The Edmonton Oilers got out-worked in this one by a Winnipeg Jets team evidently determined to get some revenge for Friday’s humiliation in Edmonton.
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Player grades: Leon Drasaitl big as damn mountain but it’s not enough to lead Edmonton Oilers over Winnipeg Jets
In the end, Grade A shots were 15 to 14 for the Jets, but the Oilers had nine 5-alarm shots compared to eight for the Jets (running count).
Connor McDavid, 7. He led the team with nine major contributions to Grade A shots, but could only muster a single assist from all that excellent process. On his first shift, he wheeled behind the net on the power to set up Bouchard’s harpoon that led to Draisaitl’s goal. He failed to cover off the slot man for the tip shot on Winnipeg’s third goal. He fired a one-timer pass to Draisaitl for Edmonton’s fourth goal. He launched some wicked shots on the Winnipeg net in the third but failed to score.
Leon Draisaitl, 9. For the third game in a row, he was flying out there. He won a board battle on his first shift of the game, always a good sign. Even better, he tapped in a rebound off a Bouchard shot for Edmonton’s first goal. He lost a battle behind the net, Edmonton’s first major defensive break down of the game, on Connor’s first period 5-alarm slot shot. He picked off a pass and launched a brilliant backhand shot for Edmonton’s third goal. He got the hat trick by charging the net and depositing McDavid’s hard pass into the slot. Early in the third, he batted a McD pass out of the air to Hyman, but Hyman failed to drain a bouncing pass. He made two sharp passes to set up a dangerous McD shots half-way through the third. He led all forwards playing 23:58.
Zach Hyman, 4. Hasn’t been at his best lately, as this game was part of that trend. Poked the puck to Draisaitl on Edmonton’s first goal. He was slow on the back check and allowed the outside shot on Winnipeg’s third goal. He came close to scoring but could not slam home passes from Draisaitl and RNH in the third.
Ryan McLeod, 3. He had a weak game on defence, losing too many battles and making mistakes on both Winnipeg first period goals. Brain glitch saw him fail to cover Mark Scheifele in the slot on Winnipeg’s first goal. Next, he threw away the puck leading up to Winnipeg’s second goal.
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Warren Foegele, 4. Failed to keep alive his run of superior play. Some solid, confident plays with the puck early on but faed as game went on and got few shifts.
Mattias Janmark, 7. One of his better games, though not without a blemish. He charged in on a breakaway early on but Hellebuyck poke-checked him. A moment later he broke his stick, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on Winnipeg’s first goal, as he was unable to cut out a crucial pass. He made no mistake on his second break-in chance, pounding in the pass from RNH for Edmonton’s second goal.
Nick Bjugstad, 6. Good effort, good goal. He blocked a hard shot on his first shift and handled the puck well in the o-zone later in the game. He won a face off then went hard to the net, pounding in a great pass from Shore to make it 6-5.
Derek Ryan, 5. Quiet game but made an excellent hustling back check and stop ofn Scheifele late in the third.
Darnell Nurse, 5. He had a bad luck game but the effort was there and was generally solid. He crept a bit high, making him partly to blame for the breakaway on the fifth Winnipeg goal. He stood up for McDavid when Finnish forward Saku Maenalanen — which I understand roughly translates to Meathead-lanen in Finnish — took a run at the Oilers captain. Winnipeg scored on the following power play. But I’m still glad Nurse went after Maenalanen. Others are free to disagree.
Mattias Ekholm, 4. Some solid play, some iffy play too. He charged up ice and almost fired in a goal late in the second, but a few too many major mistakes on defence.
Evan Bouchard, 8. He had a whale of a game, leading the team in ice time with 24:18. Three assist night. He unleashed the Bouch Bomb to ignite Edmonton’s first goal scoring sequence. He again unleashed the Bomb to help set up Edmonton’s fifth goal. Generally held his own on defence and showed a bit of snarl as well.
Brett Kulak, 3. Iffy game on defence. Four major mistakes on Grade A shots against at even strength. He drew an early penalty and the Oil cashed in. He lost a battle in the corner off a face off, the first deep cut in the Sequence of Pain on Winnipeg’s second goal. He lost a battle in the n-zone, the first major mistake on Winnipeg’s third goal. He made a few strong offensive plays in the third.
Philip Broberg, 6. Kept a clean sheet, no major mistakes on Grade A shots against. He took a cross-checking hit in the third to draw a penalty and fired his own Grade A shot on net off a McDavid feed. He also pinched hard to kick off a sequence where McD got a Grade A shot.
Jack Campbell, 3. This game was Cambelltrons, though Winnipeg’s many goals were hardly on Campbell. He had some bad puck luck, but needed to make a few more saves. He made a stop on the first shot of the game, a Grade B scoring chance shot, another good sign. He next staved off a power play harpoon from Nino Neiderreiter, then an even more dangerous slot snipe from Kyle Connor. He then got beat by two point shots, one of them tipped in from the crease area, the other heavily screened and appearing to deflect off an Oiler or two or three in the high slot. He came out strong early in the second, stopping a dangerous rebound shot. Wheeler took the stick out of his hands on obvious goalie interference, but Campbell was still able to stop a harpoon from Scheifele. He blew it on an outside shot on Winnipeg’s fourth goal, going down too early, then failed to stop the breakaway on Winnipeg’s fifth goal. He let in Winnipeg’s back-breaker of its six goal, a point shot through a high slot screen. At that point Campbell had let in six goals on 13 Grade A shots, about two more goals than expected from that kind of barrage. He made a solid poke check stop half-way through the third.
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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:
Sports
Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says
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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