The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-10)

MONDAY, AUGUST 10 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D5

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Joonas Korpisalo and the C olumbus Blue Jackets proved they learned their lesson about holding three-goal leads. They’re advancing to the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs because they weren’t going to squander one for a second time in three days. Korpisalo stopped 33 shots, Zach Werenski’s floater from the left point in the first period held up as the winner, and the Blue Jackets defeated the host Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-0, in a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night. “There’s no quit whatsoever in this team,” Blue Jackets center Gustav Nyquist said of his team putting behind blowing a three- goal lead over the final four minutes of a 4-3, overtime loss in Game 4 two nights earlier. “That was a wild game, obvi- ously, the last game. This is kind of what we do, like you know we do it the hard way and we get it done,” he added. “It feels good to win so we can put that little debacle behind us.” Liam Foudy sneaked in a shot from a bad angle with 8:20 remaining, and captain Nick Folig- no sealed the victory by scoring into an open net with 23 seconds left to close a rollicking best-of- five series in which the teams first traded shutout wins, then Colum- bus overcame a 3-0 deficit in a 4-3, overtime win in Game 3. “We don’t do it easy, the easy way,” Coach John Tortorella said. “As I said to you guys earlier today, we just try to go out and play. I’m proud them.” Werenski played despite not being able to finish Game 4 with an apparent upper-body injury. And Korpisalo, getting the start after Elvis Merzlikins was ruled to be unfit to play, posted his second shutout of the series. The Maple Leafs ran out of offense with captain John Tavares misfiring by hitting the post while facing a wide-open side in the first period. Frederik Andersen

stopped 19 shots and was caught cheating to his right in giving up Foudy’s goal from a bad angle. Columbus advances to the first round, where it will meet the second-seeded Tampa Bay Light- ning in a rematch of last year’s first-round series. The Blue Jack- ets swept the Presidents’ Trophy- winning Lightning in four games a year ago for the first playoff series victory in franchise history. l STARS 2, BLUES 1 (SO): Joe Pavelski tied it with 31.4 seconds left in the third period, Anton Khudobin stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout, and Dallas b eat S t. Louis i n round- robin play in Edmonton t o clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. After Denis Gurianov scored the only goal of the shootout, Dallas will face the Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs. The Stars have m omen- tum going into that best-of-seven series after picking up their first win of any kind since Feb. 25. “This game kind of reestab- lished our game and got us back to an understanding of what it takes,” Pavelski said. “Relief? No. Confidence a little bit, and we’ll keep moving forward.” The defending Stanley Cup champion Blues went winless in the round-robin stage and will next face the Vancouver Canucks. St. Louis dropped from first in the West when the s eason was halted in March to the N o. 4 seed. “We definitely didn’t play our best in these three games, but I think we’ve progressively gotten better,” said goaltender Jake Al- len, who stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced in his first action of the NHL’s restart. “[The Canucks are] a great team. They’re fast, they’re young, they’re skilled, and it’s going to be a challenge for us.” Khudobin made 12 saves in regulation and overtime for the Stars, who were without top center Tyler Seguin and starting goaltender Ben Bishop. The team said they were “unfit to play,” and Coach Rick Bowness termed them day-to-day. Jordan Binnington did not dress, but Blues Coach Craig Berube said last year’s Stanley Cup-winning goalie is healthy.

NHL ROUNDUP

Korpisalo stops Toronto,

and Columbus advances

BLUE JACKETS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 0

ASSOCIATED PRESS

It’s now official: There will be a
play-in series to determine the
final playoff spot in the Western
Conference.
Memphis’s 108-99 loss to To-
ronto on Sunday in Kissimmee,
Fla., means it’s no longer possible
for more than a four-game differ-
ence in the standings between the
eighth- and ninth-place finishers
in the West when the seeding
game schedule ends this week.
By the rules the NBA set for this
season’s restart, there had to be
more than a four-game cushion
for the No. 8 team to get the final
playoff spot outright. The league
added the play-in series option in
an abundance of fairness, since
about 14 percent of the regular
season schedule was eliminated
because of the novel coronavirus
pandemic.
Memphis remains alone in
eighth place. No team has
clinched a spot in the play-in
series; the Grizzlies could have
assured themselves of no worse
than that had they beaten the
Raptors, but Pascal Siakam
scored 26 points to lead the de-
fending champions.
Norman Powell scored 16
points and Kyle Lowry added 15
for the Raptors, who clinched the
No. 2 seed in the Eastern Confer-
ence and their fifth consecutive
season with at least 50 wins.
The Grizzlies dropped to 1-5 in
the restart and are barely hanging
on to eighth place in the West,
with Portland, Phoenix and San
Antonio close behind.
Game 1 of the play-in series will
be Saturday, with Game 2 — if
necessary — Sunday. To advance
to face the top-seeded Los Angeles
Lakers in the first round, the
eighth-place team will have to win
one of the two games; the ninth-
place finisher will have to win
both.
l TRAIL BLAZERS 124,
76ERS 121: Damian Lillard
scored 51 points after a frustrating
finish a night earlier, and Port-
land’s star point guard got re-

demption. On Saturday, he missed a pair of free throws with 18.6 seconds to go and a three- pointer with 9.5 seconds left in a 122-117 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Portland bounced back and pulled within a half-game of Memphis for eighth in the West- ern Conference. The 76ers lost much more than the game: All-star center Joel Em- biid left in the first quarter with what the team called a left ankle injury, and he did not return. l SPURS 122, PELICANS 113: Gregg Popovich and San Antonio boosted their playoff chances. Zion Williamson will have to wait another year for his postseason debut. DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points, Rudy Gay added 19 off the bench, and the Spurs wasted much of a 20-point, second-half lead before hanging on to beat New Orleans. The Pelicans’ loss, combined with Portland’s win, eliminated New Orleans from playoff contention. The Spurs — bidding to become the first team in NBA history to make 23 consecutive playoff ap- pearances — moved past idle Phoenix into 10th place in the West, percentage points behind Portland for the No. 9 spot. l NETS 129, CLIPPERS 120: Caris LeVert had 27 points and 13 assists, and Brooklyn used the best-shooting quarter in the NBA this season to top Los Angeles. The Nets shot 85.7 percent (18 for 21) from the field in the first quarter, racing to a 21-point lead. l ROCKETS 129, KINGS 112: Austin Rivers scored a career- high 41 points off the bench, and Houston used a big third quarter to pull away. Rivers made six three-pointers as Houston improved to 4-1 at Disney. The Rock- ets played a second straight game without Russell Westbrook, who has a bruised right quadriceps. l CELTICS 122, MAGIC 119 (OT): Gordon Hayward hit three free throws with 2:29 left in overtime as Boston got its third straight victory. Hayward finished with 31 points, and Jayson Tatum scored 29, including the tying basket with 4.2 seconds left in regulation.

NBA ROUNDUP

Memphis’s loss ensures

a play-in playoff series

RAPTORS 108, GRIZZLIES 99

BY AVA WALLACE

Scott Brooks sounded more like a life coach than a basketball coach Saturday, the day after the Washington Wizards were eliminated from playoff contention and the day before they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-103, in the NBA’s bubble in K issimmee, Fla. Brooks’s task in the bubble is no longer just developing his young players. He also has to keep them in the right mind-set with six consecutive losses behind them and two daunting games left against the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. It’s no easy charge. “It’s the art of coaching: You understand when you have to give them the hug and when you have to push them a little harder,” Brooks said Saturday. “I do both, because what we want to get to, it’s not going to be easy. What we want to get to, we can’t always give them the sunshine outlook. You’ve got to give them real facts.” The reality of Sunday’s loss to the Thunder was not pretty. The Wizards (24-46) looked flat from the outset, missed their first seven shots and fell into a 15- point deficit from which they never recovered. They shot 41.3 percent from the field — their worst mark yet in the bubble — made 9 of 36 three-pointers (25 percent) and allowed Oklahoma City to glide up and down the court cherry-picking open looks. Though he scored just 13 points, Chris Paul was the game’s maestro, tugging Washington’s defense this way and that, dish- ing a game-high nine assists and setting a defensive tone that spooked the Wizards into sub- mission. The Thunder (43-26) hardly missed center Steven A dams, who sat out with a left leg contusion, or backup Nerlens Noel, who was out with right ankle soreness. Darius Bazley (23 points), D anilo Gallinari (20) and Shai

Gilgeous-Alexander (18) made up for their absence. The Wizards, meanwhile, could hardly get any offense going, missing looks even when they were wide open. “That physicality at the start of the game bothered us, put us back on our heels, and we played timid. You do that, it’s like blood in the water,” Brooks said, noting he thought Washington’s effort improved as the game went on. Jerome Robinson led the team with 19 points off the bench on 7-for-15 shooting, and Isaac Bon- ga led the starters with 14 points while adding eight rebounds. Troy Brown Jr., taking on even more duties at point guard than usual with Shabazz Napier out with a right ankle sprain, had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Moritz Wagner had his best game since the league restarted with 12 points off the bench. But the main takeaway from

Sunday’s loss was about tone-setting and recovering after a strong start from the Thunder. The Wiz- ards have struggled with that throughout their time in the bubble, going through stretches in which their intensity lapses and opponents build leads. Brooks called that tonal con- sistency part of being a pro, which he listed as one of the main areas he would like to see improve in the team’s final two games. It was a major focus of Washington’s two-hour film ses- sion Saturday before the Thun- der game. “One of the things I talked about — I even talked about it at halftime today — we can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over,” Brooks said Sunday. “I said, ‘Either you’re not understanding that or I’m not doing a good job of explaining,’ and yes- terday we just went through detail to detail. They got it. We came out flat tonight. Their length, their quickness, their toughness bothered us those first 10 minutes and set the tone.” Brooks is depending on veter- ans Ish Smith and Ian Mahinmi to help drill that point home without Bradley Beal, John Wall and Davis Bertans around to set an example every night. Smith is the only Washington starter with more than three years of experi- ence in the league. Smith said that with a pair of

formidable opponents remaining on the schedule, he sees only opportunity for more growth. Sunday, for instance, Brown was able to glean something about physicality on defense just by being guarded by Paul. “It’s such a good time for us, because everyone that’s here is trying to get to the playoffs,” Smith said. “This is a good thing for all of us, to show us the level you have to play at, the physicality you have to play with, the level you have to play at — not just to make it to the playoffs but to be a champion.” The Wizards have a lot left to learn with just two games and a few days of practice remaining in the bubble. “That’s the tough part: to figure out as a young team, as a young player, how to deal with that, how to move on,” Wagner said after practice Saturday. “Be- cause life moves on, the season moves on, and you’ve got to keep getting better, keep finding that motivating part in yourself. I guess I’ll tell you the answer to that in 10 years, 15 years. And till then, I’ll try to figure that out.” [email protected]

Growing pains continue in the bubble

THUNDER 121, WIZARDS 103

Washington falls to 0-6 since season restarted

WIZARDS’ NEXT TWO

vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Tomorrow 9NBCSW

vs. Boston Celtics

ThursdayTBD NBCSW

Both games in Kissimmee, Fla. Radio: WFED (1500 AM)

Thunder 121, Wizards 103 Washington ........................ 2325272 8— 103 Oklahoma City .................... 3232263 1— 121 WASHINGTON MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS Bonga 28:37 5-12 3-3 3-8 2214 Hachimura 25:30 4-11 3-3 4-8 1111 Bryant 22:45 2-8 4-4 2-5 019 Brown Jr. 29:09 5-14 0-0 1-8 4212 Smith 21:59 3-7 4-4 2-3 4310 Robinson 29:29 7-15 1-1 0-2 6519 Schofield 24:01 1-4 0-0 1-4 003 Grant 21:15 3-8 0-2 0-0 526 Wagner 21:13 5-8 2-3 0-3 0212 Uthoff 12:00 2-3 0-0 0-2 004 Williams 4:02 1-2 1-2 0-1 103 TOTALS 240 38-9218-2213-4423 18 103 P ercentages: FG .413, FT .818. 3 -Point Goals: 9-36, .250 (Robinson 4-9, Brown Jr. 2-7, Schofield 1-4, Bonga 1-5, Bryant 1-5, Hachimura 0-1, Wagner 0-1, Grant 0-4). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 1. B locked Shots: 3 (Bryant 2, Smith). T urnovers: 15 (Bonga 3, Grant 3, Robinson 3, Brown Jr. 2, Wagner 2, Hachimura, Smith). Steals: 6 (Brown Jr. 2, Robinson 2, Smith, Wagner). Technical Fouls: coach Scott Brooks, 6:47 second. OKLAHOMA CITY MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS Gallinari 21:34 6-8 5-5 0-2 2120 G-Alexander 35:57 6-12 6-8 1-6 7218 Muscala 27:47 5-11 0-0 1-3 1414 Dort 26:26 4-11 0-02-10 129 Paul 32:39 4-9 2-2 0-6 9213 Bazley 26:26 8-13 2-2 1-7 1223 Diallo 25:39 5-7 2-4 3-6 2113 Nader 20:25 3-6 0-1 0-3 126 Ferguson 19:15 1-6 0-0 0-0 013 Burton 1:56 1-1 0-0 0-0 002 Hall 1:56 0-0 0-0 0-0 110 TOTALS 240 43-8417-228-4325 18 121 P ercentages: FG .512, FT .773. 3 -Point Goals: 18-39, .462 (Bazley 5-8, Muscala 4-8, Paul 3-4, Gallinari 3-5, Diallo 1-2, Dort 1-3, Ferguson 1-4, Gilgeous-Alexander 0-2, Nader 0-3). T eam Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 3 (Paul 2, Dort). T urnovers: 12 (Nader 3, Gilgeous-Alexander 2, Muscala 2, Paul 2, Bazley, Diallo, Dort). S teals: 7 (Paul 3, Bazley, Diallo, Gallinari, Gilgeous-Alexander). T echnical Fouls: coach Billy Dono- van, 6:28 second.

KIM KLEMENT/ASSOCIATED PRESS Oklahoma City’s Hamidou Diallo dunks against the Wizards, who got off to a slow start Sunday afternoon and never recovered.

“Yeah, [I] feel pretty comfortable right now,” Holtby said. “[I] put a lot of work in the last couple months and had to fix a few things and work on a few things over the break to strength- en up, and every game we played here you get a little more stamina and more and more comfortable, and I think the whole group is pretty comfortable going into Round 1 now.” [email protected]

league for a long time. It’s just a matter of putting him in situa- tions where he can have success, he can grow, he can get better, and this was the right opportunity to put him in today.” The Capitals struggled to g enerate offense in the early going Sunday, and Oshie’s goal with 16 seconds left in the first period, which came after he stripped Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara of the puck, came on just the team’s second shot. The first shot came 9:09 into the game, after the Capitals went the first 9:42 without a shot in their previous game against the Phila- delphia Flyers. Goaltender Braden Holtby helped the Capitals maintain the one-goal lead until Wilson’s insurance goal in the third. Holtby saved 30 of 31 shots Sunday, allowing only DeBrusk’s goal to slip through his pads. Holtby earned his 49th career postseason win, tying Glenn Hall for the 21st most in NHL history. When he goes for No. 50 against the Islanders, the stakes will be higher.

up to the NHL. With those two regulars out, the Capitals’ depth was tested again Sunday. Travis Boyd re- mained in Eller’s place and re- corded one shot on goal in 9:50 of ice time. Rookie defenseman Martin Fehervary, 20, made his round-robin debut, slotting into the lineup for Radko Gudas, who had replaced Carlson in the previous two games. Fehervary skat- ed alongside Michal Kempny and tallied a game-high seven hits in 15:14. “Martin’s a really solid pros- pect for us,” Reirden said. “We think he’s going to play in the

After T.J. Oshie’s goal late in
the first period opened the scor-
ing for Washington, Tom Wilson
provided some insurance 2:49
into the third when he beat
Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask.
Boston’s Jake DeBrusk cut the
Capitals’ lead in half with 9:30
left, but the Bruins could not find
the equalizer and will have to
settle for a date with the C arolina
Hurricanes as the No. 4 seed
despite finishing the regular sea-
son with the league’s best record.
The Capitals and Islanders split
their four meetings during the
regular season, and the teams
know each other well. Islanders
Coach Barry Trotz left the Capitals
after their 2018 Stanley Cup win,
and this will be the teams’ first
head-to-head postseason series
since Capitals Coach Todd Reird-
en took over his former boss’s job.
“They got some personnel on
the coaching staff we’re familiar
with,” Wilson said. “That said,
we’re going to be worried about
our game and adapting on the go.

... We’re a good hockey team, and
we’ll be ready to go.”
“I think it will be a hell of a
series,” Trotz said. “Both teams are
well-equipped to go at each other.”
Washington played its third
straight game without defense-
man John Carlson on Sunday,
and his uncertain status remains
a concern heading into the first
round. Carlson suffered an un-
disclosed injury in Washington’s
exhibition victory against the
Hurricanes on July 29.
Reirden has repeatedly said
since then that the team is being
cautious with its Norris Trophy
finalist and does not want to do
anything that could cause a set-
back before the playoffs begin. But
Carlson’s status for the first round
is still unknown, and Reirden said
Sunday only that he is “hopeful”
Carlson can play in Game 1.
Center Lars Eller missed his
second straight game Sunday
after he returned to the Washing-
ton area Wednesday for the birth
of his second child. Eller was
back in the Toronto bubble on
Saturday, but he must remain in
quarantine until he can produce
at least four consecutive negative
tests over a four-day period. Eller
could be ready to play as early as
Wednesday if nothing goes
wrong, but Reirden reiterated
the timeline for Eller’s return is

CAPITALS FROM D1

Capitals edge Bruins to conclude round-robin play

Capitals 2, Bruins 1 BRUINS .................................... 0 01 —1 CAPITALS ................................ 1 01 —2 FIRST PERIOD Scoring: 1 , Capitals, Oshie 1, 19:44. Penalties: Orlov, Was (Holding), 13:34; Clifton, Bos (Slashing), 17:11; Kuznetsov, Was (Cross Checking), 17:11. SECOND PERIOD Scoring: None. Penalties: Kovalchuk, Was (Hooking), 2:31; Carlo, Bos (Hooking), 7:01; DeBrusk, Bos (Holding Stick), 15:29; Oshie, Was (Roughing), 20:00; Kuraly, Bos (Roughing), 20:00. THIRD PERIOD Scoring: 2 , Capitals, Wilson 1 (Kempny, Kovalchuk), 2:49. 3, Bruins, DeBrusk 1 (Kase, Krejci), 10:30. Penal- ties: McAvoy, Bos (Tripping), 7:29; Panik, Was (Un- sportsmanlike Conduct), 7:29. SHOTS ON GOAL BRUINS .................................... 6 10 15 —31 CAPITALS ................................ 2 13 10 —25 Power-play opportunities: Bruins 0 of 2; Capitals 0 of 2. Goalies: Bruins, Rask 0-2-0 (25 shots-23 saves). Capi- tals, Holtby 1-1-1 (31-30). T: 2 :30.

ANDRE RINGUETTE/FREESTYLE PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES Tom Wilson scored the second goal for the Capitals, who claimed the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed.

Capitals vs. Islanders

Game 1: Wednesday, 3, NBCSW Game 2: Friday, 8, NBCSW Game 3: Sunday, noon, NBCSW Game 4: Aug. 18, 8, NBCSW x-Game 5: Aug. 20, TBA, NBCSW x-Game 6: Aug. 22, time, TV TBA x-Game 7: Aug. 23, time, TV TBA Best of seven with all games in Toronto; x-if necessary

The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-10)

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