What a game. What a game. What a game. I’ll admit, I turned the game off after the first period, tried my absolute hardest not to turn the game back on until overtime was confirmed, and then watched with my jaw on the floor as the Leafs won the overtime and won the game off the stick of Kasperi KapanenAuston Matthews.
That said, even though I “missed” most of the game, I read Seldo’s recap, I watched Omar’s highlights, and I’m ready to talk big! Here are the winners and losers from last night’s 4-3 OT comeback win that forces a win-or-go-home Game 5 on Sunday.
The only players on the ice for any Leafs goals included Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Zach Hyman, and Morgan Rielly. Three pluses for Hyman, four for everyone else. Matthews was the cornerstone of that unit, making plays and finishing attempts, he genuinely did it all. He set up Tavares for the 3-2 goal. He set up Hyman’s 3-3 goal with a brilliant pass. And he won the game in overtime. Player of the night, player of the series, no matter how it ends up.
I’ve been saying it for a long time and Sheldon Keefe finally did it. With the game on the line and one supergroup needed to do all the heavy lifting, Keefe made the pull and put his best offensive defender with his best offensive forwards to provide the offense the team needed. I have a lot of problems with the defense, namely their ability to defend. But when it comes to creating chances, Rielly has been the most dynamic defender for this team. Shockingly, Rielly got no points for his efforts, even though he was on the ice for all four goals the Leafs scored.
In terms of how he played his 34 minutes in the game, Rielly played with literally every defender on the Leafs except Martin Marincin. He got 13 minutes with Cody Ceci, six minutes with Tyson Barrie, five minutes with Justin Holl, and three minutes with Travis Dermott, and he was above 50% shot share with everyone. His worst partner was Tyson Barrie, with whom he was a -1.
Final thought on the defense, Marincin only played 13 minutes in the game, how long before we see Rasmus Sandin?
The Fourth Line
Kyle Clifford–Pierre Engvall–Jason Spezza was the second-most used line in the game and they finished the night with 16 shot attempts for, and only five against. It was a herculean game for the line that was tasked with hemming the opponent in their own zone long enough for reinforcements to get rested and come back for another chance to score. It was a brilliant, spontaneous move by Coach Keefe and it seriously paid off. The one line that was on the ice between all three of Toronto’s goals in the third was this line and I have no regrets about it at all.
Individually, Jason Spezza didn’t want to leave the Bubble without a run at the Cup so bad he fought a guy. He couldn’t let his kids down, at home or on the ice. Engvall looked really good, and had the fifth-highest individual expected goals in the game, fourth on the Leafs at 5v5. While I know expected goals from Pierre Engvall don’t mean as much as expected goals from Auston Matthews, Engvall was making the Blue Jackets work and he was keeping the puck as close to their net as possible. For a fourth line meant to kill time, that’s exactly what his job was. Job done.
I think Dermott is flawed in a few ways that keep his ceiling below what the Leafs need on the second pair, but he did a damn good job trying to prove me wrong last night. He may not have the best awareness, but he worked hard and put his body on the line and I appreciate that a lot. This block saved the season.
Losers
These will be short and snarky because I want them to be.
The last time the Leafs came back from down three goals to win a playoff game in overtime was 1993, and the winner was scored by Mike Foligno. Tonight it happened with his son in the penalty box.
Unprofessional man-child can’t take criticism or failure.
Torts so far:
1st question: You got the answer there Hedge. 2nd question: You said it. I’m not going to explain anything. 3rd question: I havent talked to the trainers.
KASPERI! KAPANEN! (Matthews). God, that call is going to be burned into my skull forever for every wrong reason in the dictionary. This isn’t even the first time Hughson has confused names, it’s genuinely become a calling card for him. William Nylander is Connor Brown is my favourite, but there are many others. Heck, Nick Robertson has been called Eric Robinson more times than he’s been called Nick Robertson. But the topper, Auston Matthews is Kasperi Kapanen. Unparalleled.
Thank you for a real goal call, John Forslund. Top notch.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
