goals in 27 of 41 games and began the season with a 20-game point streak on home ice for the Bruins (14-0-6), who won the Presidents’ Trophy with the best record in the NHL (44-14-12, .714). Over the past seven seasons, he is second in wins (225), behind Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (245), and GAA (2.30), trailing Bishop (2.28), and is tied for third in save percentage (.920) among goalies who played at least 100 games.

“Tuukka Rask has probably been the most consistent guy on this list over the last number of years,” Rupp said. “He always seems to be at the top in every statistical category. This guy never gets the full love in Boston. I don’t think he will until probably he’s the goalie in between the pipes when they win Stanley Cup. But I love him, he’s been very consistent in recent years.”

Video: Tuukka Rask is likely Vezina Trophy front-runner

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

After winning the Vezina last season, Vasilevskiy (35-14-3) led the NHL in wins for the third straight season. He had a 2.56 GAA, a .917 save percentage and three shutouts, and allowed two goals or fewer in 27 of 57 games to help the Lightning qualify for the playoffs. He had a 21-game point streak from Dec. 17-Feb. 15 (19-0-2) and helped Tampa Bay win at least 10 straight games twice this season. Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins (118) and is tied for first with Fleury in shutouts (17) over the past three seasons, and he is fourth in save percentage (.921) among goalies who played at least 100 games over that span.

“The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to play better defensive hockey under (coach) Jon Cooper now, but the reality is, [Vasilevskiy] still sees a lot of stuff that he shouldn’t see.” Rupp said. “He’s big (6-3, 216), he’s athletic, he’s competitive. He’s the most dominant goalie in the National Hockey League and has been for a couple of years.”

Video: MTL@TBL: Vasilevskiy makes 32 saves to record shutout

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

AP college sports:

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