Connect with us

Published

on

EDMONTON, Alberta — Vancouver rookie goalie Arturs Silovs is already earning a reputation for stepping up in big moments.

Silovs stopped 42 shots, Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and Elias Lindholm also scored twice as the Canucks held on to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

“The kid has given us game,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said of the goalie. “It’s a big stage, and he’s not blinking. He’s coming in every day and he’s working hard.”

Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller each had two assists for the Canucks.

Silovs withstood another late barrage when the Oilers, trailing 4-2, opted to pull goalie Calvin Pickard in favor of an extra attacker with 3:23 on the clock.

Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch did everything he could to keep superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the ice, including calling a timeout with 2:39 to go.

The persistence finally paid off with 1:16 remaining when Evan Bouchard launched a long shot on net and the puck bounced off Silovs’ glove and in.

The 23-year-old Latvian goalie faced 36 shots over the second and third periods while allowing just two goals.

“I just felt confident,” Silovs said, adding that his teammates supported him in Vancouver’s 5-4 win to open the series Wednesday. “So I had to have them today. Everyone’s resilient, blocking shots. Really high scoring chances they had, and our guys managed to block a lot of them. So credit to them, too.”

Mattias Ekholm and Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was replaced by Pickard to start the third period. Pickard finished with three saves in his NHL playoff debut.

Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night back here in Edmonton.

Edmonton’s league-leading power play was 2 for 4, and Vancouver was 2 for 3.

“I thought we were the better team, for the most part,” Draisaitl said. “In my eyes, it should have resulted in a win, but that’s not the way hockey works, sometimes. We just regroup and get ready for Game 4.”

Edmonton created a lot of chances, Knoblauch said, and the team will have to keep that up as the series continues.

“Eventually the pucks are going to start going in a little more,” he said. “Tonight, having three, that’s enough to win, especially during the playoffs. You look at the amount of opportunities that we have, we just have to be persistent and continue to push. We’ll get some more breaks.”

The Oilers’ potent power play got to work early in the first period after Boeser was sent off for slashing. After Evander Kane‘s shot was blocked in front of the Vancouver net, the puck bounced out to Ekholm, who fired it past Silovs to put Edmonton up 5:37 into the game.

Ekholm now has goals in three straight playoff games — and is the first Oilers defenseman to achieve the feat since Paul Coffey in 1985.

The Canucks replied with a power-play tally of their own at 8:45. Stationed at the goal line, Hughes sliced a past to Boeser, who sent a long shot sailing through traffic. Lindholm tipped it in to tie the score at 1-1 with his fourth goal of the postseason.

Vancouver took the lead midway through the first after the Oilers left Boeser wide open in the faceoff circle. Miller sent him a pass and Boeser ripped a shot past Skinner with 6:42 to go in the period.

Boeser boosted the Canucks’ lead to 3-1 just over five minutes later. Her picked the puck off Warren Foegele near the boards, took a couple of strides toward the net and buried his second goal of the night and seventh of the playoffs.

Draisaitl has points in all eight of Edmonton’s playoff games this season, with seven goals and 10 assists across the stretch. Bouchard had an assist on Draisaitl’s goal, extending his point streak to six games (two goals, six assists).

“I feel pretty confident,” Boeser said. “But I think it just comes with trying to play the right way and really just focusing on the little details in our structure. I’m just trying to do anything I can to help our team win. And it’s always nice when the goals go in.”

Edmonton nearly cut the deficit to a one in the closing seconds of the first when Derek Ryan rang a shot off the post.

Oilers fans celebrated early in the second when it appeared Corey Perry scored. Silovs swept the puck off the goal line but Perry celebrated in front of the net. After review, officials determined there was no goal.

The Oilers made it 3-2 on a man advantage at 3:36 of the second when Draisaitl sent a sharp-angle shot into Silovs’ pad and it bounced in for the German forward’s seventh of the playoffs.

The Canucks regained the two-goal advantage with 2:25 remaining in the middle period. Miller blasted a long shot toward the Oilers’ net and Lindholm picked it up, kicking the puck to his stick at the bottom of the slot, then shoveling a backhanded shot into the Edmonton net.

Continue Reading

Sports

Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

Published

on

By

Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sovereignty outdueled 3-1 favorite Journalism down the stretch to win the 151st Kentucky Derby in the slop on Saturday.

Trainer Bill Mott won his first Derby in 2019, also run on a sloppy track, when Country House was elevated to first after Maximum Security crossed the finish line first and was disqualified after a 22-minute delay.

This time, he knew right away.

Sovereignty won by 1½ lengths and snapped an 0-for-13 Derby skid for owner Godolphin, the racing stable of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

It was quite a weekend for the sheikh. His filly, Good Cheer, won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday and earlier Saturday, Ruling Court won the 2,000 Guineas in Britain.

Sovereignty covered 1¼ miles in 2:02.31 and paid $17.96 to win at 7-1 odds.

Journalism found trouble in the first turn and jockey Umberto Rispoli moved him to the outside. He and Sovereignty hooked up at the eighth pole before Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado pulled away.

Baeza was third, Final Gambit was fourth and Owen Almighty finished fifth.

Rain made for a soggy day, with the Churchill Downs dirt strip listed as sloppy and horse racing fans protecting their fancy hats and clothing with clear plastic ponchos.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

Published

on

By

Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

FORT WORTH, Texas — Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old driver already with two NASCAR Xfinity Series race wins, will miss Saturday’s race at Texas because of lower back injuries sustained in a last-lap wreck at Talladega.

Trackhouse Racing said Wednesday that its development driver will return as soon as possible to the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. The team didn’t provide any additional details about Zilisch’s injuries.

Cup Series regular Kyle Larson will drive the No. 88 in Texas. After that, the Xfinity Series has a two-week break before racing again May 24 at Charlotte.

Zilisch, sixth in points through the first 11 races, was driving for the win at Talladega Superspeedway when contact on the backstretch sent his car spinning, and head-on into inside wall.

Zilisch won in his Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen last Sept. 14. He added another win this year at Austin, the same weekend that he made his Cup Series debut. He has six top-10 finishes in his 15 Xfinity races.

Continue Reading

Sports

23XI, Front Row ask judge to toss NASCAR claim

Published

on

By

23XI, Front Row ask judge to toss NASCAR claim

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two teams suing NASCAR asked a judge to dismiss the sanctioning body’s counterclaim in court Wednesday.

In a 20-page filing in district court in North Carolina, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports opposed NASCAR’s motion to amend its original counterclaim. The teams argued that the need to amend the counterclaim further demonstrates the weakness of NASCAR’s arguments, calling them an attempt by NASCAR to distract and shift attention away from its own unlawful, monopolistic actions.

NASCAR’s counterclaim singled out Michael Jordan’s longtime business manager, Curtis Polk. Jordan is co-owner of 23XI Racing.

The legal battle began after more than two years of negotiations on new charter agreements — NASCAR’s equivalent of a franchise model — and the 30-page filing contends that Polk “willfully” violated antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the most recent charter agreements.

23XI and Front Row were the only two organizations out of 15 that refused to sign the new agreements, which were presented to the teams last September in a take-it-or-leave-it offer a mere 48 hours before the start of NASCAR’s playoffs.

The charters were fought for by the teams ahead of the 2016 season and twice have been extended. The latest extension is for seven years to match the current media rights deal and guarantee 36 of the 40 spots in each week’s field to the teams that hold the charters, as well as other financial incentives. 23XI and Front Row refused to sign and sued, alleging NASCAR and the France family that owns the stock car series are a monopoly.

NASCAR already has lost one round in court in which the two teams have been recognized as chartered organizations for the 2025 season as the legal dispute winds through the courts. NASCAR has also appealed a judge’s rejection of its motion to dismiss the case.

Continue Reading

Trending