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Geregistreerd op: 24 Okt 2019
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 Geplaatst: 21-11-2019 08:53:17 Onderwerp: his return status as yet unknown |
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| MALMO, Sweden -- As the minutes ticked down on Canadas victory over the United States, the overwhelmingly Canadian crowd of 3,882 at the Isstadion chanted "Foo-KAL-eh!" That was for goaltender Zach Fucale, the key man in Tuesdays 3-2 win that gave Canada first place in its preliminary round group and a date with Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the world junior hockey championship. Wholesale Fake Vans . "It gave me a lot of energy," the 18-year-old said. "It was very special. "It just lifts you and you sort of play in the moment. It was good for me and the team." Fucale, given a second straight start after helping Canada to a 5-3 win over Slovakia on Saturday, couldnt recall ever having his name chanted quite that way. "Maybe a couple of thousand chanting against me," he offered with a laugh. "In Quebec City it happened. Maybe tonight a little louder." Connor McDavid and Curtis Lazar scored in the third period and Fucale stoned Connor Carrick on a breakaway. Stefan Matteau scored for the Americans with 2:15 left to play on a shot that eluded Fucales glove, but Canada shut the door the rest of the way to pull off a win in their toughest, most emotionally charged game of the tournament. American captain Riley Barber and Canadas Nic Petan traded goals in the second frame, after Fucale shone in a scoreless first period in which the Americans controlled the play and had a 13-6 shot advantage. Only a regulation time win would give Canada (3-0-1) first place over the U.S. (3-1-0). The Canadians will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Thursday at the Isstadion. As usual, coach Brent Sutter wasnt offering much insight about his teams upcoming opponent. "We now have 48 hours to prepare for our next opponent. Our focus over the next two days needs to be on this game and only on this game," was all he would say. The Swiss pulled off a 4-3 shootout win over Finland, but it didnt lift them out of fourth place in their group. What the win did, however, was give the Americans a very tough quarter-final opponent in Russia. The Canadian squad got all it needed to win -- solid goaltending, timely scoring and strong special teams play. The Americans went into the game with a whopping 58 per cent power play success rate (11-for-19), but were held scoreless during all three man advantages. Canada answered with Lazars power-play marker in five opportunities. "It was the first time weve been minus on special teams in four games and that was the difference," said American coach Don Lucia. Technically, Barbers goal at 3:29 of the second was short-handed. The teams were each down a man and Barber came around the net and caught Fucale moving the wrong way one second after Canadas Taylor Leiers slashing call expired. Some hard work by Anthony Mantha produced the tying goal at 12:49, as he used his long reach to push the puck to the left side where Petan trailed in late to beat Jon Gilles to an open side. Petan had scored the game-winner and an empty-net goal in Canadas 5-3 win over Slovakia on Monday. Mantha picked up his team-leading 10th point in four games. Canada killed a penalty to start the third and then got one just as their own power play ended 3:54 into the third when Josh Morrissey got the puck to the net and McDavid had two chances to slide it past Gilles. The 16-year-old McDavid was under pressure since his benching in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Czech Republic, and scoring a goal could go a long way to restoring confidence in the highly skilled Erie Otters forward. "Maybe a little bit," said McDavid. "As a hockey player you have to stay even keeled. Things happen in the game. The highs, the lows. You have to remain pretty confident. I think Ive done a pretty good job of that." Lazar was camped in front for the re-direct on a power play at 6:13 as the puck went from Derrick Pouliot to Jonathan Drouin to the Edmonton forward for his second goal in as many games. "Im really getting into my element," the Ottawa Senators prospect said. "Coach Sutters been moving me around. Ive played centre, right and left wing. Im still getting used to things, but it feels good to contribute." The game also saw big forward Frederik Gauthier moved from left wing to centre, where he drew praise from Sutter for winning several defensive zone faceoffs. But most of the post-game attention was on Fucale, the chatty goaltender who backstopped the Halifax Mooseheads to a Memorial Cup last spring. Fucale was dropped to backing up Jake Paterson after the first of three pre-tournament exhibition games, but it looks like hes Sutters man now. "Hes a confident young man and he stood tall," said Sutter. "We need that." Fucales teammates laugh about Fucales non-stop talking, even when hes by himself in the net during games. "I try to stay low key, but maybe I talk a lot," Fucale said. "I love Zach," said forward and fellow Montreal Canadiens prospect Charles Hudon. "I played with him peewee and bantam (in Boisbriand, Que.) and he had the same swagger. "He was always cocky. It was a good for him and I think the crowd loved it too." "It was unbelievable standing on the blue-line at the end of the game with the fans chanting Fucale," said McDavid. "I had chills and it wasnt for me, so I cant imagine how he felt. "You see a lot of goalies and theyre pretty weird. They have their routines and you cant talk to them, but hes really relaxed and honestly, he does have that swagger." Canada also got a boost with the return of big defenceman Griffin Reinhart after serving a four-game suspension for a slash at last years world juniors. Reinhart was counted on to be the leader on defence and he showed it with 20 minutes of ice time, mostly paired with Matt Dumba. He finally got to play at a world juniors with his younger brother, forward Sam Reinhart. The two were on the ice together a lot, especially while penalty killing. Wholesale Fake Air Max 95 . On paper, it looks a little like Andre the Giant taking on a midget wrestler. It has all the makings of a rout with the Americans adding an eighth win in nine outings of this biennial event. The Yanks have eight players in the top 15 in the world while the Internationals have just one. Fake Nike Shoes . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. https://www.fakeshoes.net/wholesale-fake-nike-air-force-1-f199.html .com) - On the bright side, either the Minnesota Wild or Buffalo Sabres will end their losing streak on Thursday night.WASHINGTON D.C. The hole was three goals deep after just eight minutes and 44 seconds. And it would ultimately prove too daunting for the Maple Leafs to overcome in the U.S. capital. Doomed by the drudge of a sleepy start they fell in regulation Sunday afternoon for just the fifth time in the past 23 games (15-5-4), their comeback attempts sullied a 4-2 loss to the feisty Washington Capitals. Coming off a successful swing through the California triangle they won twice Toronto mustered just two shots in a stunted opening 20 minutes back east, down 3-0 before the frame was even halfway over. Washington scored twice on its first two power-play attempts, adding another from Jason Chimera at even-strength. It looked like we were still in for our afternoon nap, mused head coach Randy Carlyle of the period with some frustration afterward. We werent good enough in the first 10 minutes, added James Reimer, appearing in his third straight game. You cant spot a team three goals. We just werent sharp, myself included, and it cost us. I thought we dominated the second and the third was anyones game, we just couldnt quite climb out of the three-goal hole. The Leafs did dominate the middle period with the same emphasis as the Capitals did the first. They outshot the home-side 10-1 in the opening 11 minutes and 20-6 overall. But with three power-play opportunities and a slew of chances to score they could only get one by Jaroslav Halak, the eighth this season from Dion Phaneuf. David Clarkson had maybe the best opportunity to even the proceedings at three. Stuck with just one goal in the past 21 games and only four this season, the 29-year-old thought hed beaten Halak only to see the puck trickle off the goaltender and out. Thats been the story this year, Clarkson said. I think even if I didnt celebrate it was still laying there for me to poke in. Never coming closer he and the Leafs fell for the second time on a season-long road trip that wraps up Tuesday in Detroit against the hurting Red Wings. The momentum of emphatic wins in Anaheim and L.A. failed to carry over on the road back east. Knowing that first place in the Atlantic division is lost Boston is up 15 points Toronto has set its sights now on securing second spot and home-ice advantage in the first round. With 13 games to go they have 80 points, one up on Tampa and Montreal, who each carry games in hand. If we wouldve won this one we wouldve been in a great spot, said Carl Gunnarsson of the road trip at large. Weve got a big one coming up here in Detroit to make it a good one. Five Points 1. First Periods A nemesis on Sunday afternoon and all season for that matter, first periods have been a regular sore spot for the Leafs. Washington scored three unanswered in the opening frame on this day. Troy Bodie added a late goal to cut the deficit to two, just the second of two shots in the period for Toronto. Utterly displeased with his teams performance, Carlyle gathered the entire team for a chat during the second TV timeout. It was more or less just get going, Bodie said of Carlyles message. We didnt have our feet going. We werent ready to play. The Leafs boast a minus-15 goal differential in first periods this season, by far the worst of the three stanzas. Scoring their second of the night while out-shooting the Capitals 20-6, they improved to plus-13 in second periods. I think finally we got our legs under us, said Clarkson. We started going and we kind of put them back on their heels a little bit. 2. PK Stumbles The rising Leafs penalty kill entered the day with an 88 per cent success rate in the previous 14 games, turning the corner from an awful first half. We knew we couldnt give up on it, Jay McClement told the Leaf Report before the game. We just had to keep working and wed get better because virtually its the same group of us from last year. I dont know what the reason was [for our struggles], but now it seems like weve got the confidence back. That is until they faced the second best power-play unit in the league at the Verizon Center. Shadowing Alex Ovechkin, who leads the league with 19 power-play goals, the Leafs gave up a pair on Washingtons first two opportunities with the man advantage, once from an open Troy Brouwer in the slot, a second from Joel Ward on the back-door. We missed assignments on our coverage, said Carlyle. You cant let Troy Brouwer shoot the puck from 10 feet in front of your goaltender. Theres obviously a missed assignment and missed coverage in that situation. Wholesale Fake Air Max 97. . 3. Man Advantage Yields Little Boasting just two goals now in the past 11 games 7 per cent in that span the Toronto power-play meanwhile continued its dry spell. The Leafs grappled with three consecutive power-plays in the middle period, but failed to score even once. We believe in our power-play, said Joffrey Lupul prior to the game. And theres going to be stretches when you dont get those goals, but as long as we keep doing things right with some of the scorers we have on the team eventually the power-play opportunities are going to turn into goals. Punch-less on many recent nights, the Leafs did have their opportunities against the Capitals, mustering eight shots. Sneaking in from the right point Cody Franson had maybe the best opportunity to beat Halak, but was ultimately turned aside. The unit currently sits in a four-way tie for third overall at 20.7 per cent. 4. Goalies James Reimer made his third straight appearance Sunday, starting in place of the injured Jonathan Bernier. Fighting the puck early, Reimer yielded three goals on the first five shots, but settled as the night wore on. He made key stops in the final frame, including one on Jason Chimera breaking in partially alone.Citing the now 26-year-olds rebound trouble in that opening frame, Carlyle said he considered pulling Reimer in favour of Drew MacIntyre after the third Washington goal. We did think about that, said Carlyle. But I didnt want to throw Drew into that type of situation without giving him a heads up
Weve got Reims here and weve got to show the confidence for him to fight through some of those situations. We know that Reims is going to start the next game in all probability. Carlyle had little to offer as far as an update on Bernier, who remained with the team in Washington Sunday ahead of the trip to Detroit. Its clear the 25-year-old will miss his second straight game against the Red Wings Tuesday, the clarity of lower-body injury yet to be fully revealed. 5. Kadris Evolution Nazem Kadri said recently that I want to become a complete player that this team can trust and among coaches and teammates that desire for evolution has been seen on the ice. I think hes maturing as a player, said Carlyle of the 23-year-old, who established a new career-high for points in Los Angeles this past Thursday night. I still think theres some room for Nazzie to grow. But I still think youve got to give the kid credit. Hes under a microscope. Hes under a lot of pressure to come in as a young player and play those minutes. We have all kinds of confidence [in him]. [But] maybe not as much confidence as he has if you know what I mean. Hes better in his defensive zone for sure, added Lupul. Just positioning and using his body and his stick down low. I think everyone probably saw the offensive talents [which] have always been there, but now Ive been playing on his line for a while now hes pretty reliable defensively. And as a winger he gets in a spot where youre able to find him, get him the puck. For Lupul, thats the indicator for when Kadri is at his best. I think thats one thing for me that when hes playing really well thats what I notice about being on his line is hes putting himself in a spot where hes basically demanding the puck and that he gets it. That shows his confidence and thats how you can kind of tell when hes on the top of his game. Kadri finished with two shots in 20 minutes against the Capitals. Stats-Pack 35-40 Toronto penalty kill over 14 games preceding Sunday in Washington. 54 Consecutive games missed by Dave Bolland, who is still recovering from a left ankle injury, his return status as yet unknown. 15-5-3 Leafs record in the past 23 games. 2-28 Toronto power-play over the past 11 games. 29 Points this season for Dion Phaneuf, eclipsing the mark he set in 48 games last season. Fighting the flu, Phaneuf had a goal and an assist in defeat against the Capitals. 42-57 Goal differential for the Leafs in first periods this season, favouring the opposition. 8-15-4 Leafs record this season when trailing after the first period. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-3Season: 20.7% (T-3rd) PK: 2-4Season: 78.4% (28th) Quote of the Night It looked like we were still in for our afternoon nap. -Randy Carlyle, on his teams performance in the opening period Sunday. Up Next The Leafs conclude their five-game road trip with a division battle against the Red Wings on Tuesday. ' ' ' |
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