It wasn’t the prettiest of games at Rogers Place on Saturday night, but the Edmonton Oilers did enough things right to earn the 2 points. Sniper Zach Hyman and playmaker Evan Bouchard teamed up on all 3 Edmonton goals, while Stuart Skinner took care of business at the defensive end allowing but a single tally. That combination was enough to lift the Oil to a 3-1 win over Ottawa Senators.
The Oilers certainly created plenty of offensive looks, outshooting the visitors 46-30 while compiling a massive 26-10 advantage in Grade A Shots including 11-3 in 5-alarm chances (running count). Lots of “A-minus” type chances in there as execution was off just a smidge, often because an opponent had a stick or skate in the lane to at least disrupt things, but sometimes because things weren’t quite clicking.
But a win is a win, and this one was Edmonton’s seventh in succession; they’re not all going to be masterpieces. It was also their 20th of the season, moving them into the top wild card position in terms of points percentage.
#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Delivered in the game’s key moments. His powerplay point shot through traffic finally broke a scoreless tie in the game’s 39th minute, even as Hyman was ultimately credited with a deflection on the play. Survived a scary collision at the end of the second when his face got bounced off a seam in the glass, leading to a nasty cut and a certain amount of leakage during a gutsy third period. Made a fine recovery and quick lead pass to a breaking Hyman for the 2-0 at even strength. Took a marginal though entirely unnecessary interference penalty midway in the third. Was part of the problem on the 1 Ottawa tally when he was unable to contain Brady Tkachuk’s drive to the net front. Helped get that back with a secondary assist on the 3-1. Played 23:24 in all situations to lead the Oilers. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +3/-4; Special Teams (+2/-0).
#10 Derek Ryan, 5. Nothing doing offensively on this night, indeed Oilers got outshot 6-1 during his 8:23 at evens. But was strong on the PK and held his own as the Oilers’ only right-shot faceoff man, winning 6/11=55%. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-0.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 5. Not at his best managing the puck, but survived a few nervous moments. He too played ~2 minutes on the PK, allowing little while getting a shorthanded breakaway of his own which he was unable to finish. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +1/-0.
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 6. Mostly solid, though he was part of the problem on the Sens’ goal. Solid shot shares and some good moments moving the puck. Drilled Vladimir Tarasenko with a heavy hit. GAS: ES +3/-3; ST +0/-0.
#18 Zach Hyman, 9. Looked after all the scoring with a pair of goal-mouth deflections and an outside shot on the rush that somehow got through Anton Forsberg (who otherwise had a strong game). Had a splendid night on the powerplay, where he was credited with 6 of Edmonton’s 9 shots and made a lovely pass to set up Draisaitl for another. Had 8 shots in all situations to co-lead the team, while involved in a whopping 12 Grade A shots at the good end and none at all at the bad. Already has 25 goals on the season. GAS: ES +6/-0; ST +6/-0.
#21 Adam Erne, 5. Brought the physicality with 5 hits on a night no other Oiler had more than 1, and did that in just 6:40 of ice time. Had a dangerous deflection from close range. Was among those beaten on the Ottawa goal, however.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 7. Had a splendid night on the PK, on which he played 3:01. Made 3 separate zone clears on the double minor, and enabled a fourth with an excellent in-zone pass to Brown that keyed a rush the other way. Made a key shot block early in the third. 2 shots. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 5. Quiet, low-key, mostly in control. Nothing happening at either end of the sheet. Played just 13:07, fully 4½ minutes fewer than his partner Desharnais. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 6. Relatively quiet night, even as his line carried the play with a 13-6 advantage in shots.. Held a similar edge (13/19=68%) on the faceoff dot, including a key win that set the table for the late powerplay goal that sealed the deal. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +3/-0.
#37 Warren Foegele, 6. Another industrious game that included 4 shots and 7 attempts in 15 minutes of action. Did have a couple of turnovers and a somewhat clumsy collision with Nurse that resulted in a jailbreak the other way. Drew a pair of penalties in the third, with the refs actually calling the second one. That set the table for the clincher. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-0.
#57 James Hamblin, 5. Played a team-low 6:18 with little impact, sawing off in shot attempts, shots and scoring chances. Blanks in the Event Summary under shots, hits, and faceoff wins are not apt to turn heads his way, but he continues to hang on to an NHL job and has already beaten the odds by playing in the last 26 games. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0
#73 Vincent Desharnais, 6. A tower of power along the walls and in the low slot. Not perfect with the puck on his stick, but many more good touches than bad ones. Solid on the penalty kill. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.
#74 Stuart Skinner, 8. Another in a series of strong performances, even as he had plenty of help from his friends who allowed just 3x 5-alarm chances. He too chipped in on the penalty kill with 5/5 saves. Lost his shutout with 5 minutes left, but guided the ship home. Saved 1.75 goals above expected. 30 shots, 29 saves, .967 save percentage.
#91 Evander Kane, 5. His 4-minute penalty for a somewhat unlucky high-sticking infraction was a potential turning point, but his mates turned it right back with an expert kill. Had some good offensive moments with 5 shots, and was flat-out robbed on a close-in chance and its rebound in the dying minutes. Played just 14:14. GAS: ES +4/-0; ST +0/-0.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. Struggled with puck management behind his own blueline, failing to clear the zone more than once. Hard to argue, however, with a shot share of +14/-5 at even strength, an assist on the powerplay, and 2:22 on the PK to lead the forward corps. 6 shots on net. Drew a penalty. GAS: ES +7/-1; ST +4/-0.
#97 Connor McDavid, 8. The puck was moving in the right direction when he was out there, with the Oilers outshooting the Sens 14-7 at 5v5 even as the goals were tough to come by. Drew the penalty that led to the game’s first goal. A couple of weird decisions to pass the puck from good shooting position on 2-on-1 rushes with first Draisaitl, then Hyman in the third, but did muster 8 shots on goal along the way to co-lead the team. Despite the strong flow-of-play he couldn’t get anything to go until late in the third, when his perfect powerplay pass found Hyman’s blade for the deflection that ended the suspense. 8 shots, 3 (of Oilers’ 5) takeaways, 8/14=57% on the dot, and these terrific Grade A shots tallies: ES +7/-0; ST +4/-0.
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer:
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
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AP NBA:
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