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Connor McDavid surpasses 150-point plateau as Edmonton Oilers roll to seventh straight win

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Apr 8, 2023; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) defends against Edmonton Oilers center Mattias Janmark (26) during the third period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports Photo by Stan Szeto /USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

Oilers 6, Sharks 1

Edmonton Oilers continued their white-hot roll on Saturday afternoon, running their latest winning streak to seven games, their longest during the salary cap era. Leading the way once again was Connor McDavid, whose 2 goals and 1 assist made him the first NHL player this century — and only the sixth ever — to surpass the lofty 150-point milestone.
McDavid had plenty of help on this day. Playing their last home game of the season, the Sharks put up a good battle for roughly half the game. The Oilers matched their effort level and were otherwise superior in every way. The suddenly defence-conscious Oilers held their opponents to 1 goal or fewer for the fifth consecutive game, while pouring home 2 of their own… in each period.

With the win Edmonton gained a point on Vegas — in first place in both the Pacific Division and Western Conference — who lost in the shootout at Dallas. The Oil now stand just 2 points back with 2 games to play for each team and hold the tie-breaker as well.

The Oilers outshot the Sharks 35-23. Their true dominance shone through in the Cult of Hockey‘s count of Grade A shots, which they led by 15-4, with an 8-2 advantage in the subset of 5 alarm chances (preliminary running count). As has become our recent custom, we will record individual contributions to Grade A shots, both for and against, at the end of each player’s comment.

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 8. The young blueliner has been coming on gangbusters since being paired with Ekholm on Mar 01, with with impressive boxcars of 19 GP, 3-14-17, +11 in that span. 2 of the points, both secondary assists, and 4 of the pluses came in an impressive showing in the Shark Tank that saw Edmonton dominate shot and goal share on Bouchard’s watch. Goals notwithstanding, I was most impressed on a play Bouch appeared set to unleash a risky cross-ice pass through the neutral zone, but thought better of it and fed a short, safe pass up the wall to a speeding McDavid. Good decision! GAS: +2/-0

#10 Derek Ryan, 8. Outstanding game for the veteran forward, who scored on the penalty kill, assisted at even strength, and also made an officially-uncredited contribution to a third Oilers tally. His play on the shorty was especially choice, intercepting Erik Karlsson’s pass in the defensive zone, breaking out 3 on 1 with Nugent-Hopkins and Nurse, feeding the puck to RNH and then stopping at the net front, stick on the ice to fire home the return pass. That made the score 4-1 in the dying seconds of the middle frame and ended any doubt as to the outcome. 15:55 TOI including 1:59 on the PK with fabulous shot shares and a team best 5/9=56% on the faceoff dot. GAS: +4/-0.

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 9. The Oilers have been a different club since his arrivial on Mar 01. Ekholm took it to a new level on Saturday, becoming just the second Oiler since 1987 to log +6 in a single game (Sam Gagner was the other, in his famous 8-point game). Ekholm didn’t light up the scoreboard the way Gagner did, but the Oilers were in control of the game for seemingly every second of his 19:07 of ice time. He held mammoth leads in on-ice shot attempts (30-16), shots on net (+18/-8) and especially high danger chances (+16/-3!). His lone assist was a beautiful delayed backhand pass that found Hyman alone in front. Involved in a couple of nice give-and-go plays with McDavid that led to dangerous shots but not goals. But hey, +6. Now leads the 2022-23 Oilers with +25, this despite playing just 19 games with the club. To put that in perspective, runners-up Nurse (+23) and McDavid (+22) have both played all 80 games. I’ve never seen the like. GAS: +3/-0.

#18 Zach Hyman, 7. Another fine showing with 1-1-2, +2. Made a great goal-mouth pass to RNH for the open-net tap-in that opened the scoring, then scored the 3-1 himself by taking Ekholm’s pass at the bottom of the right circle, stickhandling in tight before depositing a backhand shot past an embattled James Reimer. Otherwise fairly quiet, but damage done. GAS: +2/-0.

#21 Klim Kostin, 6. The only Oiler without a shot on goal or even an attempt, Kostin nonetheless had a strong game with 5 hits, some adept passing, and an excellent defensive stop that thwarted a very dangerous chance. Skated with purpose all afternoon. GAS +0/-0.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 7. Another rock solid outing despite the absence of his usual partner, Cody Ceci, back in Edmonton attending the birth of his first child. Nurse was the only Oiler, D or F, to hit the 20-minute mark, despite not having a regular partner all day long. He played at least a minute with all 6 other d-men, including 5, 4, and 3 minutes respectively with Broberg, Desharnais, and Demers, usually at the other end of the rotation. Also led the squad with 2:58 on the PK, recording a +1 on that unit. Put out a few fires, didn’t start any. Crunched Erik Karlsson with an open-ice hit, and made a terrific diving block of a lethal pass. GAS: +1/-0.

#26 Mattias Janmark, 5. Spent too much time in his own end of the sheet (shot attempts +5/-16) but his unit limited the damage to just +4/-6 in actual shots. Took a penalty for a borderline foul. GAS: +1/-0.

#27 Brett Kulak, 5. Similar to Janmark in shot distribution (a poor +11/-25 in attempts, but a middling +7/-8 in shots on net). Played a team high 18:32 at even strength. 4 hits, 3 blocks. GAS” +1/-2.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 6. Struggled at times, marked by an uncharacteristic 3/12=25% on the dot. But created plenty offensively, setting up linemate Kane for 4 Grade A shots, and making a splendid behind-the-back pass to Broberg for the young Swede’s first goal of the season. GAS: +6/-0.

#37 Warren Foegele, 7. Strong game playing with Ryan and various guest stars on the 2-man fourth unit. Made chicken salad out of chicken feathers when he found a bouncing puck in the slot and managed to pop it over to McDavid for the game winner, coincidentally his 150th point. Around the puck all night. GAS: +1/-1.

#44 Jason Demers, 5. Achieved a late career dream with his first NHL game in 2 seasons, and his milestone 700th at that back in his old haunts. Tough start when he lost control of the puck in the corner, leading directly to the Sharks’ lone goal of the game. Recovered nicely thereafter, playing 10:44 in the 7D role with 3 hits and 3 blocked shots. Showed his experience in shutting down a couple of sorties, including a great hit on Tomas Hertl to snuff out a zone entry.

#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 5. Quiet game, okay defensively but created little. 1 shot, 1 hit. 2 takeaways. GAS: +0/-0.

#72 Nick Bjugstad, 5. Also mostly quiet, although that is more in keeping with his job description. His 23 shifts led the forwards and tied Nurse and Kulak for the team lead. Took the rarely-seen minor penalty, “2 minutes for being taller than his opponent”. GAS: +2/-1.

#73 Vincent Desharnais, 7. Moved up the depth chart in Ceci’s absence, even starting the game paired with Nurse. Made lots of good decisions with the puck. Played 16:45 including 2:16 on the penalty kill, during which time the Sharks mustered exactly 1 (one) shot on net. Vinnie himself blocked more shots (3) than did his goalie on his watch. GAS +0/-0.

#74 Stuart Skinner, 7. Kept things tidy on those rare occasions play broke down in front of him. Not much chance on the bang-bang play that beat him.  Now has 27 wins this season, 1 shy of Grant Fuhr’s franchise record for a rookie. 23 shots, 22 saves, .957 save percentage.

#86 Philip Broberg, 6. Scored his first goal of the season by going hard to the net to take Draisaitl’s pass, then finding his own rebound behind Reimer and tapping it home. A couple of iffy moments with the puck, nothing costly. GAS: +1/-0.

#91 Evander Kane, 7. Played a solid 18:22 against his old team, firing 7 shots on net to lead both teams and adding 4 hits. GAS: +6/-0, with all 6 Grade A shots coming off his own stick. Unlucky to be held off the scoresheet.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 8. Another first-rate performance with 1-2-3, +4, raising his careers highs to 37-66-103 on the season. Finished off Hyman’s pass at the side of the net for the 1-0; made a splendid cross-crease pass to Ryan for the shorty; and threaded a gorgeous through pass at the blueline to McDavid for the late cherry-on-top. Excellent on the PK as usual, leading all forwards with 2:28 (of 4:00 total). GAS: +3/-0.

#97 Connor McDavid, 9. On fire in the first period, driving the net time and again and creating all sorts of chaos in the San Jose zone. Helped set up RNH’s ice-breaker with a greta drive to the net-front. Scored the 2-1 himself by finishing off Foegele’s pass after first stealing the puck himself to create the chance. That was his 150th point of the season, joining Wayne Gretzky (9 times!), Mario Lemieux (4), Steve Yzerman, Phil Esposito, and Bernie Nicholls (once each) as the only NHLers to ever breathe such rarefied air. That stood up as the game-winner, his league leading (tied) 11th of the season. Converted a late breakaway for his 64th goal of the season, the most of any Oiler since Jari Kurri potted 68 back in 1985-86. Now 7 ahead of David Pastrnak in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy, and appears set to be the first NHLer to win the “triple crown” (goals, assists, and points) since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. 10 shot attempts, 6 on goal, and 4 takeaways. GAS: +6/-1.

 

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Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

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November 8, 2024

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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.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

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.

___

AP cricket:

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

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November 8, 2024

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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.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

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November 8, 2024

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Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

—

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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