Sports

No passengers riding Maple Leafs’ hot streak: ‘We dominate today’

Published

2 years ago

December 9, 2022

TORONTO – Forever ago (or maybe it was October), when the Toronto Maple Leafs were lost, fumbling and all out of sorts, head coach Sheldon Keefe leaned hard on one adjective to describe their unrefined brand of hockey: disconnected.

The forwards weren’t helping the defencemen enough, and the blueliners couldn’t time their tape.

Reads, passes, press conferences, body language… little around the team, on or off ice, felt in sync. The coach knew it. They players felt it. And the fans could see it.

Playing for the Leafs was like inviting a blind date to a Dining in the Dark restaurant. The intentions may have been good, but when the lights flicked on, it was a mess.

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My, what a difference a hot streak and some cool confidence can make.

On Thursday, from puck drop to buzzer, from crease to crease, pair to pair, line through line, the Maple Leafs submitted their most complete — most connected — 60 minutes of the season, thrashing the Los Angeles Kings 5-0.

As easy as the Maple Leafs are making wins appear during their 13-game point streak, this wagon run is the product of hundreds of tiny conversations and line tweaks, motivations and decisions.

Like this one, which will surely zip under the radar on a night where Mitchell Marner went full-crank slapshot to extend his record-breaking point streak to 21 games and goaltender-slash-comedian Ilya Samsonov reeled off the Leafs’ second shutout in under 48 hours.

Gotta See It: Maple Leafs’ Marner scores to extend point streak to 21 games

About a week ago, Manny Malhotra pulled Zach Aston-Reese aside for a talk. The assistant coach challenged the fourth-line checker to be more physical, throw more hits. After all, that is a big piece of what attracted Toronto to the winger in free agency.

Aston-Reese took the message to heart and came out hungry to impact the game in the small way a role player can.

Following a scoreless first period, in which the home side dominated possession, Aston-Reese caught L.A.’s Arthur Kaliyev with his head down at centre ice, looking at the puck in his feet, and levelled the King onto a highlight show near you.

Maple Leafs’ Aston-Reese crushes Kings’ Kaliyev, drops gloves with Lizotte

Blake Lizotte rushed to fight Aston-Reese, and the Leaf took him down too.

Instigator Lizotte got dinged for a slashing minor, and Aston-Reese’s fellow bottom-sixer Pierre Engvall sniped on the ensuing power-play.

“That hit and the fight woke up the crowd a little bit,” said Aston-Reese. “I was so happy to see Pierre score there, too. Then the floodgates opened.”

Sixty-six seconds later, Toronto had mounted a 3-0 lead, thanks to hardworking goals from David Kämpf and William Nylander. Comically, PA announcer Mike Ross twice had to stop reading out scorers’ names because Scotiabank Arena was already celebrating a new goal.

Maple Leafs tally three goals in 66 seconds to jump ahead vs. Kings.

One of those four-encore nights for Hall & Oates. And a four-hit evening for Aston-Reese.

By the time Marner and Auston Matthews piled on, the outcome was already a foregone conclusion.

Matthews is happy to gush over his superstar pal Marner, of course: “Nice clap-bomb he had there. I didn’t know he could shoot the puck like that.”

But he, too, understands the valuable connections that must be made between role players like Kämpf and Aston-Reese to the multimillionaire superstars hogging all the headlines and job security in this market.

“Those are the kind of things that happen in the game that make a small difference. They go a long way,” Matthews said of Aston-Reese’s hit.

“Definitely got some energy in the crowd. Then a couple quick goals, and we got them back on their heels.”

Well-rounded team effort leads Maple Leafs to second straight shutout win

Aston-Reese didn’t register a single point. Wasn’t named one of the game’s three stars. And yet it was he who was handed the club’s player of the game belt by former champ Matt Murray.

Are we arguing that the Maple Leafs would’ve lost to the Kings had Aston-Reese not thrown a nasty body check? Of course not. The sharper, more talented squad won the day in a landslide.

We are saying that it’s imperative everyone in that dressing room feels involved — gets connected — if the top-heavy Maple Leafs are to enjoy sustained success come springtime.

On Thursday, there were no passengers.

“Just a full team effort, all around. Those are the types of games that you want to play,” Matthews says.

Adds Samsonov: “D-zone, offensive zone, we dominate today.”

In the wake of his group’s most complete effort, as all his strings seem to be pulling in the same direction, does Keefe kind of wish it was March already?

“Whether I do or not, there’s no point in thinking about it,” Keefe replies, swallowing a sly smile.

“It’s not. So, we’ve got a long road ahead.”

Fox’s Fast 5

• Heartbreaking shoulder injury for Nick Robertson, who was set up for a decent run in Toronto’s top six with Calle Järnkrok already sidelined.

“You feel for the kid. He gives everything he has to the game,” Keefe said. “Feels a little differently when it’s a young guy like him, and he’s had his fair share of injuries each year that he’s played professionally. Tough thing for him.”

Robertson will bounce back. It’s what he does.

Maple Leafs’ Robertson heads to dressing room with help favouring his right shoulder

• Leafs superfan Justin Bieber was in the house — and sitting with the commoners. (Usually, he’s spotted up in the suites when he attends.)

Did Auston Matthews catch a glimpse of his famous friend’s outfit?

“Hard to miss,” Matthews smiles.

The Biebs joined the players in the dressing room to celebrate post-game.

• Aston-Reese had to answer Lizotte’s request to fight after this open-ice hit of puck carrier Arthur Kaliyev.

Should it be necessary to drop the gloves after a clean check?

“I was ready for it,” Aston-Reese shrugs. “Any time there’s a big hit, I think it’s just the culture. If your buddy, your teammate, gets hit hard, you’re gonna stick up for him. I have no problem with it. It’s part of the game. You just have to be ready to answer the bell.”

• Ten-year pro Logan Shaw, 30, was named captain of the Marlies, taking over duties from Rich Clune. He has 25 points through 22 games, on track for his most productive AHL season.

“The Leafs organization is what I watched growing up,” says the Nova Scotia native. “It’s not an easy league. You’re on the bus for long hours, and sometimes it can get pretty crappy, but I just want to make sure that everyone knows that I’m there to support them. I’m on an American League deal, so I’m here to help those guys.”

Coach Greg Moore was impressed by Shaw’s effort to build relationships with everyone within the Marlies from the outset of camp: “Really strong emotional intelligence of just knowing what’s needed and how to feel out moments. And he’s just super competitive, and he backs it up on the ice. [He] demands a lot of himself and demands a lot of the team.”

• Marner keeps saying Kämpf deserves much more credit than he receives.

“It’s huge for me, from a guy like him,” Kämpf says.

In addition to his stellar defensive play, the $1.5-million bargain centre is producing at an 11-goal, 32-point clip. He’s on track for his greatest offensive season.

Toronto is undefeated in regulation (14-0-1) whenever Kämpf scores a goal.

Maybe it’s time to talk extension.

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

Published

12 hours ago

October 18, 2024

Anne Joseph

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

Published

22 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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

Published

22 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

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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