Kane’s return helps Oilers take home 4th straight
EDMONTON, Alberta — Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Seattle Kraken 5-2 on Tuesday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
The game marked the return of Oilers forward Evander Kane, who came back earlier than expected after a scary injury when he was cut on the wrist by a skate blade Nov. 8 at the Tampa Bay Lightning, causing him to miss 31 games.
Following surgery, Kane was initially expected to miss three to four months.
He saw 17 minutes of ice time against the Kraken, with seven shots and two hits.
“It felt fine. No issues, other than my [lack of] finish,” Kane said. “I guess I can’t expect too much. But I had my looks tonight, which is a positive. I’ll just try to build on that.”
Connor McDavid, Derek Ryan, Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod also scored for the Oilers (25-18-3), who won for just the second time in their past eight home games. Jack Campbell made 29 saves.
“We are happier with the way we are playing; I think that is the key thing,” said Hyman, who has a career-high 29 assists.
“We are playing the right way. We are playing strong, mature third periods. That is the key, playing to our game and making sure we make it difficult on the other guys on the other side, and understanding the type of game you are in when you are up. I think that is really encouraging.”
McDavid leads the NHL with 38 goals. He extended his point streak to eight games, and he has at least one point in 25 of his past 26 games.
Daniel Sprong and Vince Dunn each had a goal for the Kraken (26-14-4), who have lost two in a row following an eight-game winning streak.
“We talked before the game — it’s a big one. We needed those two points. So it’s really disappointing not to get a result,” Dunn said.
“We had a good run; we let two games slide. We have to go back home and get back to work.”
Seattle took a 1-0 lead 3:11 into the opening period on the power play as Sprong’s shot hit a defender and deflected past Campbell, who was making his fourth straight start. It was Sprong’s 15th goal of the season.
Edmonton tied it with 5:52 to play in the first as McDavid went coast-to-coast, taking on four defenders and dancing past a couple of them before taking a shot from his off foot that picked the top corner past goalie Martin Jones.
The Oilers moved in front 3:15 into the second when a shot by rookie Vincent Desharnais snuck under Jones and was just sitting there before Ryan swooped in to guide in his sixth of the season.
Edmonton took a two-goal lead 12:30 into the second during a mad scramble in front as the puck came loose to Foegele, who sent a backhand into the net despite the fact he was sitting on the ice at the time.
There were a couple of bizarre goals to start the third.
Just 22 seconds in, Dunn unleashed a long shot that Campbell would love to have back as he flubbed it and it tipped off his glove and in.
The Oilers responded 61 seconds later, however, as Eeli Tolvanen poke-checked a puck away from Hyman but straight into his own net past a surprised Jones. Hyman was credited with his 21st goal.
Edmonton made it 5-2 midway through the third as Dylan Holloway hit a post and the puck popped straight to McLeod at the side of the net for the easy tap-in. It was Holloway’s second assist, giving him his first multipoint game in the NHL.
“That was the 15th time we’ve scored five goals this year … and we haven’t lost when we scored five or more goals,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “To do that at even strength, that’s a positive.
“We’re putting a lot of emphasis on defending the right way, and I thought we did a lot of really good things towards that direction tonight.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.
The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.
In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.
Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.
“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.
Zardozi rounded out the first four.
As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.
“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.
“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”
Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.
“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.
“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”
Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.
The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.
“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.
MILWAUKEE — The Brewers‘ starting rotation could have a new look next season with right-handers Frankie Montas and Colin Rea heading into free agency.
The Brewers announced Monday that Montas had declined his part of a $20 million mutual option for 2025. The Brewers turned down the $5.5 million club option on Rea’s contract.
Montas receives a $2 million buyout and Rea gets a $1 million buyout.
In other moves Monday, right-hander Kevin Herget was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets, and left-hander Rob Zastryzny was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. First baseman Jake Bauers and right-hander Bryse Wilson cleared waivers and were sent outright to Triple-A Nashville.
Montas, 31, had a combined 7-11 record with a 4.84 ERA and 148 strikeouts over 150⅔ innings in 30 starts for the Cincinnati Reds and Brewers this season. He was 3-3 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts for the Brewers, who acquired him just before the trade deadline.
Rea, 34, was 12-6 with a 4.28 ERA this season in 32 appearances, including 27 starts. He struck out 135 in 167⅔ innings. Rea had an 8.31 ERA in September and was left off the Brewers’ NL Wild Card Series roster.
Herget, 33, had no record with one save and a 1.59 ERA in seven appearances with Milwaukee this year. He was 5-1 with four saves and a 2.27 ERA in 38 relief outings with Triple-A Nashville.
Zastryzny, 32, was 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in nine appearances with Milwaukee. He pitched in 30 games with Nashville and went 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA.
The 29-year-old Bauers batted .199 with a .301 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 116 games this season. He also hit a seventh-inning homer that broke a scoreless tie in the decisive Game 3 of the Wild Card Series with the Mets, who rallied in the ninth to win 4-2.
Wilson, who turns 27 on Dec. 20, went 5-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 34 appearances, including nine starts.
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