EDMONTON — How do you lose at home to the Minnesota Wild, despite leading three times in the game?
You have a scoring line that scores three goals, but you have a checking line that gives up just as many. Deflect a puck into your own cage in the third period, and voila!
It’s a 5-3 win for Minnesota, which got the rare blueliner hat trick from defenceman Jared Spurgeon.
Oilers head coach Dave Tippet couldn’t complain about Leon Draisaitl’s line, which popped three. But the Riley Sheahan-Josh Archibald-Tyler Benson line? Not only did they not provide any depth scoring, they spent the night fishing the puck out of their own net, all going minus-three.
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What does a coach hope for when he has one scoring line, with Connor McDavid still on the shelf?
“You are hoping something comes alive or that the other lines don’t get scored on,” said Tippett. “One line got scored on — a lot.”
“When you give up four, that’s too many,” continued Tippett, whose team has gone a respectable 3-2-1 sans McDavid, though the totality of all the injuries is beginning to add up. “The margin for error is slim, but when you give up four, you have to score five and that’s too many. Too many goals against.”
It is the reason why nobody has any confidence that the Toronto Maple Leafs can win a playoff round, even if they make the post-season. Or why Calgarians are looking at their Flames with a critical eye these days.
Good teams keep the puck out of their net with consistency, and only five NHL teams allow more goals on a nightly basis than Toronto. Calgary, meanwhile, is the only one of 16 teams currently holding down a playoff position that has a negative goal differential, at minus-11.
Edmonton is no hell at plus-four, but since Jan. 1 they’ve been the 13th stingiest team in the NHL — a direct cause of its 11-5-3 record since then. And with McDavid playing they tend to score enough, so that No. 13 ranking is just fine.
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You might win the odd game 6-5, but as long as you’re playing games like that, you’re not going to be preparing for any playoff success.
“We gave up (39) shots tonight? Not good enough,” said Oilers defenceman Matt Benning. “They just kind of took us over down low, and we really didn’t have the pushback. We sustained some pressure, looked good. But there were times when they just took it to us.”
The teams emerged from the dressing room tied 3-3 after 40 minutes, but Minnesota absolutely owned the final period, sweeping the season series 3-0 from the club that calls Wild GM Bill Guerin an alumnus.
Wild defenceman Carson Soucy scored, and over 100 friends and family from nearby Irma, Alta., could be heard cheering at Rogers Place. Then Spurgeon capped a hat trick with an empty netter, sending the Spurgeon clan home happy as well.
“It’s about 15 minutes (to drive for his dad), 25 in rush hour and it’s pretty special,” Spurgeon said. “My grandma was watching (at home) and my sister and my niece are here. It’s pretty awesome.”
It was a crucial, gutsy win for the Wild, closing out their dads trip here in Edmonton in style. They won the first game in front of their dads with a come-from-behind shootout win at Vancouver.
“It gives you goosebumps,” said interim head coach Dean Evason. “Just as you’re talking, saying it, it gives you goosebumps. The look around the room after and to see all the jerseys and huge smiles on dads and mentors. It’s special for sure. Very special.”
Adam Larsson deflected the game-winner past his own goalie, giving the Wild their first lead of the night halfway through the third period. They’d earned it though, walking into the Oilers building and beating them fair and square.
The Oilers leave Saturday for a three-game trip through Los Angeles, Anaheim and Las Vegas, all sandwiched around Monday’s trading deadline.
McDavid looks like he’ll be ready to return in L.A., or at worst, Tuesday in Anaheim.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
