valanche coach Jared Bednar

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks celebrated their annual Father’s Trip with a victory in Las Vegas.Markus Granlund scored in the shootout and the Canucks rejoiced on their special night on the Las Vegas Strip after defeating the Golden Knights 3-2 Wednesday night.“It was a gutty performance by a lot of our guys tonight Womens Samuel Girard Jersey ,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. “I like how our guys responded and gutted it out. The guys played hard tonight.”Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped all four shots he faced in the shootout, and made 33 saves.Bo Horvat kept his hot streak going, scoring both of Vancouver’s goals. He now has nine points (seven goals, two assists) in the last nine games. But it was his hustle on the defensive end with a little more than two minutes left in overtime that produced the play of the game.Jonathan Marchessault, who leads the Golden Knights with 10 points, had a chance for a breakaway and was closing in on Markstrom, but was thwarted by Horvat, whose backcheck knocked the puck away.“I’m just trying to win hockey games,” Horvat said. “The whole team is. Part of my success is playing good at both ends of the rink. My defensive game is feeding my offense. If I keep doing that and keep simplifying my game and being that complete player, good things will happen.”Marchessault, Max Pacioretty, Erik Haula and William Karlsson all missed their opportunities in the shootout.Pacioretty and Ryan Reaves scored for the Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 of 26 shots.The Canucks, who played their seventh road game in their last nine contests Semyon Varlamov Jersey , are 2-0 in overtime games and now 1-0 in shootouts. The Golden Knights, who won a shootout in Minnesota in their second game of the season, are 1-1 in shootouts.Green said it’s been his team’s resolve that has helped overcome the injury bug.The Canucks were without rookie sensation Elias Pettersson, who leads all rookies with five goals, and missed his fifth straight game due to a concussion. All-Star Brock Boeser is dealing with a groin injury and missed his first game of the season, while Christopher Tanev, Sven Baertschi and Alexander Edler were lost during Wednesday’s game.“We’ve talked about being hard to play against right from Day One and not wavering, sticking with the game,” Green said. “We know the type of game we need to play, especially now. We’re down a lot of guys right now. I like how our team has just stuck with it. Each of them knows how they need to play to have success, and they’re doing it.”The Golden Knights, meanwhile, extended their penalty kill streak to 13 over their last five games Sergei Boikov Jersey , but continued to struggle with their power play, going 0 for 4. They’re a league worst 2 for 28 this season with a man advantage.“They’re getting some opportunities,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “The execution wasn’t there all the time, but there’s two or three chances in every power play. When things are going good they go in the back of the net. They’re getting chances, it’s getting better. They’re doing the best they can.”Pacioretty scored his second goal of the season to open the scoring and give Vegas a lead early in the second period, but Vancouver tied the game when Horvat redirected Loui Eriksson shot from the point. Horvat’s second goal made it 2-1 a minute later after he raced down the left side and unleashed a wicked wrist shot over Fleury’s glove.Reaves tied the game late in the second period with his second goal of the season.“We knew they were going to come hard, but I thought we did a good job shutting that team down,” Horvat said. “I think everyone’s gelling together. Everyone’s ambitious to prove ourselves that we can be a good contender, and so far we’re proving that. Everyone was pretty pumped after the game, obviously having our dads here. You want to win in front of them.”NOTES: Chris Tanev played in his 400th career game, all with the Canucks. … Vegas’ Alex Tuch made his season debut after sitting out the first eight games with a lower-body injury. … Vegas announced after the game it signed suspended defenseman Nate Schmidt to a six-year contract extension through the 2024-25 season worth an average annual value of $5.95 million.UP NEXTVancouver: Visits Arizona on Thursday.Vegas: Hosts Tampa Bay on Friday. WASHINGTON (AP) It sure looked as if Alex Ovechkin was slowing down, at least by his standards.This time a year ago, Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals were limping away from another early playoff exit. His 16 even-strength goals in the regular season tied for the lowest of his career. Injuries limited him to five goals in 13 playoff games.Then a funny thing happened. Coach Barry Trotz took time from visiting his son in Russia to meet with Ovechkin and talk about changing and evolving his game at age 32. Time doesn’t stop Youth Jake McCabe Jersey , not even for the greatest goal-scorer of his generation. Trotz and general manager Brian MacLellan wanted more goals, better foot speed and for their cornerstone player to take care of his body to be able to handle more time on the ice.”That’s just life: You have to change, you have to grow,” Trotz said. ”He was motivated to show everybody that he still is a great player in this league.”Ovechkin led the NHL with 49 goals in the regular season, 15 more in the playoffs as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner and showed in his 13th season he could lead his team to the Stanley Cup. Ordinarily a team would be running out the clock on the final three seasons of a 13-year deal with a player of his age, but now Ovechkin is a Stanley Cup champion and there is no telling how much more the big forward can do in his NHL career.”Was tough time, but we fight through it and we get result,” Ovechkin said. ”It’s just something special. I don’t know. I’m just very excited and I’m very happy right now.”Hours after the Russian superstar lifted the Cup on the ice in Las Vegas, President Donald Trump devoted his first tweet of the morning to Ovechkin and the Capitals.”Congratulations to the Washington Capitals on their GREAT play and winning the Stanley Cup Championship,” Trump tweeted . ”Alex Ovechkin, the team captain, was spectacular – a true Superstar! D.C. is popping, in many ways. What a time!”Ovechkin likely hadn’t gone to sleep when the tweet was delivered at 4:12 a.m. Las Vegas time and he retweeted it. Next week Jason Pominville Jersey Kids , Ovechkin will be the star in a parade down Constitution Avenue six months after Trump on inauguration day and this summer will take the Cup back home to Moscow.After that, the next challenge starts. Ovechkin last summer adjusted his training methods in Russia, and he seemed rejuvenated when came back to the Washington area.Now he has to do it all over again with a happily shorter summer.”As you’re getting older, we’re going to have to train a little different so you become the athlete you always have been, because these young kids can absolutely fly,” Trotz said.Ovechkin looked like he was flying all season, from seven goals in his first two games to one on the power play Thursday night in the Cup clincher against the Vegas Golden Knights. But goal-scorers don’t typically keep up this pace – Ovechkin was already the oldest player to finish first in goals since Phil Esposito in 1974-75.”He was very comfortable and he was very confident,” longtime teammate Nicklas Backstrom said. ”He was really calm. Everything was really good. It’s impressive the way he scores goals and the way he worked out there. He was just a machine there in the playoffs.”Owner Ted Leonsis said recently his only regret about signing Ovechkin to a $124 million, 13-year deal is that it wasn’t longer. With three years left at a salary-cap hit over $9.5 million, Ovechkin has already exceeded the expectations of that monster contract with three Hart Trophies, seven Maurice ”Rocket” Richard Trophies and now the playoff success that had long eluded him.”We worked so hard through all the years and we were together,” Ovechkin said. ”It’s just like a dream.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals—