At playoff time, NHL teams march to the beat of their goaltenders and count on them to save the day

Photo: The Canadian Press

DENVER (AP) — Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev went home after a recent shaky outing and immediately watched film — the car-racing thriller “The Fast and the Furious.”

Anything to keep his own mind from racing.

It's playoff time, where teams march to the beat of their goaltenders. They want them laser-focused, full of confidence and ready to save the day.

There are quite a few teams going into the postseason with big decisions in net. That includes Boston, which could split the goaltending duties, and the Avalanche, where Georgiev led the league in wins (38) but also goals against (183). Not every team has a Connor Hellebuyck, the Winnipeg goaltender who will try to shutdown the Avalanche and is a favorite to capture the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best.

“Your goalie (in the playoffs) is the most important thing, like a quarterback or a pitcher. You need them to be on top of their game,” said former NHL goaltender Michael Leighton, who now lives in Windsor, Ontario, and runs a goalie academy. “If they’re not, your team’s in trouble.”

It simply boils down to that. When a goalie is going good, everything seems to be going good.

“It gives us a ton of confidence," Jets defenseman Neal Pionk said of Hellebuyck's big-save ability. "It lets you play freely, make some plays. Because when we play these good teams, they’re going to make some plays no matter what we do. We could play a perfect game and still give up a few scoring chances and that’s where the goalie helps us out.”

All across the league, the situations vary in net heading into the playoffs:

— Nashville vs. Vancouver. For Nashville, it’s the Juuse Saros Show after leading the NHL in saves (1,672). Thatcher Demko is back from a knee injury for the Canucks.

— Florida vs. Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy has rounded into familiar stellar form for the Lightning after returning from back surgery earlier this season. Florida has its own star Russian goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky (six shutouts).

— New York Rangers vs. Washington. With the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers, it’s Igor Shesterkin, who won at least 36 games for a third straight season. Washington's Charlie Lindgren will be making his NHL postseason debut.

— Boston vs. Toronto. The Maple Leafs will rely on Ilya Samsonov while the Bruins have two standouts in Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman.

— Edmonton vs. Los Angeles. Stuart Skinner is in the crease for Edmonton as a familiar foe awaits. The Kings used both Cam Talbot and David Rittich down the stretch as they prepare to face the Oilers for the third consecutive postseason.

— Carolina vs. the New York Islanders. Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen is 9-1 in his 10 starts since his March 7 return, posting a league-best .951 save percentage while his 1.30 goals-against average is second among goalies with more than three starts in that span. Coach Patrick Roy figures to go with a red-hot Semyon Varlamov.

— Dallas vs. Vegas. Logan Thompson and Adin Hill each have compelling cases to be in the net for the defending champion Golden Knights. No such questions for Dallas, who will rely on Jake Oettinger (allowed two goals or less in 10 of his last 11 games).

Last postseason, Oettinger was up-and-down. The ups included his first playoffs shutout and the downs saw him pulled from two games.

“It’s all about forgive and forget and one game at a time," Oettinger explained. "I learned a lot last year and the year before, and I feel like I’m ready for this one.”

Some teams are weighing their options in net and may go with a platoon system, including Vegas and Boston. And even though Andersen is on a roll, Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour wouldn’t tip his hand and could work in Pyotr Kochetkov, who won his last four games.

Having two quality goaltenders can be both a luxury and a challenge. Leighton once split time with Brian Boucher in guiding the Philadelphia Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost six games to Chicago.

The luxury: “Just in case one isn’t sharp or because of injury,” Leighton said.

The challenge: “Sometimes it’s not about the goalie, it’s about the team,” Leighton explained. “The team plays different in front of some goalies. You’re risking your players playing differently in front of a certain goalie.”

Down the stretch, Georgiev has surrendered 22 goals over his last five appearances for Colorado. Should he struggle, Justus Annunen is waiting on the bench.

“Trying to just stay positive and see the positive,” Georgiev said. “I’ve made a lot of good saves and trying to focus on that and bringing that into the next games.”

Goaltending 101: Look forward, not back.

"It’s kind of keeping a cool head, not getting too caught up in everything, not getting too excited,” said Washington’s Darcy Kuemper, who backstopped Colorado to the Cup title in 2022. “Just make sure you’re going out there and doing the things that you’ve done all year and stick to your structure. Obviously, there’s highs and lows all season but you get in the playoffs and it’s even to more extreme levels. You’ve just got to keep a cool head.”

Not to mention a confident one, because it's infectious.

“He’s our brick wall back there,” Stars forward Mason Marchment said of Oettinger. “He’s our stud.”

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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno, and AP Sports Writers Stephen Hawkins, Aaron Beard, Jimmy Golen and Mark Anderson contributed to this report.

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The Florida Panthers are weird. And coach Paul Maurice says that as a compliment

Photo: The Canadian Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Ordinarily at playoff time, this would be bulletin-board material: A coach in the NHL referred to the Florida Panthers as weird.

Except this time, nobody minded. Because the guy who said it was Panthers coach Paul Maurice.

Weird, goofy and unique are just some of the terms Maurice uses to describe his team, and he's saying those words in the most endearing way possible. To him, they're all badges of honor, part of the reasons why the Panthers finished with 110 points, won the Atlantic Division for the second time in three years and have a full head of steam going into a first-round playoff series with the rival Tampa Bay Lightning.

“There’s a lot of guys that have been here for a long time, we’ve been together and everyone’s great," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Everyone's serious when we go on the ice and when we have to work. That’s the best part of it. And, off the ice, obviously we want to be as relaxed as possible, joke around, that kind of stuff. We love spending time together.”

The way Maurice sees it, the more fun the Panthers have, the better. The team's practice facility that opened this season was designed with some of that in mind, loaded with amenities designed to make the players want to spend even more time together. And every locker room in sports has a personality, a heartbeat to it — but Maurice insists there's something different about Florida's.

Nobody is safe from the jokes in there. Not Barkov, not Matthew Tkachuk, not Aaron Ekblad, not Sergei Bobrovsky, not even Maurice himself.

“Goalies have this weird superstitious thing and I'm not superstitious," backup goalie Anthony Stolarz said. "I’m cracking jokes with the guys, talking on the bench in between periods, trying to just lighten the mood any way I can. But goalies are kind of known for being a little weird. So, I try to stick to that stigma just a little bit.”

Like all hockey rooms, Florida's is a melting pot filled with Americans, Canadians, Russians, Swedes, Finns, even a Latvian. Countless different backgrounds, tons of languages spoken, and it's only natural for players with similar stories to gravitate toward one another.

Not so with the Panthers. Stolarz says he's been to dinner on road trips with just about everybody on the roster, and Maurice figures that just about everyone in the room can say that as well.

“It's a tight group for sure," said Florida forward Sam Reinhart, who scored 57 goals this season, 27 of them on the power play. “I've known that from Day 1. I think as I’ve progressed here, year in and year out, it’s gotten even closer. I think when you've got that core group, it's easy for guys to come in and just fit in and feel comfortable. It's important.”

This is why it's so important: The Stanley Cup playoffs will test any team. Wins are great, losses are tragic. The emotional ebbs and flows can vary not just by the day, but by the period, even by the shift in some cases.

If bonds and trust within a roster haven't been formed by now, they probably won't be. Maurice knows he doesn't have to worry about that — the weirdness, as he calls it, puts him at ease with the team about to enter the most important part of the season.

As he put it, the room allows every player — and the coach — to be goofy when needed, without fear.

“We've got some unique guys in there," Maurice said. “We've got some guys that just don’t look like professional athletes and they're elite at it. Lots of different personalities. So, what I think you find is because of the room the way it is, so accepting, guys are completely comfortable truly being themselves — and then that weirdness or uniqueness comes out."

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Lazio up to sixth in Serie A after win at Genoa

Photo: The Canadian Press

GENOA, Italy (AP) — A second-half goal from Luis Alberto gave Lazio a 1-0 win at Genoa on Friday and moved the capital club into sixth spot in Serie A and within touching distance of a Champions League spot.

The result snapped Genoa’s four-game unbeaten run and was another good result for a visitor which has won four of its last five league games.

Lazio was one place and one point ahead of Atalanta, which has two games in hand.

The top five teams in Serie A are guaranteed a place in next year’s expanded 36-team Champions League. Sixth spot could be enough if Roma or Atalanta win the Europa League.

Genoa remained in 10th place.

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History with Maple Leafs could help Bruins snap short playoff slump

Photo: The Canadian Press

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins may have found just the solution to their playoff slump: A first-round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Bruins haven't lost a playoff series to Toronto since 1959, winning six straight series that have helped extend their Original Six rival's Stanley Cup drought to more than half of a century. Boston won all four regular-season matchups with the Leafs during the regular season — all motivation, no doubt, for Toronto to turn things around.

“I think just with the history we’ve had with them recently, they’re probably our biggest rival now over the last decade,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said Thursday as the team began practicing for the Saturday’s series opener.

“It definitely brings the emotion and the intensity up for the fans. It’s a lot of fun to play,” he said. “It’s always extremely competitive. You never know which way the series is going to go. But that’s what you want and what you love about hockey.”

Although the outcomes have been one-sided, the Bruins have had to work for their victories.

Boston also won back-to-back seven-game series in 2018 and ’19. In their first-round matchup in 2013, the Bruins rallied from a three-goal, third-period deficit in Game 7 and won in overtime.

“Completely new game and a new season,” Auston Matthews, one of five Toronto holdovers from the last matchup five years ago, told the Canadian Press after the regular season-ending loss to Tampa. “Do our due diligence and make sure that we’re recovering and ready.”

The lopsided history raised questions about whether the Bruins engineered a matchup with the Leafs by losing three of their last four games of the season. That dropped Boston out of first place in the Atlantic Division — and a potential matchup with the more dangerous Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Bruins haven't advanced in the playoffs since 2021 — despite setting NHL records for points and wins last season.

Marchand thinks it would be foolish to underestimate Toronto.

“Nothing you do in the season has any bearing on what’s going to happen in the future,” he said. “You start getting caught up in the past, whether it’s good or bad, it’s going to affect your play. You need to stay in the moment, playoffs time.”

SCORING THREAT

Matthews is turning his attention to the playoffs after falling short of his bid for 70 goals, going scoreless in back-to-back losses to end the season and finishing with 69.

“The most important thing is the team and the team’s success, making sure I’m pulling my weight as a leader on this team and help the team win,” he said. “That’s where my focus is at.”

Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said he doesn’t measure Matthews’ contribution in goals.

“I know there’s been a lot of focus on him reaching 70 goals; you kind of lose sight of how well he’s played,” Keefe said. “It wasn’t meant to be, and that’s OK. Sixty-nine is an unbelievable season.”

GOAL SQUADS

The Bruins aren’t saying who will start in net, though indications are that they will at least begin by rotating Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman.

“Our goalies know what the plan is,” general manager Don Sweeney said. “They know what their strengths are for our hockey club and how much we rely on them. And performance and results will dictate some of this. But we know what the plan is going in. And we’re comfortable with it.”

The Bruins goalies have alternated this season, except when injuries necessitated an adjustment. Swayman, who played three of the four games against Toronto, was 25-10-8 overall in 43 starts with a 2.53 goals-against average and Ullmark was 22-10-7 in 39 starts, allowing 2.57 goals per game.

Ullmark was the playoff starter last year, when he won the Vezina Trophy after leading the Bruins to a record-setting regular season. But after he allowed six goals in 32 shots in a Game 6 loss to Florida, Swayman started — and lost — the first-round clincher.

“We’re very confident in our goaltending,” Sweeney said. “I think it’s been a strength of our hockey club, certainly the past two years.”

STUMBLING TO THE FINISH

Both teams finished up the regular season on losing streaks.

While Boston lost three of its last four, Toronto dropped four straight to finish third in the Atlantic, seven points behind the Bruins and still four points better than Tampa Bay.

“Definitely not how we want to be playing going into the post-season,” Matthews said. “I don’t think we can just think we’re going to turn it on.”

Toronto is hoping to build on last year’s postseason, when it beat Tampa in six games to advance for the first time since 2004. The Bruins are hoping to forget last year, when they set NHL records with 65 wins and 135 points but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Florida.

“Looking back, we definitely looked at going on a long run and preparing for a long run," Marchand said. “Looking day to day, it’s definitely a lesson we can learn and build upon.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Alberta spring signals another Oilers-Kings NHL playoff showdown

Photo: The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — There are a few sure signs of spring in Alberta. The snow turns to slush, the Canada geese return to the ponds, lakes and streams, and the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings face each other in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.

The two rivals will meet in the first round for the third season in a row, with the Oilers looking to make it a hat trick of victories. 

The Oilers rebounded from a 3-2 series deficit to win a seven-game thriller two seasons ago. In 2023, the Oilers beat the Kings in six.

“It could only be you,” the Kings social-media team posted on X just minutes after Los Angeles beat Chicago 5-4 in overtime Thursday night, clinching third spot in the Pacific on the final day of the season. 

The victory saw the Kings leapfrog the Vegas Golden Knights for third in the Pacific Division, and the right to play the second-place Oilers in Round 1.

The series starts at Edmonton's Rogers Place, with Game 1 scheduled for Monday.

“There’s definitely been a lot of lessons learned,” said Kings forward Quinton Byfield. “We had a younger group coming in a couple of years ago. For myself, I got more playoff experience. A lot of guys in [our] room got more playoff experience. We know they’re a really good team, they have some star players. It’s going to be a really hard series, but hopefully it’s our time, now.”

While the foes are familiar with each other, the two head coaches are not. Both the Kings and Oilers made coaching changes this season, predicated by long slumps. For the Oilers, Jay Woodcroft was ousted after the team got off to a shocking 3-9-1 start.

The Oilers then went a blistering 46-18-5 under rookie head coach Kris Knoblauch, including a midseason 16-game winning streak that was just one shy of the NHL record.

“It’s been a wild ride, starting real low, then having a real high there in the middle with that win streak and getting ourselves back into it,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “And here we are, about to host a playoff series. It’s hard to think from where we’ve come, it’s a credit to everybody in this room and the resiliency of this group.”

The Kings fired Todd McLellan after a 17-game midseason stretch which saw the team win just three times. Jim Hiller was brought in to steady the team, and the Kings finished with a 44-27-11 mark.

While Hiller is a new voice behind the bench, the Kings’ playing style hasn’t changed. They still employ the 1-3-1 system that clogs up the neutral zone, and limits their opponent’s ability to break out on the rush. 

The 1-3-1 system, which has yet to beat the Oilers in the playoffs, serves as a necessary evil, bridging the significant firepower gap between the teams. 

Adrian Kempe topped the Kings with 75 points, while McDavid ranked third in NHL scoring with 132 points, Draisaitl seventh at 106, and Hyman, a standout with 54 goals, solidified his role as a premier net-front presence in the league.

The “playoffs are a new season” will be a cliché we’ll all hear hundreds of times over the next few days. But Kempe, who got an assist on the game-tying goal and scored the overtime winner in the season finale over Chicago, hopes the post-season will see the Kings carry over the momentum from a season-ending stretch that saw them win six of their last eight.

“It doesn’t matter who you play, you have to win four rounds to make it all the way,” said Kempe, who on Thursday was named the team MVP for 2023-24. “It’s kind of a new season. But, obviously, we’ve worked so hard all year to be here. And, all those things we’ve done well and the things we haven’t done as well, we bring that with us into the playoffs.”

Meanwhile, the Oilers have been managing their minutes. McDavid, Hyman, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the top defence pairing of Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm were all rested for the team's final game in Colorado. Forward Evander Kane, meanwhile, sat out a third straight game. 

The Oilers played 10 times between April 1 and 18. So, with rest and rotation being the priority, there wasn't much to take away from the team’s two losses to end the season, at Arizona and Colorado.

Knoblauch says his team is ready for the grind.

“We’re going into the playoffs coming off quite a few games in April,” he said. "I don’t think anyone’s played more games than we have (in the last three weeks)."

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Regular-season series: Oilers 3-1-0; Kings 1-2-1

Goals per game: Edmonton, 3.59 (4th); Los Angeles, 3.12 (T16th).

Top scores: Edmonton, Connor McDavid, 132; Los Angeles, Adrian Kempe, 75.

Starting goaltender: Edmonton, Stuart Skinner, 36-16-5, 2.62 GAA, .905 save percentage; Los Angeles, Cam Talbot, 27-20-6, 2.50 GAA, 913 save percentage

Power play percentage: Edmonton — 26.3 (4th); Los Angeles Kings — 22.6 (12th).

Penalty kill percentage: Edmonton — 79.5 (15th); Los Angeles Kings — 84.6 (2nd).

The Big Stat: Trevor Moore led the Kings with 31 goals this season. That total would place him fourth on the Oilers behind Hyman (54), Draisaitl (41) and McDavid (32) 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2024.

NHL PLAYOFFS: West best Dallas vs. defending champion Vegas headlines 1st-round matchups

Photo: The Canadian Press

All eight first-round matchups in the NHL playoffs are set after the last day of the regular season flipped two of the biggest series in the West.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights will open against West top seed Dallas. Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers will face the Los Angeles Kings, a team they’ve defeated each of the past two years in the same round.

In the East, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers begin their championship pursuit against Washington. Cup favorite Carolina faces the New York Islanders in the first round, but any of nearly a dozen teams could win it all.

A glance at the first-round series (times Eastern):

RANGERS vs. CAPITALS

Game 1: Sunday at New York, 3 p.m.

New York was the best team in the league. Washington needed to win its regular-season finale to get into the playoffs, doing so with an unusual empty-net goal.

The Rangers are heavily favored, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. But Capitals center Dylan Strome pointed out the teams not only split four games but each scored and allowed nine goals in the season series.

“Anything can happen in playoffs,” Strome said. “You saw what happened last year: The best team in regular-season history (Boston) loses to Florida because they had a good end of the season and they kind of carried it towards playoffs. We’ve won three in a row, we’re feeling good. The momentum’s kind of with us, and obviously we feel good.”

HURRICANES vs. ISLANDERS

Game 1: Saturday at Carolina, 5 p.m.

This is a rematch from last year, when the Hurricanes beat the Islanders in six games. It's also another series pitting Carolina's Sebastian Aho (a Finnish forward) against New York's Sebastian Aho (a Swedish defenseman), no relation.

What has changed: The Islanders upgraded at coach, hiring Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy midseason, and won seven of eight games down the stretch to make a surprise run to the playoffs. Speaking of goaltending, Hurricanes starter Frederik Andersen is 9-1-0 with a 1.30 goals-against average and .951 save percentage since returning from blood-clotting issues.

PANTHERS vs. LIGHTNING

Game 1: Sunday at Florida, 12:30 p.m.

Defending Eastern Conference champion Florida looked on track to play Toronto in the first round until the Panthers came back to beat the Maple Leafs on Tuesday while Boston lost to Ottawa. So now they will face cross-state rival Tampa Bay.

The Lightning have 2019 Vezina Trophy winner and 2021 playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, while Florida has two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky. The play of the Russian goalies could decide the series.

BRUINS vs. MAPLE LEAFS

Game 1: Saturday at Boston, 8 p.m.

A year removed from setting NHL records for the most wins and point in a season and losing in the first round, coach Jim Montgomery hopes the Bruins learned “how to handle adversity when it smacks you in the face.” That could come in the form of 69-goal scorer Auston Matthews or any of the Leafs' other elite offensive players.

Facing Boston is a chance for Toronto, which has one playoff series victory with its current core, to slay a dragon that has tormented the team. The Bruins eliminated the Leafs in 2018 and '19.

STARS vs. GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Game 1: Monday at Dallas, 9:30 p.m.

Congratulations on clinching the top seed in the Western Conference, Dallas. Your reward is the reigning champs getting captain Mark Stone back from a lacerated spleen just in time to make another run.

The Stars, who lost to the Golden Knights in the West final last year, have been “a wagon” down the stretch, in the words of Colorado coach Jared Bednar, looking like the class of the conference with a deep roster and a mountainous goalie in Jake Oettinger. Starting with Vegas is a steep test.

JETS vs. AVALANCHE

Game 1: Sunday at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.

The first matchup to get locked in was Winnipeg vs. Colorado, a classic clash in styles. The high-octane Avalanche tend to overwhelm opponents but went 0-3 against the Jets this season, outscored 17-4 and never putting up more than two goals in any game and looking absolutely smothered by the best defensive team in the league in terms of goals allowed.

The most recent game was a 7-0 Jets rout in Denver, but the Avalanche, with their core mostly intact from their 2022 Cup run, know how to flip a switch when the playoffs arrive. That starts with MVP candidate Nathan MacKinnon, who finished second to Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov in the scoring race and is motivated to win another championship.

Colorado's biggest question is in goal, where Alexandar Georgiev has been up, down and inconsistent. The same cannot be said of his standout counterpart, the Jets' Connor Hellebuyck.

CANUCKS vs. PREDATORS

Game 1: Sunday at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

Rick Tocchet-coached Vancouver was one of the biggest surprises of the season. In October, making the playoffs would have made it a good year for the Canucks, but now they're Pacific Division champions and have their sights set on making it through the West.

Nashville stands in the way of that after a late-season 16-0-2 surge propelled the Predators into a wild-card spot in their first year under coach Andrew Brunette and with Barry Trotz in charge as general manager.

OILERS vs. KINGS

Game 1: Monday at Edmonton, 10 p.m.

Here we go again. This is the third consecutive year Edmonton and Los Angeles have played in the first round. The Oilers won each of those series and are favored to advance to face either Vancouver or Nashville after winning 46 of 69 games since the coaching change from Jay Woodcroft to Kris Knoblauch.

This could be three-time MVP Connor McDavid's chance to carry the Oilers to their first title since 1990. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl talk and look a lot like MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog did before Colorado won it all two years ago.

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Injured Toronto FC star Lorenzo Insigne back running but still some weeks away

Photo: The Canadian Press

TORONTO — There was a welcome sighting of Toronto FC star Lorenzo Insigne running with a trainer Friday while the rest of the team warmed up before training on a damp day at BMO Field.

But the former Napoli captain, who has not played since March 23 when he hobbled off the field with a hamstring injury in first-half stoppage time of the 2-0 win over visiting Atlanta United, is still some weeks away.

Toronto hosts the New England Revolution on Saturday.

"I'd like to frighten New England and say he's close (to returning) but he's not close yet," coach John Herdman said with a rueful smile after practice Friday. " He's got another couple of weeks at least — two to three weeks would be what we're looking at. But it's getting closer.

"It was exciting to see him today. You get a bit of a lift. And he was kicking a ball as well, which was nice."

The 32-year-old Insigne, whose salary of US$15.4 million was second only to Lionel Messi's US$20.4 million last season, was treated with kid gloves during the pre-season after injuries limited him to four goals in 20 league appearances for TFC last year.

It seemed to be working with a pair of strikes voted MLS goal of the week against New England and Charlotte. But his momentum was halted by the hamstring injury and initial prognosis of six weeks recovery time.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2024

Knicks and 76ers got past injuries that could've ruined them. Now they meet in playoffs

Photo: The Canadian Press

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Jalen Brunson and his New York teammates refused to let injuries knock them down. Joel Embiid of Philadelphia wouldn't let his keep him down.

It was just days apart in January when the Knicks and 76ers were rocked by what could have been season-swinging blows. The Knicks were rolling through teams during one of the best months in franchise history when starting forwards Julius Randle and OG Anunoby went out of the lineup on the same day. Both needed surgery, with the All-Star Randle unable to return.

Embiid then went down with a knee injury and soon his own surgery, sending the 76ers tumbling down the Eastern Conference standings without knowing when the reigning NBA MVP would be back.

Yet not only did both teams recover, they are surging into a first-round series that begins Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

“I just think that for us to be able to bounce back and do things when people think you couldn’t, that’s the nature of our team,” Brunson said of the No. 2-seeded Knicks. “A lot of people had doubted us in the past but we always find a way to prevail.”

The Knicks won their final five games to finish 50-32, moving past Milwaukee on the final day of the regular season for their best finish since winning 54 games and earning the No. 2 seed in 2012-13. They learned their opponent three nights later, when the 76ers rallied to beat Miami 105-104 in a play-in game to earn the No. 7 seed.

Embiid didn't dominate like he can when healthy, but he finished strong and showed why the 76ers are more dangerous than the usual lower seed as long as he's on the floor. They won their final eight games of the regular season, five with Embiid in the lineup after he returned April 2 to finish 47-35.

The 7-footer played in just one of the 76ers' three losses to the Knicks in the regular season, but wasn't available when New York won by 14 in February and 27 on March 12. The Knicks won by 36 in Philadelphia on Jan. 5 in the one game Embiid did play,

That was right after the Knicks added Anunoby following a trade with Toronto, kicking off a 14-2 finish in January.

“They play hard and physical, they’re tough, and that’s their identity,” 76ers All-Star Tyrese Maxey said. “So for us to go in there and try to get Ws and try to win this series, we have to match that. And not just match, but we have to overcome that and be better than that, and be extremely physical as well. I think we know what we have to do. And they kicked our tail in the regular season, so it’s time to go in there and fight.”

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

The Atlantic Division rivals haven't met in the postseason since 1989, when the Knicks swept the 76ers in what was then a best-of-five first round. Then again, there haven't been many opportunities, unless they came early. The 76ers haven't been past the second round since reaching the NBA Finals in 2001. The Knicks were last in the conference finals a year earlier.

But the current players know what to expect when the series starts at Madison Square Garden, just a short train ride from Philadelphia.

“The lights are super bright, they’re going to give those celebrities $100,000 free tickets just to be there and not care about the game, but that’s what they do and it’s going to be super fun and I look forward to it,” Philadelphia's Kelly Oubre Jr. said.

POINTS FROM THE POINT

Brunson and Maxey were both first-time All-Stars this season and both point guards had plenty of big nights during the regular season. Maxey scored at least 50 points three times. Brunson had 11 40-point performances, tying Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing for second-most by a Knicks player in a single season, and was fourth in the league with 28.7 points per game.

PHILADELPHIA'S FINEST

Brunson and fellow Knicks Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo were NCAA championship-winning teammates at Villanova, so will be playing in a familiar environment for the games in Philadelphia.

“Philly, that’s always home,” Hart said. “For me and I know JB and Te feel the same way.”

The 76ers added their own former Wildcat, Philadelphia product Kyle Lowry, during the regular season.

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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Toronto FC, New England looking to turn the tide after disappointing showings

Photo: The Canadian Press

Toronto FC and the New England Revolution are both looking to climb out of a hole when they meet Saturday at BMO Field. 

After a promising start under John Herdman, injury-depleted Toronto (3-4-1) has lost three straight while being outscored 10-3. 

New England (1-5-1) made it as far as the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup but has found league wins hard to come by under new coach Caleb Porter. 

Porter sees some similarities with Toronto.

"There's a transition that their club's going through with a new coach, a new way of playing," he said. "So you see some inconsistencies, very similar to us … There's an evolution here and an evolution there, and that evolution happens with time, it happens with adding personnel. And we'll get there."

The MLS's primary transfer window closes Tuesday.

Herdman is also still learning about his team but says TFC is coming from a different place than New England.

The Revs finished sixth overall in the league last season with 55 points, 23 above last-place Toronto. And the Revs can call on all three of their designated players — Spanish playmaker Carles Gil, Italian-born Albanian international forward Giacomo Vrioni and Argentine forward Tomas Chancalay.

Toronto is without its talisman, injured Italian star Lorenzo Insigne.

Both teams were issued challenges this week.

Herdman said veteran goalkeeper Sean Johnson spoke to the team after the poor defensive showing in a 3-2 loss at Charlotte last Saturday.

"We've just said 'Enough,'" said Herdman.

Porter, in his first season at the New England helm after stints with Portland and Columbus, has also asked his players to step up.

"I want to see what these guys are made of," Porter said. "We're all not happy with where it's at. We don't feel good. None of us. If you feel good right now in your life, then something's wrong … So I'm looking for us to take action in this game this weekend. I want to see a group of guys that are doing something about it."

The Revs have yet to win on the road with three losses this season, beaten 2-0 at New York City FC last time out.

"I didn't like the way we played versus New York overall," Porter said. "That's not how we want to play. It was too direct .. We do need to play soccer a bit more than we did in that game."

He called the loss "a step in the wrong direction."

"It's becoming my team but it's not my team yet. Part of that is getting pieces," he said.

"I'm learning the guys that can do it and there's a good group that can … We have a good group of guys, but I need leaders, I need fighters, I need winners. So I'm learning that."

Only San Jose (1-7-0) is off to a worse start.

The Revs had to divide their attention between league play and the CONCACAF Champions Cup where they defeated Panama's CAI (4-0 on aggregate) and Costa Rica's Alajuelense (5-1 on aggregate) before losing to Mexican powerhouse Club America 9-2 in the quarterfinals.

The Revs lost their first four league outings, outscored 10-3 but have gone 1-1-1 in their last three MLS games.

Herdman's defence will be thin Saturday with Kevin Long suspended and fellow centre back Shane O'Neill injured. 

Also injured are Insigne, Jordan Perruzza and Brandon Servania with Alonso Coello the latest addition to the list as he works his way through concussion protocols.

Italian DP Federico Bernardeschi is dealing with a "small muscle strain" picked up in the closing minutes of the Charlotte game. Bernardeschi and defender Raoul Petretta, who only lasted the first half in Charlotte, are expected to see action.

Rookie wingback Tyrese Spicer should be back after sitting out with a toe injury. Still Herdman expects to only have 19 players dressed Saturday, one less than normal.

New England lost 1-0 when the teams met March 3 at Gillette Stadium. The Revs have gone 1-3-1 since in league play with the lone win coming April 6 in a 1-0 decision over visiting Charlotte.

New England has scored a league-low five goals while conceding 13 to rank 24th on defence.

The Revolution holds a 16-11-13 career edge over Toronto, including a 5-6-6 mark at BMO Field. New England is unbeaten in its last three trips to Toronto (2-0-1), including a 2-0 victory last May.

After New England, Toronto hosts League1 Ontario champion Simcoe County Rovers in Canadian Championship play Wednesday.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2024

GM Staios taking cautious approach to off-season after Sens miss playoffs again

Photo: The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Another season out of the playoffs has left Ottawa Senators players frustrated and disappointed, but a complete overhaul doesn't appear to be in Steve Staios's plans.

In his media availability with media Friday morning, the Senators general manager acknowledged his players' feelings — captain Brady Tkachuk said Thursday as players cleaned out their lockers that he was “sick and tired of losing" — but was cautious in revealing plans for next season.

“I think the word frustration comes from not being able to meet expectations,” said Staios. “I think we need to take it back a little bit to be able to start to build towards those expectations.”

Staios is new to the job in Ottawa. He joined the team as president of hockey operations when new owner Michael Andlauer took over the team in September, and added general manager to his duties when longtime GM Pierre Dorion was fired Nov. 1.

He believes the challenges of the past season will make the team better in the long run.

“The players need to go through, as hard as it is, they need to go through these scenarios and situations and years where it’s utter disappointment,” Staios said. “Because it will only drive them to get better. They have to go through a year where there is conflict and there is turmoil. They need to learn how to deal with that.”

First on Staios’ to-do list this off-season is hiring a new head coach.

Jacques Martin, who filled in as interim after D.J. Smith was fired, will remain with the organization as a consultant.

Staios wouldn’t put a timeline on when an announcement might take place.

“We’re really digging in,” said Staios. “There’s a long list of coaches who are very good coaches that could come in and coach the Ottawa Senators. What we’re really trying to do is find the right person for the job at this time with our group. We’ve had time to evaluate our group on where we think they are and trying to find that personality and that style of coach.”

Staios added it would be a bonus if that person happened to be bilingual.

Decisions will also need to be made regarding supporting staff, but he did clarify that Daniel Alfredsson, who served as an assistant coach to Martin, wasn’t in consideration for head coach. Alfredsson will likely be given the opportunity to return if he chooses.

There’s no denying the Senators are on the edge of a precipice. After missing the playoffs for the past seven seasons this group will only be given so many chances to prove itself before significant changes are made.

That’s not to say there won’t be changes this off-season. The Senators could benefit from additional veteran leadership. 

Aside from veteran Claude Giroux, only goalie Joonas Korpisalo (15) has played more than 10 playoff games.

A goaltending corps led by Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg finished last in the league with an .888 save percentage. Staios believes the goaltenders are better than the numbers they posted.

“The question is do you address that because they had off years,” he said. “You know, there’s a number of areas that we need to address."

While most of the team’s core group of players are already under contract there are some decisions to be made.

Dominik Kubalik is the lone unrestricted free agent. He was acquired in the trade for Alex DeBrincat but never really found his place in Ottawa, putting up four goals and 15 assists in 74 games.

Forwards Shane Pinto, Parker Kelly, Boris Katchouk and defenceman Erik Brannstrom, are all restricted free agents and will be looking for contract extensions.

Staios said he didn’t think exit interviews were the place to discuss contract negotiations, and so no player was told he wouldn’t be returning to the organization.

Defenceman Jakob Chychrun is entering the final year of his contract, but Staios said he wouldn’t discuss contract negotiations through the media. 

Notes: Cenrtre Josh Norris is expected to be ready for the start of training camp following successful shoulder surgery.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2024.

Canucks set to face Predators in first playoff appearance since 2020

Photo: The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — Expectations for the Vancouver Canucks were not high heading into the season. 

Asked in September if he expected the team to make the playoffs, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford hedged.

“To be very to the point, the changes that we made, we have a playoff team if everything goes right,” he said. 

Things did go right. 

On Sunday, the Canucks will host their first home playoff game since 2015 when they kick off a first-round matchup against the Nashville Predators.

Vancouver has been one of the big surprises of the NHL season. The team went 23-9-3 ahead of the Christmas break and consistently hovered near the top of the league standings before capturing the Pacific Division title with a 50-23-9 record. 

“I think if someone told us where we would be this time (of the) year in the summer, obviously we’d take it," said captain Quinn Hughes. "It’s different when you're building something every day and you're living it. But we knew we had some good pieces in here and we’ve got a great staff, and management did a really good job with putting pieces together. 

"And it hasn't been easy, but we did everything we were supposed to do."

Players arrived in Vancouver well ahead of training camp last fall, trading their late-summer plans for group skates.

Brock Boeser, the team's longest-tenured player, says it feels "amazing" to see the hard work result in a playoff spot and division title.

“Obviously, we were sick and tired of losing," he said. "And that’s why we came here early to try and set that standard, set those expectations. I think we had that great start to the year and just built off it. We’ve had our ups and downs, but I think we’ve learned a lot.”

Several of the Canucks' top players shone throughout the season, putting up career-high numbers.

Hughes led all NHL defenceman with 92 points. Boeser hit the 40-goal mark. Three Vancouver players were among the league's top-20 scorers, including forward J.T. Miller with a team-high 103 points. Even after missing a month with a knee injury, goalie Thatcher Demko finished with a 35-14-2 record, a .918 save percentage and five shutouts. 

Point totals and division titles don't count in the post-season, noted winger Conor Garland. 

“It’s nice, but once Game 1 comes around, it’ll all be meaningless," he said. "We give ourselves a chance getting into the playoffs. It really doesn’t matter if you’re the eighth seed or the No. 1 seed, everybody has a chance. And that’s what everybody fights for all year.”

Head coach Rick Tocchet preached the importance of having a "day-to-day mindset" throughout the season. That won't change come playoffs, he said. 

“I think for our group, we just have to worry about Game 1," he said. "You can’t look at the big thing, ‘What if?’ or ‘You’ve got to win a series,’ all that stuff. I think it’s dangerous when you think that way. 

"I think, honestly, we’ve got to prepare for that first period against Nashville and be ready to play from that first shift. … I think when you think big picture, that’s when you get nervous.”

NHL playoff experience is one thing many of Vancouver's stars lack. The Canucks' last playoff run came in the Edmonton bubble during the COVID-abbreviated 20219-20 season.

“That was different. That was tough," said Garland, who played for the Arizona Coyotes at the time. "Our games were at like, 10 in the morning. So I was eating pasta at 8 a.m. It wasn’t the most fun I’ve had in my life. 

"This year is different. I’ll find out.”

Six current Canucks played for Vancouver in the bubble, including Boeser. Playoffs this year will be completely different, he said.

"I think we’ve just got to look at it as our first time," Boeser said. "Just with the fans and the momentum shift and all that, it’s something new to us and something I think we’re going to have to embrace."

The Canucks swept their season series against Nashville, but all three games took place before Christmas and the Predators were one of the NHL's hottest teams coming out of the all-star break. Nashville took points from 18 straight games across February and March, and finished the regular season fourth in a ultra-competitive Central Division. 

The late-season push doesn't scare Canucks winger Dakota Joshua. 

“I feel good about facing anybody," he said. "I think this group is a confident one."

The results of the Vancouver-Nashville season series will help going into the playoffs, Joshua added. 

"You know you can beat them," he said. "But at the end of the day, you start off 0-0. They were a pretty hot team here down the stretch, so they’re feeling probably a lot better than the times we played them during the season. And it should be a great series.” 

TALE OF THE TAPE

Regular-season series: Vancouver 3-0

Goals per game: Vancouver — 3.40 (6th); Nashville — 3.24 (10th).

Top scorers: Vancouver — J.T. Miller, 103 points; Nashville — Filip Forsberg, 94

Starting goaltender: Vancouver — Thatcher Demko, 35-14-2, 2.45 GAA, .918 save percentage; Nashville — Juuse Saros, 35-24-5, 2.86 GAA, .906 save percentage

Power play percentage: Vancouver — 22.7 (11th); Nashville — 21.6 (16th)

Penalty kill percentage: Vancouver — 79.1 (17th); Nashville — 76.9 (22nd)

The Big Stat: Vancouver went 17-12-4 after the all-star break while Nashville was 21-7-3.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2024.

Swiatek beats Raducanu in Stuttgart quarters. Sabalenka loses to Vondrousova

Photo: The Canadian Press

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Emma Raducanu's winning run came to an end in a 7-6 (2), 6-3 loss to top-ranked Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix on Friday.

Raducanu, ranked 303rd, had produced some of her best form since winning the 2021 U.S. Open as she won two Billie Jean King Cup matches last week and followed up with two wins to reach the Stuttgart quarterfinals.

That form wasn't quite enough to beat the top-ranked Swiatek, who is on course to win the Stuttgart tournament for the third year running in a key part of her clay-court preparation for next month's French Open.

“It was a pretty intense match, so I’m happy that I was able to keep the intensity even though we played tough games for two hours,” Swiatek said. Asked if she thought Raducanu was on the path back to challenging for titles, Swiatek said: “I hope she'll be able to do it, because for sure, she has a game for that, but it’s not easy.”

Raducanu broke Swiatek's serve in the opening game but the Polish player broke back immediately and eventually took the first-set tiebreak after racing to 4-0. Swiatek carried that momentum to break her British opponent to love in the first game of the second set, building a lead she kept throughout.

Swiatek next plays third-ranked Coco Gauff or Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals.

Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova upset second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 6-3, 7-5 to reach a semifinals for the first time since winning the grass-court Grand Slam last year. It was Sabalenka's first appearance in a quarterfinal since winning the Australian Open in January.

Vondrousova goes on to play another former Wimbledon winner in Elena Rybakina, who beat Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in their quarterfinal after recovering from a break down in the deciding set.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis