This just in: The Maple Leafs aren’t a good hockey team.
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‘OUT OF CONTROL’: Maple Leafs defence falls apart in third period in embarrassing loss to Ottawa
The actual Battle of Ontario is between the Leafs and their own end.
Coach Sheldon Keefe said his concern level with the Leafs’ defensive play is “very high.”
“We sit in here and we celebrate guys who score, big numbers and score a ton,” Keefe said, trying to hold in his exasperation. “We don’t talk enough about what we give up. That’s the reality. We have to prioritize keeping the puck out of our net.
“Some of it is individual, some of it is collective within the structure. Some of it is just being committed to it.
With the game tied 3-3 in the third period, the Leafs gave up three goals in a span of less than four minutes, as Dominik Kubalik, Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux beat goalie Joseph Woll to secure Ottawa’s second win in seven games.
The Leafs have played seven home games. They’ve allowed at least four goals in every one, tying a franchise record to begin a season set in 1976-77. On what planet is that the mark of a sound team? Finding their way? No one should be buying that.
The players brought in by general manager Brad Treliving — and we’re talking about forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, Ryan Reaves and defenceman John Klingberg — have never been known as defensive stalwarts.
We’ve figured Treliving had some time to get help on the blue line with the trade deadline months away. It’s becoming more urgent for the Leafs general manager to pull the trigger on something a lot sooner.
The Leafs tied the game 3-3 at 7:42 of the third when Nick Robertson put Domi’s pass into the net on a two-on-one.
After that, Toronto fell apart.
Some takeaways:
DEFENCE RESTS
The Leafs won’t be confused with the sturdier defensive teams in the National Hockey League.
The veteran pair of Mark Giordano and Klingberg had a particularly tough night, as it was on the ice for the first three Senators goals. Klingberg is a defensive headache, and the Sens took advantage. Ottawa’s second goal, by Giroux, came after the Leafs couldn’t get organized enough to even think of clearing the puck.
The fourth line was on the ice for another goal, as it was at the end of a shift when Jakob Chychrun scored. Too bad for the David Kampf trio, too, as it had some rare offensive-zone pressure not long before that goal. Ryan Reaves, who gets on the ice just a little bit more than you do, somehow is minus-9.
CRACK IN THE WOLL
The Leafs will lean on Woll while Ilya Samsonov tries to get back to the standard he set last season. But on Wednesday, Woll was not good. The goal by Chychrun that gave Ottawa a 3-2 lead in the second period was stoppable as the defenceman’s shot slipped under the goalie’s left leg.
The last thing the Leafs need are two goalies who aren’t up to par. Ask the Edmonton Oilers how demoralizing it can be when both goalies stink.
“First and foremost, it’s not good enough by me,” Woll said. “I know I need to be better. I know I have more to offer the team. That will be my focus going forward.”
THE GOOD
William Nylander extended his point streak to start a season with at least one point in 13 games, increasing his franchise record.
Nylander’s goal at 5:47 of the first period was what we’ve come to expect from the gifted winger — a shot fired to the top corner that Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo could only wave at.
And there was Bertuzzi, gathering the puck to his forehand to beat Korpisalo early in the second to tie the game 2-2. It was Bertuzzi’s first goal with Toronto at five-on-five.
Tavares had two assists to move him to 989 points in his NHL career, tying him with Paul Kariya for 100th place in league history.
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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.
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AP NBA:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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