Monthly Archives: January 2019

Hockey News

Talbot’s 1st shutout of the season leads Oilers to bounce-back win over Ducks

Leave a comment

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored again, Cam Talbot made 39 saves for his first shutout this season and the Edmonton Oilers earned their second victory in nine games by beating the skidding Anaheim Ducks 4-0 on Sunday night.

It was a strong bounce-back win for the Oilers, who lost 4-0 to Los Angeles on Saturday night. They scored three goals in the first period for the second time this season and controlled action on both ends of the ice despite being outshot 39-24.

McDavid, who began the day fifth in the NHL in scoring, has five goals in his last seven games. Draisaitl has seven in the past seven games.

Jesse Puljujarvi and Kyle Brodziak also scored. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Caleb Jones each had two assists.

Anaheim has lost eight straight after winning four in a row and nine of 10. John Gibson made 20 saves for the Ducks, who are 0-2-2 during a six-game homestand - their longest of the season.

The Oilers opened the scoring at 7:37 of the first period when McDavid finally was able to get the puck under Gibson's blocker on his third attempt from in front for his 24th goal of the season. A no-look backhand from the slot by Puljujarvi at 16:05 and a short-handed goal by Brodziak with 11 seconds remaining marked the first time since Jan. 21, 2017, at Calgary, that the Oilers have led by three or more on the road at the end of 20 minutes.

It was the third time this season Anaheim had allowed three goals in the first period but it was the first time it trailed by three or more in the period since Feb. 3 last season at Montreal.

Draisaitl scored at 7:25 of the second when he corralled a shot by Jones that was blocked by Anaheim's Ondrej Kase and fired a wrist shot past Gibson to make it 4-0.

NOTES: Anaheim D Cam Fowler played in his first game since missing 23 after taking a puck to the face Nov. 12 against Nashville. The puck ended up breaking Fowler's right orbital bone, right cheekbone and right jaw bone, requiring surgery. ... Brodziak has four short-handed goals since the start of last season. ... Anaheim executive vice president/general manager Bob Murray became the fifth person in NHL history to both play and serve 1,000 games as a GM. He joined Bobby Clarke, Bob Gainey, Bob Pulford and Doug Wilson.

UP NEXT

Oilers: Play at San Jose on Tuesday.

Ducks: Host Ottawa on Wednesday.

---

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Hockey News

Hitchcock: Nurse was only Oiler to show up in ugly loss to Kings

Leave a comment

Fresh off snapping their six-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, the Edmonton Oilers were handed a glorious opportunity to start a winning streak of their own with a matchup against the cellar-dwelling Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

Instead, the Oilers came out flat, and the Kings made them pay, scoring three first-period goals en route to a 4-0 victory. Afterwards, head coach Ken Hitchcock called out the entire team, except for one player.

"We had one player show up to play, Darnell Nurse," Hitchcock said, according to Sportsnet's Gene Principe. "This is on everybody. When you have one player competing it can't be accepted."

Nurse logged a team-high 23:24 in the ugly defeat, tallying three shots, three hits, and a blocked shot. He's been asked to play a bigger role for Edmonton with several regulars on the blue line dealing with injuries.

While Nurse's growth this season has been encouraging, Hitchcock continued to echo his complaints about the rest of the group.

"You and I can bark and bitch and complain but it has to come from within the locker room," he said. "This is not acceptable."

Edmonton won't have to wait long for its shot at redemption, as the club will square off against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Hockey News

Finland wins 3rd gold medal in 6 years with nail-biting win over USA

Leave a comment

Draft-eligible forward Kaapo Kakko scored with just over one minute remaining in the game to lead Finland to the gold medal Saturday at the World Junior Hockey Championship with a 3-2 win over the United States.

The victory marks the third gold in the last six years for Finland.

Many project Kakko, 17, to be chosen second overall in the 2019 NHL Draft behind American Jack Hughes, who picked up an assist in the United States' silver-medal winning effort.

While Kakko may go down as the hero, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen deserves a lion's share of the credit for the Finns' victory. The Buffalo Sabres prospect was a brick wall between the pipes, stopping 25 of 27 shots he faced.

The back-and-fourth matchup easily could've gone in a different direction had an early call went USA's way. In the first period, the United States had the potential first goal of the game waved off due to goaltender interference.

Following a scoreless first period, Jesse Ylonen's power-play marker gave the Finns the lead midway through the second frame. It wasn't until the third period that the game began to open up, though.

Otto Latvala's long-range wrister gave Finland an insurance marker six minutes into the third. However, USA quickly responded with goals less than two minutes apart from Alexander Chmelevski and Josh Norris. The game remained even until Kakko's game-winner with less than two minutes to go in regulation.

Victorious in both 2014 and 2016, Finland's three world junior golds are the most of any nation since 2011.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Hockey News

Canucks’ Pettersson diagnosed with slight knee sprain

Leave a comment

Vancouver Canucks phenom Elias Pettersson has a slight MCL sprain, head coach Travis Green told reporters after a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

"It's not too bad. Probably as good news as we could have hoped for," Green said.

Pettersson sat out Saturday's game after hurting his right knee Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. In that contest, he went down awkwardly after getting tangled up with fellow rookie and Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

Pettersson leads all first-year NHLers with 22 goals and 42 points. He was named to the Pacific Division All-Star team on Wednesday.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Hockey News

IIHF president wants NHL-sized ice surface at Beijing Olympics

Leave a comment

International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) president Rene Fasel would like to see future events held on the smaller ice surface typically used in North America.

"Our goal would be that in Beijing in 2022, if ice hockey's there, we will play on the small ice ... and in Finland in 2022, we will play on small ice (at) our World Championship," Fasel told the assembled media, including TSN, at a news conference in Vancouver on Saturday.

"That should be our goal, that in the future we have the same size as they play here in North America," he added.

The 2019 World Junior Championship in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, is being played in NHL-sized facilities, and Fasel believes they're ideal for this tournament.

"What I like here (is that) the small ice in North America for the juniors is just perfect," he said, adding that he wasn't originally in favor of it but was convinced when he watched the 2010 Olympics, which were also held in Vancouver.

IIHF events hosted outside North America are typically played on ice surfaces measuring 200-feet long and 100-feet wide. NHL regulation size is 200 by 85.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.