EDMONTON — The Vegas Golden Knights have earned a bit of a cushion in the standings with another strong road performance.
Shea Theodore scored the overtime winner as the Golden Knights maintained their hold on first place in the Pacific Division, defeating the second-place Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Monday — following a hard-fought 5-3 victory over the Flames in Calgary the previous night.
Theodore picked the top corner 2:13 into OT on a feed from Jonathan Marchessault, who scored the tying goal.
“It was a gutsy effort, three in four nights, playing last night and then back-to-back,” said Vegas head coach Pete DeBoer. “I thought our guys showed up and really did a good job, every guy out there that dressed, goalie on out.
“It was a big win for us, especially a big team win.”
Nicolas Roy also scored for the Golden Knights (39-24-8), who have gone 11-2-0 in their past 13 games and are now three points up on Edmonton for the division lead.
“It’s huge, we’re getting down to crunch time here and everyone is jockeying for positions and playoffs and the standings,” said Golden Knights defenceman Alec Martinez. “We knew this was going to be a big trip for us, and obviously we weren’t too happy with the start of it, but between last night and tonight we’re happy to get the win.”
Alex Chiasson and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins responded for the Oilers (37-24-9), who were playing without captain Connor McDavid, missing the game due to an illness.
“We are just playing a real disconnected game,” said Oilers head coach Dave Tippett. “We are just not playing very well as a group right now. I thought we had addressed some things this morning, but our execution is so poor in a lot of different situations.
“We can’t continue to play like that and feel like we are a good team.”
Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen was forced to make 45 saves for the second consecutive outing.
Edmonton got the scoring started nine minutes into the first period as Chiasson tipped an Oscar Klefbom shot past Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for his 11th of the season and his third goal in the last four games.
Vegas drew even with a power-play goal with three minutes remaining in the opening frame as a Nate Schmidt point blast was deflected by Roy before it clipped off of Koskinen’s glove and in.
The Golden Knights outshot the Oilers 15-3 in the first period.
There was no scoring in the second period — the best chance being a crossbar hit by Vegas forward Nick Cousins — with the shots sitting at 30-14 after 40 minutes.
The Oilers regained the lead seven minutes into the third as Kailer Yamamoto battled hard to send the puck in front to allow Nugent-Hopkins to score his 22nd.
Marchessault tied the game with eight minutes left in the third, lofting home his 22nd and first even-strength goal in 18 games.
The final shots were 48-24 for Vegas.
The Oilers continue their homestand with a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, while the Golden Knights play the fourth game of a five-game trip in Minnesota on Thursday.
Notes: It was the third of four meetings between the two teams this season. They split the first two games, both played in Vegas. Their final matchup goes on March 31 in Edmonton… In addition to McDavid, the Oilers were without the services of Joakim Nygard (hand) and Mike Green (knee)… Out with injuries for the Golden Knights were Alex Tuch (leg) and Mark Stone (lower body).
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
