Previously on Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers the Maple Leafs hosted the Panthers in a crucial game to try and build a lead against the Panthers, but lost 5-3. Previously to the previously, the Maple Leafs went to Miami, took a day off, then played the Panthers and lost 8-4.
Wow, I’m having some good luck with these Panthers/Leafs games eh?
Tonight’s game began well with a shot from Timothy Liljegren off the post a minute in that has the travelling Leafs fans on their feet.
The Florida Panthers come quickly down the ice to the Leafs zone and once again Mark Pysyk scores against the Maple Leafs to give the Panthers the lead early on in the first period.
After this goal, former Florida Panthers draft pick Zach Hyman will score to put the home away from home crowd on it’s feet and tie the game:
With less than four minutes played, it’s 1-1.
Play continues, uneventful, until the Panthers skate into the Leafs zone following an Alex Kerfoot turnover, and Frank Vatrano shoots into Frederik Andersen’s pads and Mike Hoffman is there for the rebound, tucks it nicely into the open side of the net. 2-1 Panthers.
There wasn’t a lot of defending going on in this play, Liljegren kind of just watches it happen.
Then, chaos happens.
The Leafs aren’t controlling the puck in their own zone, or the offensive zone as shown above, and their inability to exit the zone with the puck rather than missing a pass or dumping it out, comes back to haunt them as Nylander misses a pass that gets to the blue line and the Panthers defenders, which has Keith Yandle getting the puck to Noel Acciari who scores his 20th of the season.
William Nylander does his best to try and get the Leafs back in the game, skating in one on one, but the puck gets away from him, and the play ends up behind the net.
The Maple Leafs will get the first power play of the game when the Panthers are called for too many men on the ice.
The Panthers penalty kill was doing a good job at clogging the centre of the ice, causing the Leafs to struggle to get the puck into the offensive zone, and denying them a chance to set up.
Colton Sceviour gets the puck and comes into the Leafs zone, drawing Andersen into the far side of the net, but he skates around the net and by some miracle he doesn’t score:
The Leafs struggle to get past the Panthers PK, but just as the power play ends, Kasperi Kapanen gets a shot from the circle under Sergei Bobrovsky’s pad and brings the Leafs within one of the Panthers. 3-2.
The Maple Leafs tie the game after Matthews rubs off the puck-holding Panther on the boards behind the net, sending the puck up to Nylander who passes to Zach Hyman, who sends the puck across the crease to Auston Matthews who gets goal number 3 for Toronto:
The first ends with the game tied at three goals each.
Funny enough, this is also how the second period starts.
The start of the second period features the Panthers taking two shots on net, and seeing just how far they can push things without getting a call.
The Leafs decide to play hockey, and they attack the Panthers net with a bouncing puck and Barrie, Sandin, and Matthews do their best to try and score.
Zach Hyman almost scores a bit later on, but Bobrovsky splits himself in half to try and cover the net after he loses his stick, and denies the Leafs a fourth goal.
Both teams are getting their moments in the game and things are being kept tight between the two. Halfway through the game the goals are tied, the shots are tied, and we’re moving up and down the ice in waves.
Auston Matthews hasn’t been afraid to use his body in this game. He did it ahead of the second Leafs goal, and he continues to push people around.
The Leafs are not playing passively at all, or giving up as much room to the Panthers as they did in the firs period. They’ve more than doubled the number of Panthers shots, and controlling the puck in all three zones. The urgency of this game is being felt by all of the players on the ice.
I mean, most of the Leafs feel this urgency. Some are panicking.
Despite the play of the Leafs, Sergei Bobrovsky has played to their level, denying every chance they take and keeping the game tied. This isn’t to say Andersen hasn’t been tested, but he hasn’t been nearly as active as his Floridian counterpart.
As we have only three and a half minutes remaining, Martin Marincin is called for interference, giving the Panthers their first power play of the game.
The Panthers get the puck into the offensive zone, but the PK duo of Zach Hyman and Mitch Marner get the puck and they almost connect to take the lead, but once again Bobrovsky makes the save.
The Leafs change PK units, and Pierre Engvall and Kapanen try the same trick as Hyman-Marner, but Kapanen shoots wide on the play. The penalty is killed, but the Leafs offense is not. They keep digging hard and Auston Matthews wins a puck battle on the boards, gets it to Tavares who shoots but can’t score and the period will end still tied at three each.
The second period was completely different from the first. It was just great to see the Leafs not collapse into themselves after going down 3-1, rally to tie the game and come out harder and stronger than in the first.
Neither of these teams are happy with each other, and the first minute of the period sees a scrum along the boards with Jason Spezza skating away with words for the Panthers. Andersen makes some saves before and after this, and the Panthers have added a bit of an edge to their game for the final frame.
The Panthers are also aware of the magic that is Auston Matthews and panic when they see he has the puck:
The Maple Leafs trap the puck in the offensive zone, with Justin Holl playing the role of border guard at the blue line, and we see Jason Spezza almost score, as the Leafs increasing pressure on the net. The Panthers do a good defensive job, and eventually end the cycle.
The Maple Leafs have another mad scramble in the Panthers zone that sees Matthews, Hyman, and Kyle Clifford all make attempts on goal. Martin Marincin almost misplays the puck out of the zone but William Nylander scoops it up and scores the Leafs fourth goal of the game to finally break the tie.
The Leafs start to get a little sloppy as the period ticks on, giving away the puck just a little more than they have been, letting the Panthers have a bit more room in front of Andersen. Nothing to really worry about, but that little worrying bit at the back of my mind was working itself up.
Neither team is letting up, taking their foot on the gas, and all that. Weegar, Pysyk, and Aleksander Barkov all push hard for the Panthers, while Auston Matthews continues his reign of dominance over these last two periods.
At the two minute remaining mark, Andersen makes a vital save, keeping the Leafs in the lead. The Panthers call a time out with 1:52 left in the game as my blood pressure rises. The Panthers keep Bobrovsky on the bench following the time out.
The Leafs win the face-off and get the puck to the neutral zone, but the Panthers keep the Leafs from getting an empty net goal. The Panthers get a couple good shots on Andersen (Yandle, Barkov), and the Leafs are struggling to get the puck out of their zone. A lot of struggles but they battle against the Panthers defense and Justin Holl makes a desperate dump out of the zone, and it manages to roll into the empty net, giving the Leafs a 5-3 win over the team they’re trying to keep ahead of in the standings.
It was a very good game to watch the Leafs actually fight back against a disappointing start (three goals on six shots), and maintain a lead despite hard pressure coming from the opposition in the final minutes.
The Leafs bump their points lead to four ahead of the Panthers, and get a stronger hold onto the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
The next Maple Leafs game is Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks. Can they make it three wins in a row?
MONTREAL – On a night when New York’s top line was missing in action, the bit players grabbed the spotlight and led the Rangers to a commanding 7-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
“That’s the kind of team we have,” said Filip Chytil, who led the Rangers with a pair of power-play goals Tuesday. “The guys on the top line had chances but when they don’t score we have three other lines to pick up the slack.”
The Rangers’ dominance was reflected in the amount of time they spent in the Canadiens zone and their 45-23 edge in shots.
“If you’ve watched us practice, you know that’s something we work on all the time,” said Chytil. “When we get the puck, we want to hold on to it.”
The Rangers grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Mika Zibanejad at the 56-second mark and Jonny Brodzinski at 2:05, but it was Montreal which pressed the play in the first minute.
“I thought we had a good start but they turned it around on us,” said Montreal coach Martin St. Louis.
Lane Hutson controlled the puck off the opening faceoff and had two early shots, both of which were blocked by New York’s Jacob Trouba.
“That was huge for us,” said Rangers coach Peter Laviolette. “We know (Trouba) can generate offence but he can come up with those big defensive plays.”
Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault exited at 11:05 of the first period after giving up four goals on 10 shots. Zibanejad, Brodzinski, Chytil and Reilly Smith all scored on the Habs’ starter.
His replacement, Cayden Primeau, stopped 33 of 35 shots, giving up goals to Braden Schneider, Kaapo Kakko and Chytil.
Nick Suzuki scored both of the Montreal goals, his first strikes of the season
“It didn’t really feel like a 7-2 game until the end there when you look up at the scoreboard,” Suzuki said. “But we obviously keep digging ourselves these holes, and against a good team like that, our details early on have to be really sharp. And we were definitely a little sleepy coming out and they jumped on us.”
Hutson led the Canadiens in ice time with 24:10 but this wasn’t one of his better games. Smith scored on a breakaway after taking the puck off Hutson’s stick and the rookie was minus-4 for the night.
After Tuesday’s morning practice, the Canadiens announced forward Juraj Slafkovsky will miss at least a week with an upper-body injury. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle missed a second consecutive game with an upper-body injury but the team said it isn’t a long-term ailment.
The injury situation didn’t get any better after Trouba flattened Justin Barron at 7:11 of the third period. Barron didn’t return to the ice but there was no immediate word on his condition.
The Rangers welcomed back defenceman Ryan Lindgren, who made his season debut after missing five games with a jaw injury.
Before the game, 14 players from the Canadiens’ team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979 were introduced at the Bell Centre. Among them were Hockey Hall of Fame members Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Bob Gainey and Ken Dryden.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball has sold at auction for nearly $4.4 million, a record high price not just for a baseball, but for any ball in any sport, the auctioneer said Wednesday.
“We received bids from around the world, a testament to the significance of this iconic collectible and Ohtani’s impact on sports, and I’m thrilled for the winning bidder,” Ken Goldin, the founder and CEO of auctioneer Goldin Auctions said in a statement.
The auction opened on Sept. 27 with a starting bid of $500,000 and closed just after midnight on Wednesday. The auctioneer said it could not disclose any information about the winning bidder.
The auction has been overshadowed by the litigation over ownership of the ball. Christian Zacek walked out of Miami’s LoanDepot Park with the ball after gaining possession in the left-field stands. Max Matus and Joseph Davidov each claim in separate lawsuits that they grabbed the ball first.
All the parties involved in the litigation agreed that the auction should continue.
Matus’ lawsuit claims that the Florida resident — who was celebrating his 18th birthday — gained possession of the Ohtani ball before Zacek took it away. Davidov claims in his suit that he was able to “firmly and completely grab the ball in his left hand while it was on the ground, successfully obtaining possession of the 50/50 ball.”
Ohtani and the Dodgers are preparing for Game 1 of the World Series scheduled for Friday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James gave his 20-year-old son a pep talk before they rose from the Lakers bench. Amid rising cheers, they walked together to the scorer’s table — and then they stepped straight into basketball history.
LeBron and Bronny became the first father and son to play in the NBA together Tuesday night during the Los Angeles Lakers ‘ season opener, fulfilling a dream set out a few years ago by LeBron, the top scorer in league history.
“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, it’s a moment I’m never going to forget,” LeBron said. “No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”
Father and son checked into the game against Minnesota simultaneously with four minutes left in the second quarter, prompting a big ovation from a home crowd aware of the enormity of the milestone. The 39-year-old LeBron had already started the game and played 13 minutes before he teamed up with his 20-year-old son for about 2 1/2 minutes of action.
LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA history, a four-time champion and 20-time All-Star, while LeBron James Jr. was a second-round pick by the Lakers last summer. They are the first father and son to play in the world’s top basketball league at the same time, let alone on the same team.
“Y’all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though,” father told son on the bench before they checked in, an exchange captured by the TNT cameras and microphones. “Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard.”
Their time on court together was fast and furious, just as LeBron promised.
LeBron, who finished the night with 16 points, missed two perimeter shots before making a dunk. Bronny had an early offensive rebound and missed a tip-in, and his first NBA jump shot moments later was a 3-pointer that came up just short. He checked out one possession later with 1:19 left in the second quarter, getting another ovation.
“(I) tried not to focus on everything that’s going on around me, and tried to focus on going in as a rookie and not trying to mess up,” Bronny said. “But yeah, I totally did feel the energy, and I appreciate Laker Nation for showing the support for me and my dad.”
After the final whistle on the Lakers’ first opening-night victory in LeBron’s seven seasons with the team, father and son also headed to the locker room together — but not before stopping in the tunnel to hug Savannah James, LeBron’s wife and Bronny’s mother. The entire family was in attendance to watch history — on little sister Zhuri’s 10th birthday, no less.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. also were courtside at the Lakers’ downtown arena to witness the same history they made in Major League Baseball. The two sluggers played 51 games together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991 as baseball’s first father-son duo.
LeBron first spoke about his dream to play alongside Bronny a few years ago, while his oldest son was still in high school. The dream became real after Bronny entered the draft as a teenager following one collegiate season, and the Lakers grabbed him with the 55th overall pick.
“I talked about it years and years ago, and for this moment to come, it’s pretty cool,” LeBron said. “I don’t know if it’s going to actually hit the both of us for a little minute, but when we really get to sit back and take it in, it’s pretty crazy. … But in the moment, we still had a job to do when we checked in. We wasn’t trying to make it a circus. We wasn’t trying to make it about us. We wanted to make it about the team.”
LeBron and Bronny joined a small club of father-son professional athletes who played together. The Griffeys made history 34 years ago, and they even homered in the same game on Sept. 14, 1990.
Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines and his namesake son also accomplished the feat with the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.
In hockey, Gordie Howe played alongside his two sons, Mark and Marty, with the WHA’s Houston Aeros and Team Canada before one NHL season together on the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, when Gordie was 51.
While the other family pairings on this list happened late in the fathers’ careers, LeBron shows no signs of slowing down or regressing as he begins his NBA record-tying 22nd season.
LeBron averaged more than 25 points per game last year for his 20th consecutive season, and he remains the most important player on the Lakers alongside Anthony Davis as they attempt to recapture the form that won a championship in 2020 and got them to the Western Conference finals in 2023.
Bronny survived cardiac arrest and open heart surgery in the summer of 2023, and he went on to play a truncated freshman season at the University of Southern California. He declared for the draft anyway, and the Lakers eagerly used the fourth-to-last pick in the draft on the 6-foot-2 guard.
LeBron spent the summer in Europe with the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the Paris Olympics, while Bronny played for the Lakers in summer league. They started practicing together with the Lakers before training camp.
The duo first played together in the preseason, logging four minutes during a game against Phoenix just outside Palm Springs earlier this month.
“It’s been a treat,” LeBron said at Tuesday’s morning shootaround. “In preseason, the practices, just every day … bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about, and how to prepare every day as a professional.”
The Lakers were fully aware of the history they would make with this pairing, and coach JJ Redick spoke with the Jameses recently about a plan to make it happen early in the regular season.
The presence of the Griffeys likely made it an inevitability for opening night, even though Redick said the Lakers still wanted it “to happen naturally, in the flow of the game.”
The Lakers have declined to speculate on how long Bronny will stay on their NBA roster. Los Angeles already has three other small guards on its roster, and Bronny likely needs regular playing time to raise his game to a consistent NBA standard.
Those factors add up to indicate Bronny is likely to join the affiliate South Bay Lakers of the G League at some point soon. LeBron and Redick have both spoken positively about the South Bay team, saying that player development is a key part of the Lakers organization.
Miami forward Kevin Love, who knew all the James children — Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri — from his time as LeBron’s teammate in Cleveland, said it was “an unbelievable moment” to see father and son playing together.
“I grew up a Mariners fan, so I got to see Griffey and then Griffey Sr. But this is different, because LeBron is still a top-five player in the league,” Love said. “This game, man. It’s why we have that ($76 billion) TV deal. The storylines and the things that happen like this, it’s an unbelievable story. This is really cool to see.”
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed.
