Fresh off of a much-needed four-day break from game action, including two full practice days, the Maple Leafs will kick off a three-game series against Vancouver tonight in Toronto (7 p.m. EST, TSN4 / Sportsnet Pacific).
Evaluation is difficult with the compact all-division schedule, and extra difficult for a Canucks team that played 13 games in the first 22 days, eight of which came against either Ottawa (x3) or Montreal (x5). They blew out Ottawa three straight wins and lost four out of five to the Habs while conceding a stunning 28 goals, with Montreal’s Tyler Toffoli scoring eight of those goals in his five revenge tours.
What can be safely said about the Canucks’ 6-7-0 start is that they’ve been a tire fire defensively, and their overtaxed goalies in Braden Holtby and Thatcher Demko are not saving the day so far. Ruing sloppy turnovers and coverage breakdowns, Elias Pettersson provided the funny and damning soundbite the other night, “We don’t make the simple plays good.”
Remove their cumulative 16-3 rout of the Senators over their three-game series, Vancouver’s goal difference is -16 in the other 10 games. Outside of one win against Edmonton and one against Winnipeg, they have largely been subpar against competent competition this season, including a cumulative 8-2 loss to the Flames in a two-game series earlier this season.
At 5v5, the Canucks are dead last in the league in a ton of key defensive metrics — shot attempts against/60, shots against/60, scoring chances against/60 — and close to last in others: high danger chances against/60, expected goals against/60. On paper, there isn’t a better matchup to run into for three games as the Leafs look to get their confidence up offensively at 5v5.
Again, playing 13 games in 21 days is no easy chore, but Vancouver is on its own island with Ottawa in terms of putrid defensive results so far this season:
The Canucks did like their overall effort level much better in their most recent game — another loss to Montreal — and remain a team you have to respect offensively, even as their power play uncharacteristically struggles (bottom 10 in the league after finishing in the top five last season… Manny Malhotra effect?). At 5v5, they’re in the top 10 in expected goals for/60, top 10 in scoring chances for/60, and top five in shooting percentage. It’s a Canucks offense and top six that is worthy of attention and respect with JT Miller, Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, the emerging Nils Hoglander, and the fourth-forward threat of Quinn Hughes.
Now rested and practiced, the Leafs, if they are to pass this test in the next three games and take advantage of a team their closest divisional rival (Montreal) has made hay against, it will come through playing a disciplined game defensively and picking apart this Canucks team. Rather than play down to the opponent with sloppy, chancy, last-goal-wins hockey, hopefully, the Leafs — who have yet to win a game by more than one goal on a non-late-empty netter — can put together a few business-like wins where they dominate 5v5 play for larger spells of the game and don’t allow teams a foothold back into the contest. That would be a tangible step forward, having now had the chance to catch their breath and mix in a few full practice days after their 10-games-in-18-days start.
In terms of lineup notes, Nic Petan makes his season debut on the Leafs fourth line tonight, as it remains a carousel of different bodies down there, with Sheldon Keefe continuing to evaluate the options. Keefe doesn’t appear to be in a huge rush to settle on a go-to fourth-line — this despite Keefe’s mention that the Boyd, Engvall, and Anderson line we saw in Calgary was the team’s best L4 combination so far.
In a year with no exhibition season, there is value to providing opportunity, fostering competition, keeping various options involved, and collecting as much data as possible. Also worth mentioning: Cap wise, with Nick Robertson and Joe Thornton on LTIR, it gives the Leafs a window of flexibility to rotate players in and out more freely. At some point, though, you have to figure the Leafs need to see that line Keefe mentioned actually play together again to see if they’re really building something there.
Further up the lineup, Wayne Simmonds — riding the hot stick with three goals in his last four — is going to get a look next to William Nylander and John Tavares, with Ilya Mikheyev — who is playing well, but really struggling to produce despite expanded opportunity recently — rotating down onto Alex Kerfoot’s line opposite Jimmy Vesey.
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on the rotation on the fourth line:
We are providing more opportunities for more players. You look at Nic Petan, who just a few days ago was down with the Marlies and not even on the taxi squad. Now he is here and in the lineup tonight. We think that is healthy for the depth of the organization — to let players know, whether you are in our taxi-squad or stay-ready group or down with the Marlies, there are lots of reason to continue to work and be prepared.
It is a balance for sure. There will come a time where we have to settle on the people that we think are our absolute best lineup each day. We don’t think we are quite there yet, but we are inching closer to that, I believe. We are just going to continue to watch.
The best we’ve felt with that line is with Boyd, Engvall, and Anderson. Joey was sent down to the Marlies from the taxi squad, but that was not reflective of what we thought about him. We are still very much aware of who he is and where he is, if and when we decide we want to bring him back. We look at how that line skated, defended, how structured they were, the quickness and speed with which they got onto the puck — those are things that we think Nic can bring.
Keefe on the Canucks:
They are a very hard-working team, a very competitive team that has some high-end talent. If you make mistakes or take penalties, they will make you pay for it. They are a team that is searching for some consistency in their game, but from what we have seen in their games of late, they’re playing good hockey.
They have had a tough schedule here facing Montreal five times. That has allowed them opportunities to grow and find their way as a team. It is a group that I have watched closely enough through last season’s playoffs, and there are so many returning players that you know you are going to be in for a game any time you are up against them. There is not much that is going to catch us off-guard in that sense.
We are prepared for them throughout this three-game set to make it very difficult.
Keefe on the team’s 5v5 offense:
We have to get from our zone down to the offensive zone a lot quicker, a lot more efficiently, with a lot more speed and purpose. If we do that, I think there is going to be a lot more opportunities for our best players to do what they do.
Keefe on Petan’s opportunity:
The feedback on his attitude and the work he has put in there has been really good. I think it is more, in Nic’s case, that he has played in the NHL. We have been giving opportunities to other players who haven’t played as much as in the NHL or haven’t played as much for our team. As we have gone through it, we just felt Nic deserved to be in that group, in that conversation, and have that opportunity to compete for a spot.
Canucks head coach Travis Green on the Leafs:
You look throughout their lineup, they have a lot of skill and good skaters throughout their lineup. Their backend — same thing. They have speed and skill. We are going to have to be ready to play a fast game and a committed game — not just offensively, but defensively as well.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards #11 Zach Hyman – #34 Auston Matthews – #16 Mitch Marner #88 William Nylander – #91 John Tavares – #24 Wayne Simmonds #26 Jimmy Vesey – #15 Alex Kerfoot – #65 Ilya Mikheyev #61 Nic Petan – #72 Travis Boyd – #19 Jason Spezza
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.
The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.
Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.
Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.
The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
—
CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.
Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.
Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.
It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.
Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.
Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.
It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.
Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have been here before — literally and figuratively.
With the season hanging in the balance, the ‘Caps were dealt a blow last week when the club learned it wouldn’t be able to play a post-season wild-card game in its home stadium, B.C. Place, due to a scheduling conflict.
The Whitecaps ceded home field advantage to their regional rival, the Portland Timbers. The two clubs will battle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in Oregon on Wednesday.
The winner will face No. 1-seed Los Angeles FC in a best-of-three first-round series, starting Sunday.
An unforeseen hurdle like a change of venues is nothing new for the ‘Caps, said defender Ranko Veselinovic, who was part of the team that was forced to relocate first to Portland, then Utah during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It feels that always something happens for us, but it is what it is. So far, we’ve managed to always find solutions for those situations,” said the Serbian centre back. “But I hope this team can find it one more time, because we need it this time. And it will be a really nice feeling in those circumstances to go in, win and go face L.A. in the next round.”
Vancouver (13-13-8) heads into the post-season winless in its last seven MLS games and with losses in four straight after dropping a 2-1 road decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
The skid followed a run that saw the club go 4-1-3 across all competitions between late August and late September.
There’s just one way to return to that level, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“The work is the only way to do it. Try to put the work in and try to put the team in a way that they’re going to regain the form and the way that they were in the past,” he said.
Despite the final score, Sartini has seen positives in the way his team played in its two most recent losses.
“I think already we turned the corner,” he said. “And we start from there to build and build and build.”
Facing challenges together can help a team build, whether it’s a winless skid or an unexpected hurdle, said Vancouver’s captain Ryan Gauld.
“When you’re going through adversity, that’s when people start to raise their voice a little bit. You get good when the problems arise, you get a lot of people coming together to make sure we get out of it,” said the Scottish attacking midfielder.
“And we’ve had a tough time the last few games, but everyone’s aware of the fact that we’re a much better team than we’ve shown, and we need to find a way to get back to doing what we’re good at.”
The ‘Caps face a familiar foe in the Timbers (12-11-11).
The two sides have already met three times this season, with each coming out of the series with a win, a loss and a draw.
Portland has also struggled in recent weeks and are winless in their last five MLS outings (0-1-4).
The Timbers boast one of the league’s top offensive units, though, with threats such as Evander. The Brazilian midfielder notched 15 goals and 19 assists during the regular season.
To earn a win on Wednesday, the Whitecaps must be solid defensively, Gauld said.
“They must be one of the best attacks in the league. They have a lot of good players, and they can hurt you if you switch off,” he said. “So just being concentrated from the first whistle, and just being hard to beat, being stuffy. Just being on it for the full 90 minutes.”
A victory in the wild-card match would guarantee Vancouver at least one home playoff game, a factor that Sartini said would be a big reward for his group.
The entire team relished the experience of playing post-season soccer in front of more than 30,000 fans last year, the coach said, and the desire to repeat the feat is high as the club heads to Portland.
“Everyone is happy to be in the playoffs. So we don’t have to be moody to be in the playoff. And we go in there, we’re play one of our rivals. So it’s gonna be a nice game to show up and to play our best game possible.”
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-13-8) AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (12-11-11)
Wednesday, Providence Park
HISTORY BOOKS: This will mark the seventh all-time post-season meeting between the Timbers and ‘Caps, dating back to 1975. The last time the two clubs squared off in a playoff game was during the Western Conference semifinal in 2015. Portland won the two-game aggregate series and went on to hoist the MLS Cup.
ROAD WARRIORS: The ‘Caps boasted a 7-6-4 record on the road during regular-season play — better than the 6-7-4 showing they posted at B.C. Place.
POST-SEASON PARTY: Wednesday will mark the first time the Timbers have hosted a post-season game since 2021.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.
Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.
The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.
There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.
The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.
It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.
“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.
Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.
More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.
The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”
Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.
