Sports

William Nylander scores Leafs shootout winner in Vegas as Campbell shines again – Toronto Sun

Published

3 years ago

January 12, 2022

Publishing date:

Jan 12, 2022 • 41 minutes ago • 4 minute read • 5 Comments

Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights defends the net as Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs tries to get a shot off under pressure from Zach Whitecloud #2 of the Golden Knights in the first period last night. Photo by Ethan Miller /Getty Images

William Nylander finished what he started on Tuesday night in the desert.

The winger opened the scoring against the Vegas Golden Knights and later scored the only goal in a shootout, giving the Maple Leafs a 4-3 win at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Nylander, the last shooter in the skills competition, lifted a shot over goalie Robin Lehner’s catching glove and was the only player on either side to score in the shootout.

At the Leafs’ end, Jack Campbell, who was brilliant all night, stopped Evgenii Dadonov, Chandler Stephenson and Jonathan Marchessault in the shootout.

Auston Matthews scored in his eighth consecutive road game, dating to Nov. 24 at Los Angeles.

Despite the fifth win in six games for the Leafs, coach Sheldon Keefe wasn’t willing to excuse some bumps the team experienced for the second game in a row. Three nights earlier in Colorado, the Leafs had a 3-0 lead and lost in overtime. In Vegas, a 3-1 lead in the third period disappeared.

“The fact we got three out of four points in these two games is a very good sign for our team, and the fact you can take some valuable lessons,” Keefe said. “I don’t think it was a defensive issue (against Vegas). It’s more an issue of we have to relax and play the game and make some plays and play on offence and control the play.

“We can’t just be on our heels and that’s what I didn’t like about tonight. We didn’t push back offensively.”

The Leafs will seek to fix some of those issues on Wednesday night in Arizona against the Coyotes, who sit last in the NHL. Petr Mrazek will start in goal.

“It’s a game we can’t overlook,” Keefe said. “We should be a little aggravated about how we have let these leads slip away in these two games. We have not played a clean game yet on this trip.”

The victory carried a couple of milestones for Campbell, who turned 30 on Sunday. He recorded his 18th win, setting a personal high for one season. It came in his 26th start, tying a career high set in 2019-20 with the Leafs and Los Angeles Kings.

In short, the steady Campbell has emerged as a star and will get serious consideration to help represent the Atlantic Division at the all-star game in Vegas on Feb. 4-5.

“The big question coming in for him was, can he stay healthy?” Keefe said. “He has done a great job of that. Despite the workload, there hasn’t been a time when he has felt unable to practise or is sore. We’ve managed his workload on some practice days, but that is preventative more than anything. He’s in a good place with his body and managing it well.

“Regardless of how he answers questions (when Campbell is hard on himself after losses), the proof is when he’s in the net. He’s even-keeled. He goes out and prepares for the next day and comes back and is ready to play. He has been great all season.”

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Shots on goal through 65 minutes were 34-18 for Vegas. Neither team had a good scoring chance in overtime.

Vegas tied the game at 11:48 of the third when Alex Pietrangelo faked and then fired a shot past Campbell during a 5-on-3 Vegas power play. With Kyle Clifford serving a tripping minor, the Leafs were penalized for too many men on the ice.

Just prior to the bench minor, Lehner stopped Ondrej Kase on a short-handed breakaway. Kase was back in the Leafs lineup after missing the previous two games with a minor injury he suffered in the gym last week.

William Karlsson cut the Toronto lead to 3-2 at 1:34 of the third period after Reilly Smith beat Morgan Rielly and Alex Kerfoot on the forecheck to retrieve the puck.

The second period was representative of what the best teams sometimes have to do to win hockey games — get sharp netminding to guide them through a rough patch.

The Leafs were flat as the second progressed, going 11 minutes without a shot on goal, and required Campbell to make some top-notch saves (including a blocker stop on Marchessault). After Campbell bought his teammates time, Matthews and Ilya Mikheyev scored five minutes apart to put Toronto up 3-1.

“I don’t know if I have any more words to describe how well he has played for us,” Matthews said of Campbell. “He came up big for us like he has all year. He kept us in. I can’t really speak any more highly about Soup.”

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Kase and Michael Bunting connected on a couple of short passes to set up Matthews for a doorstep deposit at 11:43. With the assist, Kase ran his point streak to seven games.

At 16:46, Mikheyev scored his fourth goal in five games when he put the bounce from a Wayne Simmonds shot off the end boards past Lehner.

The game was tied 1-1 after one period.

Nylander put the Leafs up 1-0 at 1:22 after he took a smart feed from Rielly and broke past Vegas defenceman Brayden McNabb to score on a forehand deke.

At the 13-minute mark, Keegan Kolesar scored 38 seconds after Nick Ritchie took a needless hooking minor in front of the Vegas net.

The Leafs remained without forwards Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall, who are in COVID-19 protocol. The Golden Knights were missing four players on protocol — defencemen Shea Theodore and Alec Martinez and forwards Nicolas Roy and Nolan Patrick.

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

2 days ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

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Sports

Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

2 days ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Sports

Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

2 days ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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