Well, they didn’t take a single penalty, and they shut out the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 minus their best player (Auston Matthews) and with backup goalie Jack Campbell between the pipes.
“They played such a good game; they were so solid everywhere,” said Connor McDavid, when asked on Monday how his team managed not to get even a single powerplay for the first time all season. “They were never in a desperate situation where they needed to hook or hold a guy. Part of that is us not going hard enough to the net or making enough plays. Another part is them just playing so well and being in the right position all of the time.
“Kind of weird to not get a powerplay. But you’ve got to give a lot of the credit to them. They did a lot of things right.”
On Monday, the Leafs will go down their goaltending ladder a spot, while Edmonton starts Mikko Koskinen, part of a 50-50 situation in the Oilers goal.
Leafs-Oilers, Round 2. Here’s what you need to know:
A change on the blue line
Minor changes in the Oilers lineup, but one that will make a lot of fans happy as youngster Evan Bouchard looks to draw in, with Kris Russell coming out.
The issue here for Dave Tippett is, Russell is a penalty killer, and one of three left-shot defencemen. Bouchard does not kill penalties, and his presence makes four right-shot D-men in Edmonton’s lineup.
Judging by what we saw at the morning skate Monday, the 21-year-old Bouchard will play the left side next to Ethan Bear.
“Bouch has practised on the left side and played some left side in junior. He’s a guy that we’ve kind of earmarked (as a guy) who can go over there,” said Tippett, who is cognisant of asking a young player to play his off side. “He’s comfortable with it. If he wasn’t comfortable with it, it would be a tougher decision.”
As for Toronto, there are two burning issues here: Will Auston Mathews play? And who starts in goal?
While head coach Sheldon Keefe called it “a game-time decision” we suspect no for Matthews, who practiced long after the regulars had left the morning skate on Monday. As for the goalie, Michael Hutchinson spent the practice in the starter’s net, while Campbell did not practice on Sunday or Monday.
We know that coaches don’t like to change a winning lineup, but Keefe would make an exception where Mathews is concerned, no doubt.
“I think we would always find room for Auston,” said Keefe.
Like every NHL coach, he’s had to take a new look at roster management this season, with a lot of games in a short period, and a super-sized roster full of guys who want to play.
“No matter how you play as a team you’re always evaluating what’s happening,” Keefe said. “We’ve shown throughout the season we want to utilize our depth and keep people involved with our group. I don’t think, especially with injuries and such that we’ve ever ruled anybody out to being in the mix and we have to continue to balance that. Certainly, when you come off a good game and you’re feeling good, you want to give the group another opportunity to go.”
Here is how we suspect the Leafs will line up Monday:
The Leafs held Connor McDavid to zero points on a minus-three night for the Oilers captain on Saturday. What are the chances they handle the Oilers as easily tonight?
“I think we’ve been all right in games where we’re coming off of losses,” said McDavid, whose Oilers are 6-2 in the next game after a loss this season.
The Maple Leafs are ready for a renewed effort from a Edmonton team that fell to six points behind Toronto in the North, and doesn’t want to let them get away.
“They’re going to come back hard,” Zach Hyman said. “I think this whole season series we’ve had against them has been back and forth. They’re going to come out with their best and we’re going to be ready for that. It’ll be a really good game.”
Truly, the season series now sits at 3-2 for Toronto, with the teams splitting games in Toronto, then again in Edmonton, before opening this three-game set on Saturday.
Toronto made it hard on McDavid to find his trademark speed through the neutral zone Saturday, playing the middle of the ice to perfection. He knows what the solution is, and we would predict a more concerted effort from No. 97 tonight.
“Just continuing to fight through some of those checks. Continuing to skate puts guys on their heels,” McDavid said. “And when things aren’t going to happen through the middle you put pucks in and try to get ‘em back, and start rolling around in the offensive zone.
“It’s nothing new from what I’ve faced. I have to be better, I guess.”
Said Tippett: “There are situations in the game that dictate. When you’re on transition, you get openings. If you’re facing real tight structure, you have to read and react. That’s part of the game.”
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.
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.
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.
