Category: Movie

NEW YORK — Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, leading the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins in a preseason game on Tuesday night.

Anthony Bitetto and Kaapo Kakko also scored for the Rangers. New York’s No. 1 goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, played the first half of the game and had 11 saves on 12 shots before being replaced by Tyler Wall. Wall finished with 15 saves.

Jack Studnicka and Urho Vaakanainen scored for the Bruins. Linus Ullmark played the first half of the game in goal for Boston and made 11 saves. Kyle Keyser stopped seven of eight shots in the third.

ISLANDERS 3, FLYERS 2, OT

In Philadelphia, Anthony Beauvillier’s unassisted goal 22 seconds into overtime gave New York the win over the Flyers.

Adam Pelech and Noah Dobson also scored for the Islanders. Cory Schneider and Kenneth Appleby split the goaltending duties. Schneider started and stopped 10 of 11 shots. Appleby finished with 15 saves.

Egor Zamula and Maksim Sushko scored for Philadelphia. Carter Hart started in net for the Flyers and made 17 saves on 18 shots over the first two periods. Samuel Ersson made nine saves in just over 20 minutes of action.

HURRICANES 3, LIGHTNING 1

In Raleigh, North Carolina, newly acquired Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and an assist in the first period to lead Carolina over defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay.

Kotkaniemi, the former member of the Montreal Canadiens who agreed to an offer sheet with the Hurricanes, opened the scoring with a power-play goal 9:07 into the game. He was credited with a secondary assist on Teuvo Teravainen’s power-play goal eight minutes later.

Jack Drury scored in the second period for Carolina, which had free agent signee Frederik Andersen play the entire game in goal. Andersen finished with 36 saves.

Maxime Lagace allowed all three goals on 32 shots for the Lightning. Alex Barre-Boulet scored for Tampa Bay.

SABRES 5, BLUE JACKETS 4, SO

In Columbus, Ohio, Jack Quinn scored the deciding goal in the shootout, helping Buffalo complete a come-from-behind victory over Columbus.

Trailing 4-1 entering the third period, Buffalo got goals from Michael Mersch, J.J. Peterka, and Linus Weissbach to force overtime. Neither team scored in the five-minute overtime session, setting the stage for Quinn’s winner.

Arttu Ruotsalainen also scored for Buffalo. Aaron Dell allow three goals on 15 shots in nearly 30 minutes of action. Dustin Tokarski made 16 saves on 17 shots.

Oliver Bjokstrand scored two goals in a span of 3:41 in the first period for Columbus. Vladislav Gavrikov and Jake Bean added goals in the second period.

Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves split time in nets. Merzlikins started and stopped 14 of 15 shots in the first two periods. Greaves made 11 saves in the third and overtime.

OILERS 6, KRAKEN 0

In Edmonton, Alberta, Brendan Perlini scored twice and Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists in Edmonton’s win over Seattle.

Darnell Nurse, Jesse Puljujarvi and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers. Mike Smith stopped all 18 shots he faced before leaving midway through the second period. Mikko Koskinen came on to record 16 saves.

Seattle goaltender Chris Driedger stopped 18 of 23 shots before giving way to Joey Daccord at the start of the third period. Daccord finished with nine saves as the expansion Kraken fell to 1-1.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, AVALANCHE 3

In Las Vegas, Jonathan Marchessault’s goal with 4:10 left in the third period was the winner for Las Vegas against Colorado.

Alex Pietrangelo, Nicolas Hague, and Patrick Brown also scored for the Golden Knights. Laurent Brossoit went the distance in the net and finished with 19 saves.

Oskar Olausson, Bowen Byram, and Jack Johnson scored for Colorado, which had Pavel Francouz and Jonas Johansson split time in goal. Francouz started and stopped 14 of 16 shots in the first 30 minutes. Johansson allowed two goals on 12 shots.

KINGS 4, SHARKS 3

In San Jose, Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of 23 shots in just over 31 minutes, leading Los Angeles over San Jose.

Garret Sparks replaced Quick midway through the second and finished with 13 saves. Jordan Spence, Kale Clague, Austin Wagner, and Lias Andersson scored for the Kings.

Timo Meier, Brent Burns, and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose. James Reimer and Alexei Melnichuk shared the goaltending duties. Reimer started and played the first two periods, finishing with 18 saves on 21 shots. Melnichuk made 11 saves in the third period.

EDMONTON — “I’m in a really good place right now.”

Adam Larsson was speaking over the phone from his new home in Seattle, but this wasn’t about fish markets and Starbucks. This was about life, recovery, and the moment that made it impossible for him to return to the Edmonton Oilers as a free agent this summer.

“You learn to live with it,” he continued. “That’s the route you go, I think. You never stop thinking about it, but you learn to live with it.

“It was a tough three years, and the memory still comes back. But I’m in a good place now, mentally.”

Just 50 years old, Robert Larsson was a fit, former NHL draft pick and Swedish professional hockey player who had arrived in Edmonton with his wife to watch their son Adam play hockey. They checked into their hotel after a transcontinental flight from Sweden, and while Adam was on the practice ice with the Edmonton Oilers, Robert went out to stretch his legs.

Minutes later, just a few blocks away inside Rogers Place arena, a coach skated over to Adam mid-practice, said very few words, and Adam was gone. His father had suffered a heart attack, and it was fatal.

“It was tough on all of us. My family that were there when it happened. My sister, being there at that point,” said Larsson, who would spend the next few weeks arranging for his father to be flown home, then subsequently attending his funeral while trying to fulfill his duties on the Oilers blue line.

Late that night Adam — then just 25 years old — posted on Instagram, “Dad. I love you. Always had. Always will.”

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Later that season, Larsson was selected as the Oilers nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy. He said this to the Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson:

“I think of my dad all the time, every hour, every minute. It’s going to take some time. I’m not going through this alone. My mom, my brother, my sister… So it’s not only my emotions that are important. When something like this happens you have to take care of your family.”

If this tragedy had happened in New Jersey, the team that drafted him, or anywhere else, Larsson likely would be an Edmonton Oiler today. But the fates chose Edmonton as the place where Larsson’s family would suffer this deep and unexpected loss, and that was a big reason Larsson spurned the Oilers offers during free agency and chose Seattle instead.

“It was tough to come back. That was a big factor, for sure,” he said. “It was a real tough decision, and I felt like I had to do it for my personal well-being. I feel like there was nowhere else to get a fresh start.”

Larsson was not scheduled to play Tuesday night in Edmonton when the Kraken met the Oilers in preseason play. But being back in town reminded him of what he had been a part of. Of all the difficult years after being traded in a controversial deal for Taylor Hall, when the team’s talent level could seldom live up to outside expectations from fans and media.

“I loved my time there. The guys, I made some lifelong friends there,” he said. “Even the negotiations… What Kenny (GM Holland) offered, it was really good. This was not about (money). It was about family.

“I just wanted to make the right decision. It had nothing to do with money.”

What if close friend Oscar Klefbom, whose shoulder injury has jeopardized his career, had still been an active player in Edmonton? Would that have made the decision to leave more difficult?

“It’s tough to say,” Larsson allowed. “We all missed Klef when he was gone — he was such a big factor on the ice. And a great friend to me, coming into the team.

“But that thing still happened. It would have been tough (to return). The same memories would apply.”

So Larsson will take his hard-edge, abrasive and effective game to the Pacific Northwest, leaving behind a team that is, perhaps, finally ready to accomplish something again in Edmonton. It will be fun for him to play against the Oilers, and bittersweet should they get to where they’ve wanted to go for so long now.

“They have so many good players, so many good people. I love all the coaches there,” Larsson said. “It’s not a surprise that they’re going in the right direction.

“They are still super good friends who I wish all the best. Not against us, but I would be happy to see those guys be really successful.”

His No. 6 is gone already as well, scooped up by Kris Russell, who lost his number when the team announced it would retire the No. 4 in honour of Kevin Lowe.

Larsson smiled when told that Russell had usurped his uniform number.

“If there was one guy I would let have it,” he said, “it would be him.”

When the NHL announced last week that an investigation cleared Evander Kane of allegations he’d gambled on league games, it revealed two new inquiries were underway.

According to an NHL.com story, the first involves “serious accusations relating to his past behaviour toward Ms. Kane and the other involving allegations of inappropriate behaviour potentially jeopardizing the health and safety of Club members.”

Sadly, the Kanes’ divorce has played out very publicly, with serious accusations levelled by both parties. According to multiple sources, the second investigation involves a possible violation of NHL COVID protocols. The details of any possible violation being investigated are unknown at this time.

Kane did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the investigations. A representative for Kane’s attorney said there would be no comment. The NHL, NHLPA and San Jose Sharks also declined to comment.

Under new protocols unveiled by the NHL and NHLPA earlier this month, there are no specific punishments listed for violations. In January 2021, Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmirty Orlov and Ilya Samsonov were placed on the NHL’s COVID inactive list and missed four games for “social interactions among team members who were in close contact and not wearing face coverings” during a road trip. The team was fined $100,000.

The NHL’s health and safety measures for the 2021-22 season cover a large number of protocols.

At this time, there is no known timetable for either investigation to conclude. The Sharks announced last week that the organization and Kane “agreed” he will not participate in training camp until further notice. Any claims that Kane did not comply with the NHL’s COVID protocols are unproven.

San Jose opens the regular season Oct. 16 at home against Winnipeg.