Thursday Sports: Canucks Shocker, Sheldon Keefe Fired

BREAKING NEWS

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Sheldon Keefe. The team made the announcement today after the Original Six franchise lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Keefe had a winning record (212-97-and-40) over parts of five seasons in Toronto, but was just 16-and-21 in the playoffs.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

CANUCKS 5 OILERS 4

The Vancouver Canucks have been talking about resilience for months.

On Wednesday, the team once again showed how the word has come to form part of its identity as Vancouver battled back from a three-goal deficit to edge the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

“The belief is always there,” said Canucks winger Dakota Joshua. “Just to know that you gotta keep playing to the end, anything can happen.”

Vancouver hasn’t always had the ability to stay composed and mount a dramatic comeback in pressure-packed situations, noted head coach Rick Tocchet.

“Maybe four or five months ago, or maybe last year, you might have seen some frustration, some laziness or when something frustrated us, we take a bad penalty,” he said.

“If you look at it, when they’re 4-1, I thought we still stayed disciplined. We weren’t pinching, we weren’t selling the farm. And I think that’s maturity of the year, how we’ve kind of built our resolve.”

Joshua had a goal and two assists, Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm contributed one of each, and J.T. Miller and Conor Garland also found the back of the net for Vancouver. Carson Soucy registered a pair of assists.

The Oilers took a 4-2 lead into the final frame, thanks to two goals from Zach Hyman, and one each from Mattias Ekholm and Cody Ceci. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl both had two assists.

Game 2 is set for Friday in Vancouver. The series moves to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.

Florida dumped Boston 6-1 in the other game. That series is tied at one. The Rangers visit Carolina tonight and Colorado welcomes Dallas. The Hurricanes lost the first two games in New York and the Stars dropped their series opener in Denver.

PWHL

Montreal’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team opens the playoffs Thursday night against Boston. The best-of-five semifinal opener will be played in Laval, Quebec. Toronto blanked Minnesota 4-0 Wednesday night in the other semifinal. Blayre Turnbull scored twice and Kristen Campbell made 26 saves for the shutout.

NBA

The Indiana Pacers are heading home with some work to do after losing the first two games of their second-round NBA playoff series in New York. Jalen Brunson had 29 points in New York’s 130-121 victory. Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was named league MVP before the game.

MLB

The Toronto Blue Jays have the day off as they prepare for a weekend series against the Minnesota Twins. It’s a rematch of last year’s wild-card series. Minnesota swept Toronto in two games. The Blue Jays are coming off a 5-3 victory in Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon. Toronto remains in last place in the American League East division standings.

GOLF

Nelly Korda will try to become the first woman to win six consecutive LPGA Tour starts when play begins in the Cognizant Founders Cup today in New Jersey. She took a couple weeks off after a three-stroke win in The Chevron Championship in Texas. Byron Nelson holds golf’s all-time record with 11 straight wins in 1945.
Tiger Woods is the only player on a five-member subcommittee that will be negotiating with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf. Woods is on the PGA Tour Enterprise transaction subcommittee. That group is involved in day-to-day dealings with the Public Investment Fund as the Saudi group tries to become a minority investor.

(Canadian Press)