Saturday's hockey: U.S.-Canada to meet in women's world final: Caps in final wild-card spot

Utica, N.Y. — Not knowing her next opponent yet, Taylor Heise took the diplomatic approach in saying she didn’t have a preference who the United States would face in the women’s world hockey championship gold-medal game.

And yet, when offered the chance to say anything derogatory about Canada, Heise laughed and said, “nope” three times on Saturday before adding: “We’ll keep that to the ice if we need to.”

And it’s on the ice where one of global sports’ and women’s hockey’s fiercest and longest-running rivalries – U.S. versus Canada – will be settled yet again on Sunday, when the bordering nations meet for gold for the 22nd time in 23 tournaments since the championships were established in 1990.

The Canadians were far more vocal in looking forward to a rematch, especially a year after the Americans beat them 6-3 to win gold at the tournament held outside of Toronto. It’s not lost on the Canadians having a chance to return the favor with the championships being held in central New York.

“I think it would feel a little bit special considering they beat us last year on home soil,” Canadian assistant captain Blayre Turnbull said. “So yeah, I think, it’s a big game and it’s one that we’re ready for and one that we can’t wait to get started.”

The Americans advanced on Saturday with a 5-0 win over Finland, in an outing Laila Edwards scored a natural hat trick and Aerin Frankel stopped 15 shots to set a single-tournament record with her fourth shutout. Plymouth's Kirsten Simms had two assists and was plus-2 and Farmington's Megan Keller was plus-2.

The Canadians followed with 4-0 win over Czechia, more widely known in English as the Czech Republic. Emily Clark and Jocelyne Larocque had a goal and assist each, and Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped nine shots for her second shutout of the tournament.

Desbiens, for one, hasn’t forgotten the 6-3 loss in last year’s final.

“You always want to beat them. Whether it’s a Rivalry Series, world championship, it doesn’t change,” Desbiens said. “Obviously, I remember last year, I remember what happened. And, we want this story to be different this year.”

In the meantime, Czech coach and former Canadian national team player Carla MacLeod made a point to emphasize how much the gap is beginning to close between the rest of the world and the sport’s two dominant North American teams.

“There was some animosity out there, and I take that as a compliment to Czech,” MacLeod said of an outing that featured several big hits and a shoving match that resulted in roughing penalties issued to Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin and Czechia’s Noemi Neubauerova in the third period. “If the Canadians and Americans are getting frustrated playing against us, we’re doing something right.”

In a tournament where the Czechs, Finns and Germany displayed signs of beginning to close the competitive gap, the one marquee matchup remains U.S.-Canada.

The final will be a rematch of a physical, fast-paced, end-to-end preliminary round outing on Monday, which the Americans won 1-0 on Kirsten Simms’ overtime goal.

Edwards joins Simms in being among the four U.S. players making their tournament debuts.

“She stepped up in a way that not a lot of people can. And I’m very proud of her,” said Heise, who set up Edwards’ final two goals. “I’m glad that she could prove that to herself. Because sometimes when you’re young and you get picked to a team like this, sometimes it takes a goal like that to prove to yourself that you’re here for a reason. But we all knew that before.”

The 6-foot-1 Edwards is from Cleveland and the first Black hockey player to make the U.S. national team roster. Coming off her sophomore season at Wisconsin, she is one of four Americans making their tournament debuts and now has five goals to share the tournament lead with teammate Alex Carpenter.

“It’s pretty good, I’d say,” Edwards said of her growing confidence. “Just confident in the team. So that always helps with my individual confidence. When our team’s rolling and everyone’s playing at their best and sharing the puck and just doing all sorts of things really helps with my confidence.”

Capitals' Jensen stretchered off the ice

Former Red Wings defenseman Nick Jensen is conscious, alert and using his extremities after being stretchered off the ice following a scary collision, the team said, adding he'd continue to be monitored.

Jensen’s head hit the boards and his body went limp after being shoved by Tampa Bay’s Michael Eyssimont late in the first period of the teams' game Saturday. He was attended to by emergency medical personnel for several minutes, after trainers called for the stretcher. The Capitals won the game, 4-2.

Officials postponed the final 1:31 of the first to be played after intermission. There was no penalty called on the play, referee Frederick L’Ecuyer said, leading to boos from the crowd.

Fans also booed Eyssimont each time he touched the puck afterward, and Dowd dropped the gloves to fight him during the second. It was just Dowd's third fight in the NHL.

The Capitals and Lightning were tied at 2 when Jensen was injured. His absence is the latest injury to Washington's blue line, already missing Rasmus Sandin, whose head hit a stanchion Sunday against Ottawa and who has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season.

Saturday's NHL games

(At) N.Y. Rangers 3, N.Y. Islanders 2: Artemi Panarin scored late in the third period to tie game and tallied the shootout winner as the New York Rangers rallied to defeat the New York Islanders 3-2 for a franchise-record 54th win on Saturday.

Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves, Braden Schneider scored a short-handed goal and Vincent Trocheck ended the shootout with another goal as the Rangers inched closer to winning the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record.

Panarin scored to the open the shootout against Ilya Sorokin. After Kyle Palmieri hit the post and Brock Nelson was stopped by Shesterkin, Trocheck ended the exciting game between the long-time rivals with a shot into the lower corner of the net that ended the Islanders’ six game winning streak.

The Islanders are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games and moved closer to clinching a playoff spot, thanks to their late-season surge under Patrick Roy who replaced Lane Lambert as head coach on Jan. 20. The Islanders are third in the Metropolitan Division with 90 points and two games remaining.

(At) Dallas 3, Seattle 1: Defenseman Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists, and Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist as Dallas beat Seattle to clinch the Central Division title for the first time in eight years.

Craig Smith also scored for the Stars, who remain in contention for both the top seed in the Western Conference and the Presidents’ Trophy with one game to play in the regular season.

Jake Oettinger stopped 26 shots. Kailer Yamamoto spoiled Oettinger’s bid to shut out Seattle for the second time in two weeks late in the third period. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves for the Kraken, who began a season-ending four-game road trip.

Winnipeg 7, (at) Colorado 0: Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry scored 10 seconds apart in a four-goal first period that chased Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the net, and Winnipeg moved into the driver’s seat for the Central Division’s second seed with a win against Colorado

Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for his fifth shutout of the season.

Sean Monahan and Lowry each had two goals, while Gabriel Vilardi and Tyler Toffoli also scored to help the Jets extend their win streak to six in a row. Winnipeg led 7-0 after two periods as 10 players had a point. It’s the first time in franchise history the team has scored seven consecutive goals in a game, according to NHL Stats.

The Dallas Stars wrapped up the Central Division title by beating Seattle earlier in the day. It set the stage for Colorado and Winnipeg meeting in the first round, with all that remains to sort out is which team has home-ice advantage. The Jets are two points ahead of the Avalanche for the No. 2 spot in the division with two games to play. They also hold the tiebreaker.

(At) Philadelphia 1, New Jersey 0: Travis Konecny scored a short-handed breakaway goal and Samuel Ersson stopped 20 shots to keep Philadelphia's miniscule postseason hopes alive with one game left to play in a win over New Jersey.

The Flyers entered Saturday with two games left while Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit all had three games remaining as they competed for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers had to win both games to have a shot at a playoff berth. The rest hinged on Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington all losing or tying their games to give the Flyers a slim mathematical edge at making the postseason for the first time since they reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2020.

Konecny’s NHL-best sixth short-handed goal past Kaapo Kahkonen in the second period stood as the difference maker and ensured the Flyers at least ended the game with a chance to extend their season.

(At) Florida 3, Buffalo 2 (OT): Sam Reinhart got his 55th goal of the season with 1:02 left in overtime, and Florida clinched home ice for at least Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs by beating Buffalo in the next-to-last regular-season game for both teams.

Reinhart took a pass from Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov and delivered the winner. Anton Lundell and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Florida, and Matthew Tkachuk had an assist – his 60th of the season, the third straight year he’s had that many.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots for Florida.

Tyson Jost and Jack Quinn scored for Buffalo, which got 39 saves from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The Sabres got a point off Florida for only the second time in the teams’ last 11 meetings; they’re 1-9-1 in that span.

(At) Washington 4, Tampa Bay 2: John Carlson scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 11:31 left, Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves in another strong performance when his team needed him and Washington kept their playoff hopes alive by beating Tampa Bay.

Sonny Milano scored twice and Nic Dowd provided an insurance goal with 3:14 remaining as the Capitals won for just the second time in nine games to at least temporarily move into the Eastern Conference’s second and final wild-card spot. They may need to win their final two games of the season to return to the postseason after missing last year.

Beating Tampa Bay was essential to just make that possible. A 5-on-3 power play in the third period gave Washington its best chance to crack 2019 Vezina Trophy-winning and 2021 playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Carlson did just that with a blast from the point after the first Lightning penalty had expired.

Milano’s goals helped the Caps keep pace earlier, while Anthony Duclair scored on a double deflection and Brandon Hagel got his 25th of the season for Tampa Bay. Lindgren did the rest, robbing Steven Stamkos of his 40th among a handful of quality saves throughout.

(At) Ottawa 5, Montreal 4 (SO): Brady Tkachuk had two goals and an assist, Drake Batherson scored the only goal in the shootout and Ottawa beat Montreal.

Shane Pinto and Thomas Chabot also scored for Ottawa, which swept the season series against the Canadiens 3-0 and extended its winning streak against Montreal to nine games. Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves for Ottawa.

Cole Caufield had two goals for Montreal, while Mike Matheson and Alex Newhook also scored. Cayden Primeau stopped 40 shots.

(At) Nashville 6, Columbus 4: Roman Josi scored two goals and assisted on two others, Tommy Novak had two goals and an assist, and Nashville defeated Columbus.

Cody Glass and Filip Forsberg also scored and Juuse Saros made 31 saves for the playoff-bound Predators, winners of three of four. Gustav Nyquist and Luke Evangelista each had two assists.

Trey Fix-Wolansky scored twice and James Malatesta and Alexandre Texier also scored and Jet Greaves made 31 saves for Columbus, losers of four straight. Justin Danforth had three assists.

Boston 6, (at) Pittsburgh 4: Brad Marchand scored short-handed to cap Boston’s four-goal second period, as they beat Pittsburgh.

Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist, and Jake DeBrusk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Danton Heinen and Morgan Geekie also scored as the Bruins regained the top spot in the Atlantic Division with their fifth win in six games. Linus Ullmark finished with 28 saves.

Michael Buntin scored twice, Drew O’Connor had a goal and an assist, and Bryan Rust also scored for the Penguins, who lost in regulation for the first time in 11 games (7-1-3). Alex Nedeljkovic was pulled after giving up three goals on 16 shots midway through the second period. He was replaced by Tristan Jarry, who stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced.

The Penguins fell out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and now trail Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia by one point.

Minnesota 6, (at) San Jose 2: Liam Ohgren scored his first career goal and Minnesota beat San Jose to assure the Sharks of having the best odds to win the NHL draft lottery.

Ohgren, a first-round pick from the 2022 draft, made his NHL debut on Friday night in Las Vegas and delivered in a big way in his second career game.

He had an assist in the first period and then scored late in the second when Jonas Brodin’s point shot ricocheted right to Ohgren, who knocked it past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 3-1.

Kirill Kaprizov added two goals in the final minute of the second period for the Wild, who were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday night.

Matt Boldy, Declan Chisholm and Marcus Johansson also scored for Minnesota. Jesper Wallstedt made 27 saves.

Jan Rutta and Mario Ferraro scored for the Sharks and Mikael Granlund had two assists to extend his points streak to 11 straight games.

Vancouver 3, (at) Edmonton 1: Casey DeSmith made 32 saves and Vancouver strengthened their lead atop the Pacific Division with a win over Edmonton.

Sam Lafferty, Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua scored for the Canucks, who won all four games between the teams this season. Vancouver has a five-point lead in the division over Edmonton, which still has an extremely slight chance with three games remaining to Vancouver’s two.

Evander Kane scored for the Oilers, who were again without captain Connor McDavid, who missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Stuart Skinner had 24 saves.

(At) L.A. Kings 3, Anaheim 1: Pierre-Luc Dubois and Matt Roy ended long goal droughts and Los Angeles beat Anaheim to remain in third place in the Pacific Division.

Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings, who have won five of their last six, and David Rittich stopped 28 shots. The victory gave them a three-point lead over Vegas with two games remaining in the regular season.

Trevor Zegras scored for Anaheim, which has dropped four of its last five. Lukas Dostal made 25 saves.

Playoff tracker

Atlantic

▶ Bruins (109)

▶ Panthers (108)

▶ Maple Leafs (102)

Metropolitan

▶ Rangers (112)

▶ Hurricanes (109)

▶ Islanders (90)

Wild card

▶ Lightning (95)

▶ Capitals (87)

(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)

▶ Red Wings (87)

▶ Flyers (87)

▶ Penguins (86)

▶ Sabres (82)

▶ Devils (81)

If playoffs started Sunday

Eastern Conference playoff matchups

▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Capitals (WC2)

▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)

▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)

▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Islanders

Remaining games in wild-card race

Islanders (90)

▶ Home (1): Penguins

▶ Away (1): Devils

Capitals (87 points)

▶ Home (1): Bruins

▶ Away (1): Flyers

Red Wings (87)

▶ Home (1): Canadiens

▶ Away (1): Canadiens

Flyers (87 points)

▶ Home (1): Capitals

▶ Away (0)

Penguins (86)

▶ Home (1): Predators

▶ Away (1): Islanders

Denver 2, Boston College 0

Jared Wright and Rieger Lorenz scored second-period goals, Matt Davis had 35 saves and Denver beat No. 1 overall seed Boston College 2-0 Saturday night to win the 10th national championship in program history.

No. 3 seed Denver (32-9-3), which finished the season on a nine-game win streak, moved past Michigan (nine) for most titles all-time. Boston College is tied with Boston University (five) for fourth, behind Wisconsin (six).

Davis had 23 third-period saves in his third shutout of the season. The junior made his 26th consecutive start, the longest streak of his career, and stopped 68 of the 69 shots he faced at the Frozen Four. Davis had 33 saves in the Pioneers' 2-1 double-overtime win over Boston University in the semifinals.

Grand Rapids 3, Chicago 1

Marco Kasper scored two goals for the Grand Rapids Griffins in a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Wolves on Saturday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

The Griffins clinched a second-round matchup against the Rockford IceHogs with series schedule to be announced on Wednesday.

Eleven local players taken in OHL draft

Detroit Catholic Central's Brooks Rogowski was the first local player selected in the two-day Ontario Hockey League draft, which wrapped up Saturday with a total of 302 players taken in 15 rounds.

Rogowski, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound center who led the Shamrocks in scoring with 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points this year, was drafted in the second round by the Oshawa Generals.

The 15-year-old Rogowski added two goals and two assists in five games in the playoffs for Catholic Central, which won its fifth straight state title with a 2-0 victory over Brighton in the Div. 1 final at USA Hockey Arena.

Ten other Michigan-area players were selected, including five players from the Detroit Little Caesars U15 team and four players from the Honeybaked program.

The five Little Caesars players were: Centers Beckham Edwards (third round, Sarnia), Jacob Monks (fifth round, London) and Ethan Garden (ninth round, Windsor) and defensemen Drake Gram (eighth round, Windsor) and Brayden Hughes (eighth round, Sarnia).

The four Honeybaked players were: Centers Stephen King (ninth round, Barrie), Trevor Theuer (tenth round, Saginaw), forward Grandon Echols (twelfth round, Flint) and defenseman Tyler Martyniuk (sixth round, Saginaw). Martyniuk was also selected to the NTDP U17 team this week.

A total of 34 players were chosen from 22 different American-based teams led by Little Caesars (5), followed by Shattuck-St. Mary’s School, Detroit HoneyBaked, and the Chicago Mission with four each. Oakland Junior Grizzlies defenseman Nicholas Bogas was drafted by Sarnia in the eleventh round.

Michigan-area hockey this week

Saturday

▶ Red Wings 5, Toronto 4 (OT)

▶ Grand Rapids 3, Chicago 1

▶ Youngstown 4, NTDP U17s 3

Sunday

▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 4 (AHL/96.1)

Friday

▶ Rockford 2, Grand Rapids 0

▶ Youngstown 5, NTDP U17s 3

Thursday

▶ Pittsburgh 6, Red Wings 5 (OT)

▶ Boston College 4, Michigan 0

Tuesday

▶ Washington 2, Detroit 1