The Edmonton Oilers came out hard and mustered an impressive amount of offensive thrust, but a series of horrendous defensive miscues, most notably by veteran Darnell Nurse on Vancouver’s third goal, plagued them and led to a 4-3 loss.
Vancouver’s goalie Casey DeSmith also outplayed Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner by a wide margin.
The Grade A shots (which go in 25 per cent of the time on average) were 21 for Edmonton, just six for Vancouver, with the subset of 5-alarm shots (which go in 33 per cent of the time on average) was ten for the Oilers, six for the Canucks (running count).
Leon Draisaitl, 8. The Oil’s best layer by far. He made 12 major contributions to Grade A shots, not one major mistake on a Grade A shot against. The big man set the tone early on. Great start, pushing Vancouver d-man Tyler Myers off the puck to set up RNH in the slot, but no goal. A moment later he failed to score on a 5-alarm shot off his own at the side of the net but in that same battle, he finally forced the puck in. He almost made it 2-0 a few minutes later, but Casey DeSmith got a frantic glove on his Executioner’s Shot, his deadly one-timer where he lashes his stick at the net. He picked off Noah Juulsen’s horrendous pass on the PK, leading to Edmonton’s second goal. He drew a penalty leading his line on another fierce forecheck. He failed to cash in a glorious rebound opportunity off a Bouchard snapper in the second. Had three wicked power play shots, one a backhander, two others harpoons, mid-way through the third but failed to drain them. Grade A shots: ES +6, -0: ST, +6, -0.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. Much more good than bad. Failed to drain Drai’s brilliant pass in the first minute. But he won the puck back and helped set up Drai’s early 5-alarmer, then got another shot with Drai finally cashing in on the rebound. He failed to block off the outside shot on Vancouver’s second goal. He fired a hard outside wrister on the power play in the second that DeSmith somehow missed for his third point of the game. Grade A shots: ES +4, -1: ST, +3, -0.
Zach Hyman, 7. Solid work. Huge effort on the first Edmonton goal, bashing around until he and his linemates finally scored. He got handsy on a forecheck and took an early penalty, which the Canucks cashed in. His d-zone turnover kicked off the Sequence of Pain on Vancouver’s second goal. He helped win the puck battle on Edmonton’s second goal. Almost drained a rebound off a Bouchard outside shot. Grade A shots: ES +5, -1: ST, +1, -0.
Connor McDavid, 7. Good game, but needed to orchestrate more goals. Held back by two linemates still not up to speed. He moved fast on an early power play and set up Drai’s first harpoon of a one-timer. He fished out the puck on the net front scrum to score early in the second on the power play. He almost tipped a Ceci shot in. Grade A shots: ES +3, -0: ST, +7, -1.
Evander Kane, 3. He looks a step behind and with iffy hands just now. Brutal but legal body check on Filip Hronek in the first. But not making enough of a positive impact on the game. Grade A shots: ES +0, -0: ST, +0, -0.
Ryan McLeod, 7. At least his line has some jump. He puck protected well to help set up a Foegele Grade A in the second. He made a smart play to get the puck deep for a necessary line-change. He broke in early in the third for a Grade A rush shot, then set up Holloway in the crease for another Grade A. He charged up ice to set up Holloway for a dangerous shot a few shifts later. Grade A shots: ES +4, -2: ST, +0, -0.
Warren Foegele, 5. His aggressive forecheck on Myers led to a battle won and dangerous shot in the first. He completely missed the net on his shot, kicking off the Sequence of Pain jailbreak on Vancouver’s third goal. A moment later he went hard to the net to for a Grade A shot. Grade A shots: ES +3, -1: ST, +0, -0.
Mattias Janmark, 4. He failed to contain Quinn Hughes’ outside shot on Vancouver’s first goal but that’s no easy play. Grade A shots: ES +0, -0: ST, +0, -1.
Adam Erne, 4. Barely played, just 6:13. Grade A shots: ES +0, -0: ST, +0, -0.
Derek Ryan, 4. Barely played, just 5:27. Grade A shots: ES +0, -0: ST, +0, -0.
Darnell Nurse, 2. Just a horrendous play by Nurse on the third Vancouver goal as he wandered aimlessly up ice on an Edmonton break, allowing a 2-0 Vancouver breakaway. The Oilers already had four men on that rush, but Nurse decided to go all-on for some reason. That may be the worst play he’s ever made in the NHL, mainly because he’s a veteran now and can’t make this kind of mental error. He was bumped down to his low grade due to that play, as it was so significant. Grade A shots: ES +3, -1: ST, +0, -0.
Cody Ceci, 2. He wandered too far out of the defensive slot, allowing two 5-alarm slot shots from Connor Garland early in the second. Terrible play by Ceci. Like Nurse, he made a colossal mistake charging up and getting caught out of position on Vancouver’s third goal. Just awful. Grade A shots: ES +1, -3: ST, +0, -0.
Evan Bouchard, 7. Moved the puck wel; and bounced back defensively after a rancid first game. Hammered an outside shot in the second that Hyman almost jammed home. He did well quarterbacking the power play, moving the puck well. Grade A shots: ES +1, -0: ST, +0, -0.
Mattias Ekholm, 4. A bit rusty with some of his puckmoving in the first but looked sharp as the game progressed. Then came Sam Lafferty’s rush goal in the third, where he simply blew by Ekholm, still in pre-season form obviously. Grade A shots: ES +0, -1: ST, +0, -0.
Philip Broberg, 6. Solid game for the young defender. He played his off-side on the right and did well. Maybe a bit late to stop Kuzmenko’s tip goal on Vancouver’s first period power play. He charged in from the blueline to set up a Foegele rush and shot in the second. Grade A shots: ES +1, -0: ST, +0, -1.
Brett Kulak, 5. Like Ekholm, still shaking off the rust of his preseason injury, with some iffy puckmoving. He failed to take Nils Hoglander’s stick on Vancouver’s second tipped goal. But some good plays as well. Grade A shots: ES +1, -1: ST, +0, -0.
Stuart Skinner, 4. He didn’t let in any stinkers, but he failed to make big saves when needed. He let in four goals on six Grade A shots, not close to what you’d like to see. Made his first big save stopping a Pius Sutter break-in shot five minutes into the game. He had little chance on Kuzemenko’s tipped in goal, nor on Hoglander’s goal, two goals that we like to call the Californian, in honour of Brett Burns and Joe Pavelski combining on so many such goals against the Oilers over the years. Two huge saves on Garland early in the second. A save would have been nice on Lafferty’s third period rush goal, but not to be.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.
Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.
After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.
“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”
Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.
“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”
Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.
Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.
Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.
Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.
Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.
Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.
Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.
Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.
Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.
That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.
“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”
Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.
Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.
___
AP golf:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic is moving on to the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open.
The Mississauga, Ont., native defeated the tournament top seed, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Stakusic faced a 0-4 deficit in the third and final set before marching back into the match.
The 19-year-old won five of the next six games to even it up before exchanging games to force a tiebreaker, where Stakusic took complete control to win the match.
Stakusic had five aces with 17 double faults in the three-hour, four-minute match.
However, she converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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