Lindholm scores two goals in Canucks debut
RALEIGH, N.C. — Playing for a new team in a familiar building worked out just fine for Vancouver’s Elias Lindholm on Tuesday night.
Lindholm scored two power-play goals in similar fashion in his debut with the Canucks and J.T. Miller provided the winning goal in a 3-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
“It’s crazy how it all worked out,” Lindholm said. “It’s pretty special. Obviously, I’m happy to be here and help the team.”
Lindholm, a veteran center who began his career with the Hurricanes, had one goal in each of the first two periods as the Canucks returned from the All-Star break and increased their points streak to 12 games.
Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser each had two assists. Thatcher Demko made 22 saves, including 12 in the third period.
Jordan Martinook and Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Pyotr Kochetkov, playing for the Hurricanes for the first time since Jan. 11, stopped 16 shots.
Miller scored his 22nd goal of the season four minutes into the third period for the game’s lone even-strength goal.
“Bounces didn’t go our way,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It was a frustrating game. They were good. They did what they wanted to do, and then I thought we did what we wanted to do in the third. We weren’t able to capitalize.”
Vancouver acquired Lindholm last week from the Calgary Flames. He played five NHL seasons with the Hurricanes, who drafted him in 2013.
Aside from the goals, Canucks coach Rick Tocchet appreciated other aspects of Lindholm’s performance, including a late-game blocked shot.
“When you go through the tape, you’ll see hockey IQ plays,” Tocchet said.
Lindholm’s only previous two-goal game this season came in early December against the Canucks.
He said he was most nervous about his role on Vancouver’s penalty-killing unit, though he looked sharp stationed in front of the net on power plays.
“There was a lot of new information and a lot of stuff in my head,” Lindholm said.
Lindholm and Hughes developed a connection in their first game together. The first goal came with 2:37 left in the opening period. He redirected Hughes’ blast.
“He’s there and he’s a really skilled player,” Hughes said. “He has a great hockey sense.”
Lindholm’s second goal came with a tip-in from Hughes’ delivery. That gave Lindholm 11 goals this season.
Martinook’s short-handed goal came early in the first period. But by the game’s midway mark, the Hurricanes had only seven shots on goal despite averaging more than 33 per game.
“That’s hard to do against Carolina,” Tocchet said of limiting the scoring chances.
Just 62 seconds after Lindholm’s second goal, Aho converted on Carolina’s second power play of the game for his team-leading 18th goal.
Hughes leads NHL defenseman in points with 64.
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Adam Rittenberg
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he feels “healthy and vibrant” after returning to the field for preseason practices after undergoing surgery to remove his bladder after a cancerous tumor was found.
Sanders, 57, said he has been walking at least a mile around campus following Colorado’s practices, which began last week. He was away from the team for the late spring and early summer following the surgery in May. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, said July 30 that Sanders, who lost about 25 pounds during his recovery, is “cured of cancer.”
“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant, I’m my old self,” Sanders said. “I’m loving life right now. I’m trying my best to live to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
Sanders credited Colorado’s assistant coaches and support staff for overseeing the program during his absence. The Pro Football Hall of Famer enters his third season as Buffaloes coach this fall.
“They’ve given me tremendous comfort,” Sanders said. “I never had to call 100 times and check on the house, because I felt like the house is going to be OK. That’s why you try your best to hire correct, so you don’t have to check on the house night and day. They did a good job, especially strength and conditioning.”
Colorado improved from four to nine wins in Sanders’ second season, but the team loses Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in April’s NFL draft, as well as record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes have an influx of new players, including quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis, who are competing for the starting job, as well as new staff members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is coaching the Buffaloes’ running backs.
Despite the changes and his own health challenges, Deion Sanders expects Colorado to continue ascending. The Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 when they host Georgia Tech.
“The next phase is we’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Mary’s at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical and we want to run the heck out of the football.”
Sanders said it will feel “a little weird, a little strange” to not be coaching Shedeur when the quarterback starts his first NFL preseason game for the Cleveland Browns on Friday night at Carolina. Deion Sanders said he and Shedeur had spoken several times Friday morning. Despite being projected as a top quarterback in the draft, Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round.
“A lot of people are approaching it like a preseason game, he’s approaching like a game, and that’s how he’s always approached everything, to prepare and approach it like this is it,” Deion Sanders said. “He’s thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. He don’t get covered in, you know, all the rhetoric in the media.
“Some of the stuff is just ignorant. Some of it is really adolescent, he far surpasses that, and I can’t wait to see him play.”
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Adam Rittenberg
LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier aggravated the patellar tendinitis he has been dealing with in his knee but will not miss any significant time, coach Brian Kelly said Friday.
Kelly dropped in ahead of a news conference Friday with offensive coordinator Joe Sloan to tell reporters that Nussmeier did not suffer a severe knee injury or even a new one. According to Kelly, Nussmeier has chronic tendinitis in his knee and “probably just planted the wrong way” during Wednesday’s practice.
Nussmeier ranked fifth nationally in passing yards (4,052) last season, his first as LSU’s starter, and projects as an NFL first-round draft pick in 2026.
“It’s not torn, there’s no fraying, there’s none of that,” Kelly said. “This is preexisting. … There’s nothing to really see on film with it, but it pissed it off. He aggravated it a little bit, but he’s good to go.”
Kelly said Nussmeier’s injury ranks 1.5 out of 10 in terms of severity. Asked whether it’s the right or left knee, Kelly said he didn’t know, adding, “It’s not a serious injury. Guys are dealing with tendinitis virtually every day in life.”
LSU opens the season Aug. 30 at Clemson.
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