Skate Canada: 6 to watch

Like many figure skating fans, I'll be glued to my television watching the excitement unfold at Skate Canada International in Kelowna, B.C. this weekend.

I've already seen two-time world pairs bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford skate live this season. They're eager to become world champions this year and I see that as a real possibility. Their programs showcase their maturity and individual strength as singles skaters. Together, they continue to dazzle with great pairs elements, including a newly acquired throw quadruple Salchow.

I asked them about it three weeks ago in Barrie, Ont., at the Autumn Classic International competition:

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Something to prove

Here are some athletes who are looking to prove themselves at Skate Canada:

Ashley Wagner (United States): Here's how I see it: it's do or die time this season for Ashley, who finished fourth at her national championships after winning the title the previous two years. She's talented, strong and has taken home her fair share of hardware, including the 2014 Grand Prix Final bronze medal. She needs to win her battle with consistency if she wants to reach and stay at the top.

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han (China): This dynamic pair has won the junior world title three times and the Four Continents title twice.  They have done quad throw Salchows and quad twists in competition and have teamed up again with legendary choreographer Marina Zueva, coach of 2010 Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. What's not to like?

Takahiko Kozuka (Japan): Since grabbing the world silver medal in 2011, Kozuka has struggled. One thing is for sure — even when his jumps fail him, there is nobody's skating I would rather watch as he glides noiselessly across the rink. With Lori Nichol as one of his choreographers, I'm optimistic that Kozuka's free program will give him the chance to focus on his elements while staying loose enough to make the performance happen.

Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier rose 10 spots in the dance world rankings last year, finishing eighth. (Danielle Earl Photography)

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (Canada): This team jumped 10 spots in the world rankings from 2013 to 2014, finishing in eighth place. The group of ice dancers located just to the south of the podium is in many ways the most competitive. Gilles and Poirier are looking for their newest collaboration with ice dance legend and choreographer Christopher Dean to help them find their way.

The contenders

In addition to Duhamel and Radford, here are some top contenders to watch:

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (Canada): This is the first chance I'll have to see the world silver medallists in action this season. Both of their programs last year were among my favourites. Their tango-inspired free dance, though, has a special place in my memory and it's on the strength of their continued creativity that I'm anxious to see what they have in store for us this year.

Javier Fernandez (Spain): After dazzling the skating world with back-to-back European titles, the Spaniard wasn't able to convert that success to an Olympic medal, finishing fourth in Sochi. He was, however, able to capture his second consecutive world bronze medal. Fernandez is a skater whose technical prowess is matched only by his irrepressible personality on and off the ice.

Pj's Podium Picks

Dance: Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (Canada)

Men: Javier Fernandez  (Spain)

Pairs: Meaghan Duhamel and Eric Radford (Canada)

Ladies: Ashley Wagner (United States)

Tweet me your picks @skatingpj and use the hashtag #cbcskate.

Just for fun

As curious as we are about our favourite skaters, they're just as curious about each other.

Here's Skate Canada singles competitor and Junior Grand Prix Final pairs qualifier Julianne Seguin of Canada with a question on juggling (yes, juggling) for American star Gracie Gold:

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And here's Gracie's answer:

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Cavaliers fans give LeBron James huge welcome back

Carried onto the floor by an emotional ovation building for years, LeBron James is back where he began.

He's home.

Introduced to a deafening roar from Cleveland fans, James was welcomed back Thursday night by a city desperate to end a NBA championship drought that's about to turn 50 years old. James came back to try and end it, and his journey is underway.

At 8:08 p.m. ET, all was right in Cleveland again.

That when James, the last starter announced, walked onto the floor in a Cavs uniform for a regular season game for the first time in four years.

Cavaliers' star forward LeBron James tosses chalk in the air before the start of an NBA basketball game against New York on Thursday in the season opener for both teams in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Nearly four months since proclaiming "I'm coming home" and shifting the NBA's balance of power, James is again playing in front of family, friends and the Cleveland fans who had their hearts broken when he left for Miami four years ago.

This is a homecoming like no other.

"None of us should take this moment for granted," a relaxed James said following Cleveland's morning shootaround at Quicken Loans Arena. "This is probably one of the biggest sporting events ever. I don't feel it, but I know it is."

A crowd of 20,000-plus fans — with some paying as much as $5,000 US for a ticket — packed the Q, which was updated during the off-season with a gigantic, fire-spewing scoreboard to welcome home James. The Akron native came back to his hoops roots hoping to deliver a title to Cleveland, a city that hasn't finished on top in pro sports since 1964.

Before taking the floor, James huddled his teammates in a hallway and told them that "tonight is special." He then gave a playful tap to owner Dan Gilbert's son, Nick, before walking onto the court that was his for seven seasons.

The pre-game festivities ended with James going to midcourt and performing his "chalk toss" pregame ritual with fans tossing paper confetti along with him.

James, who has won NBA titles and Olympic gold medals, knew this season opener is a little more special.

"I understand how much I mean to this team, to this franchise, to this city and to this state," he said. "It's a different feeling, but I'm still as calm and excited at the same time because it's the first game of the season."

In the hours leading up to tip-off, thousands of fans gathered in the streets outside the arena. This was a party four years in the making.

Across the street from the Q, a 10-story-tall banner of James was unveiled in the same spot where one hung during his first seven seasons with the Cavs. The spot became a symbol of civic pride until that night in July 2010 when James announced he was leaving for Miami. In the hours after his decision, some angry fans burned his jersey and others hurled rocks at a banner that would be removed a few days later.

On Thursday, the new banner — showing James with his arms outstretched wearing a jersey with "Cleveland" where his name would normally be stitched — drew fans who posed for photos the same way they did when James was here last.

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Hockey Halloween in New Jersey

Devils' Night

Devils fans have a costume party, celebrate shootout win

By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports Posted: Oct 30, 2014 10:19 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 31, 2014 7:45 AM ET

It wasn't exactly a nightmarish evening at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Thursday night.

It took a while but the hometown Devils managed to pull enough tricks from their arsenal and were rewarded with enough treats, namely goals, to earn their fifth win of the season, a 2-1 shootout verdict over Winnipeg.

Michael Ryder scored at 16:33 of the third period to force overtime before Jacob Josefson was the lone Devil to beat Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec in the shootout.

That brought the crowd of 12,897 to its feet, with many kids in costume on trick-or-treat in the arena the night before they do it for real.

Have a look at the variety of costumes.

Many of the fans, some young, some older, were pictured pre-game before settling into their seats.

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LeBron James makes emotional homecoming, but Cavs lose to Knicks

LeBron James shot miserably. His passes were errant. He didn't look good doing much other than tossing powder in the air.

His homecoming was horrendous.

"I didn't press," James said, dismissing nerves as a factor. "I didn't do much."

James struggled from the start in his first game with Cleveland in four years, and the New York Knicks ruined the megastar's emotional return home with a 95-90 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night.

James, who returned to the Cavs and his native Ohio this summer after winning two NBA titles in Miami, finished with 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting. He also committed eight turnovers and never looked comfortable on a night when the entire city — and a star-studded crowd — celebrated his comeback.

"It was a special night," he said. "I'm glad it was great, but I'm also glad it's over."

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and buried a baseline jump shot with James in his face with 25 seconds left to give the Knicks a 92-87 lead.

Kyrie Irving scored 22 and Kevin Love added 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs, who have some work to before they can start thinking about winning any titles.

Iman Shumpert and Jason Smith had 12 points apiece for the Knicks, who were embarrassed at home on Wednesday by Chicago but then returned the favor on a monumental night for Cleveland.

"It was pretty incredible," New York forward Amare Stoudemire said, describing the atmosphere. "I haven't seen anything like that before. The city was on fire. It was great to kind of spoil the excitement — great for us."

• On mobile? View LeBron's chalk toss 

James was greeted with a thunderous ovation before the game by more than 20,000 fans, who had been counting down the days until the opener since he announced he was coming back home in a touching essay on July 11. There were thousands more packing the streets outside Quicken Loans Arena as an entire region came together to welcome him.

This was more than a game for Cleveland. It was a homecoming, an event and a city-wide block party rolled into one.

The Knicks wrecked it, giving rookie coach Derek Fisher his first win.

"You've got to give them credit," Irving said. "They made tough shots."

New York, booed at times by the Madison Square Garden crowd a night earlier, built a seven-point lead in the third quarter and was up 86-77 on Anthony's bucket with 3:07 remaining.

With James unable to find his shot, Irving kept Cleveland close and his jumper brought the Cavs within 88-85 with 1:43 left. But J.R. Smith hit a jump shot, and after James made a driving layup, Anthony knocked down his baseline jumper with his good friend guarding him to put away the Cavs.

James started poorly, shooting just 1 of 9 from the field in the first half. He also had a miscommunication with Irving, who broke to the basket just as James was firing him a pass and the ball flew into the first row of seats next to film director and super Knicks fan Spike Lee.

"I was throwing passes where I thought some of my teammates were," said James, who sat out Cleveland's final preseason game and welcomed a new baby girl last week. "Those things will come."

He's home, but he didn't come back just to reunite with friends and family. James wants to win a title for this title-starved town, which hasn't celebrated a pro sports championship since 1964.

The journey has started. It won't be easy.

"It was one game," James said, "and we've got to learn from it."

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5 stories from the NHL on Thursday night

Vancouver prevailed in the lone all-Canadian matchup of Thursday night, Marian Hossa and Evgeni Malkin reached milestones and the New Jersey Devils halted their shootout drought.

Here are the best stories:

Canucks down Habs in OT thriller

The Vancouver Canucks needed extra time but finally figured out how to stop Montreal on home ice. Henrik Sedin set up brother Daniel for the winning goal on a power play at 2:45 of overtime to lead the Canucks to a 3-2 victory, their first win in the past four meetings at Rogers Arena. Nick Bonino and Brad Richardson staked Vancouver to a 2-0 advantage that held up until the Canadiens evened matters on goals from Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty in the final eight minutes of regulation. Ryan Miller made 23 saves for his seventh win of the season. The Canucks improved to 7-3-0 with their third straight win while Montreal fell to 8-3-0.

Hossa reaches milestone vs. Sens

It's rare for a visiting player to bring Ottawa Senators fans out of their seats. Then again, it was a rare feat by former Senators winger Marian Hossa, who recorded his 1,000th point in his 1,100th game, a 5-4 shootout win by the Chicago Blackhawks. Hossa had a goal and assist in regulation and watched Patrick Sharp score in the shootout to help Chicago (6-3-1) improve to 2-2-0 on the road. Jonathan Toews added a pair of goals and rookie goalie Scott Darling made 28 saves as he continues to shine in the absence of starter Corey Crawford. Clarke MacArthur had one of Ottawa's goals, his team-leading fifth, and shares the team lead in points (eight) with Erik Karlsson.

Devils end shootout drought

The New Jersey Devils have hardly scared the opposition in the shootout in the past one-plus seasons. That is, until the night before Halloween. After Michael Ryder forced overtime against Winnipeg, Josef Jacobson was the lone marksman in the shootout as he beat Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec for a 2-1 New Jersey win. The 5-3-2 Devils began the night having dropped an NHL-record 18 consecutive shootouts, including all 13 last season and another in the first month of this campaign. Blake Wheeler, with his fourth of the season, had the lone goal for the Jets (4-6-0). Regardless of the outcome, fans of all ages were having fun at Prudential Center dressed in their favourite Halloween costume.

Malkin joins 400-assist club

Not even the defending Stanley Cup champions can keep Evgeni Malkin off the scoresheet. The Pittsburgh Penguins centre extended his points streak to nine games with a first-period assist on a Chris Kunitz power-play goal, the decisive marker in a 3-0 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings. On the play, Malkin became the fifth player in team history to collect assists, joining Ron Francis, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux. Malkin has 10 points in six games versus L.A., all ending in victories. Kunitz had two goals on the night while Sidney Crosby picked up an assist to give him 15 points, tied for the NHL scoring lead with Dallas' Tyler Seguin and Philadelphia's Jakub Voracek. Pittsburgh (6-2-1) won its third in a row while the 6-2-2 Kings, minus injured forwards Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, dropped their second straight.

Injury ravaged Blues dump Ducks

Facing the Western Conference-leading Anaheim Ducks was tough enough for St. Louis. Playing without top forwards Paul Stastny, David Backes and T.J. Oshie was even a greater challenge. But up stepped goalie Jake Allen, who posted his second NHL shutout, a 24-save performance in a 2-0 victory, the Blues' third in a row. Alex Steen and Ryan Reaves provided the offence for St. Louis (5-3-1) while the Ducks (8-3-0) have lost two of three after an eight-game win streak. Before the game, the Blues had a moment of silence for St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend, who were killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic last Sunday.

The Montreal Canadiens are 8-3-0 and the Vancouver Canucks 7-3-0. Who will win more games this season?

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DeRozan leads Raptors to season-opening win over Hawks

DeMar DeRozan hopes to expand his skill set on the court this season.

DeRozan reached a career-high 11 rebounds and added six steals to go along with 15 points for his fourth career double-double on Wednesday to help the Toronto Raptors to an opening night 109-102 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

"That's my job. I'm trying not to be just a scorer," said DeRozan, who went 4 of 16 from the field. "Got to understand when we're not making shots, not just myself, we all got to figure out other ways to impact the game in a big way. That was what I was trying to do."

DeRozan also went 7-for-10 from the free-throw line, including a memorable sequence late in the fourth quarter.

After missing back-to-back free throws with 33 seconds remaining, DeRozan grabbed his own rebound and drew another foul. He then hit both shots to give Toronto a 107-101 lead.

"It won't happen again, won't happen again," DeRozan promised of the back-to-back late misses. "Luckily I got the rebound."

According to Raptors coach Dwane Casey, contributing anyway possible is something that is often talked about.

"DeMar didn't have a great shooting night, but he found another way to contribute, which was on the boards, which was big time," said Casey. "That's what we preach all the time, your shots may not be falling, but you got to find another way to contribute to a win and he did that."

Casey said his team's ability to adapt to a poor shooting night shows the growth of his team.

"There's other ways to win other than looking at the shooting stats," he said. "A lot of times a young team will look at that and start panicking and play even worse offence.

"We didn't. We allowed the game to come to us and continue to compete, continue to play even though our shots weren't falling."

Guard Kyle Lowry, who went just 3-of-11 from the field to finish with 11 points, added that it was a team win.

"We're a team, we're a complete team," he said. "Me and DeMar, we didn't play as well offensively, but we did other things to try and help the team win.

"Greivis [Vasquez] played well, big fella [Jonas Valanciunas] played well, Amir [Johnson] played well — everyone filled in and filled in a role."

On a night when the starters struggled from the field, Vasquez went 5-of-11 for 12 points off the bench while Patrick Patterson went 4-of-9 for 10 points.

"They're coming, it's not there yet, guys are still trying to find their way," said Casey of his bench chemistry. "There's going to be nights that Lou Williams is going to be huge, there's going to be nights where James Johnson is going to be huge.

"There's going to be nights where it's Greivis' night — that's just the way our roster is built right now."

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Bumgarner delivers Giants' 3rd World Series title in 5 years

A giant, indeed.

Madison Bumgarner punctuated his World Series performance for the ages by pitching the San Francisco Giants to their third championship in five years with a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

The big left-hander came out of the bullpen to throw five scoreless innings on two days' rest, saving a Series pushed to the limit. And by winning Game 7 on the road, Bumgarner and the Giants succeeded where no team had in 3 1/2 decades.

"I wasn't thinking about innings or pitch count. I was just thinking about getting outs, getting outs, until I couldn't get them anymore and we needed someone else," Bumgarner said in a monotone that made it sound as though he was talking about batting practice.

A two-out misplay in the ninth almost wrecked it for him.

Bumgarner had retired 14 in a row when Alex Gordon sent a drive to center field. The pitcher pointed his glove in the air, thinking it could be the final out, but the ball fell in front of Gregor Blanco for a single.

Blanco allowed it to skip past him to the wall, and left fielder Juan Perez kicked the ball before throwing to shortstop Brandon Crawford in short left, holding Gordon at third.

'What a warrior he is, and truly incredible what he did throughout the post-season. ... He's such a humble guy, and we rode him pretty good.'- Giants manager Bruce Bochy on pitcher Madison Bumgarner

"When it got by him, I had a smile on my face. I thought maybe I could score, but he got to it quickly enough," Gordon said. "I just put my head down and ran, almost fell around second base, was just waiting for Jirsch [third base coach Mike Jirschele] to give me the signal. It was a good hold. He had the ball in plenty of time."

Bumgarner, the Series MVP, retired Salvador Perez on a foulout to third baseman Pablo Sandoval near the Giants' dugout. The 25-year-old ace was immediately embraced by catcher Buster Posey, and the rest of the Giants rushed to the mound to join the victory party.

"What a warrior he is, and truly incredible what he did throughout the post-season," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I just told him I just can't believe what he accomplished through all this. He's such a humble guy, and we rode him pretty good."

Record-low Series ERA

Three days after throwing 117 pitches in a four-hit shutout to win Game 5, Bumgarner tossed 68 more and dropped his record-low career Series ERA to a minuscule 0.25. He's allowed one run and 14 hits in five outings covering 36 innings.

Bumgarner initially was credited with the win. But nearly an hour after the final out, the official scorers awarded it to Jeremy Affeldt, who was in the game when San Francisco took the lead.

Affeldt pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in his longest outing since July 2012. He was helped by the first World Series reversal in the era of expanded replay, which gave the Giants a double play on Eric Hosmer's sharp grounder.

Rookie second baseman Joe Panik made a diving stop and flipped to Crawford with his glove for the relay, a key play that prevented a potential Royals rally.

Bumgarner joined Cincinnati's Rawley Eastwick in 1975 as the only pitchers with at least two wins and a save in a World Series, and the 15-out save set a Fall Classic record.

Consecutive sacrifice flies by Michael Morse and Brandon Crawford put the Giants ahead 2-0 in the second against Jeremy Guthrie, but Tim Hudson gave the lead right back in the bottom half on Gordon's RBI double and Omar Infante's sacrifice fly.

Morse hit a go-ahead single in the fourth on a 99-mile-per-hour fastball from reliever Kelvin Herrera to break a 2-all tie, and the Giants eked out a battle of bullpens on a night when both starting pitchers made unusually quick exits.

Home teams had won nine straight Game 7s in the Series since Pittsburgh's victory at Baltimore in 1979, including the Royals' 11-0 rout of St. Louis in 1985. Teams hosting the first two games had won 23 of the last 28 titles, including five in a row. And the Giants had lost all four of their previous World Series pushed to the limit.

Bumgarner gave up an opposite-field single to his first batter, Infante, and didn't allow another runner until the ninth. Bumgarner yielded two hits, struck out four and walked none. He pitched 52 2/3 post-season innings, 4 1/3 more than the previous mark set by Schilling for Arizona in 2001, and finished with 270 innings combined, including the regular season.

Hunter Pence batted .444 in the Series and Sandoval, a free-agent-to-be playing perhaps his last game for the Giants, finished at .429 following a three-hit night.

The core

Eight players have been on all three Series rosters for the Giants in the past five years: Affeldt, Bumgarner, Santiago Casilla, Tim Lincecum, Javier Lopez, Posey, Sergio Romo and Sandoval. Matt Cain, a member of the first two title teams, was hurt this October. Before this run, manager John McGraw (1905, `21-'22) was the only Giant with three titles. Bochy became the 10th manager to win three World Series title, the other nine are all in the Hall of Fame. 

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Madison Bumgarner named World Series MVP after saving Game 7

Madison Bumgarner was limbering up at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City this week, getting loose with his San Francisco teammates near the dugout, when Tim Hudson and Michael Morse sneaked up from behind and playfully ruffled the pitcher's long, scraggly locks.

That was way too hairy for Bumgarner. He quickly spun and playfully sparred with his pals.

They were about only ones who could touch Bumgarner in this World Series.

"Yeah, it was hopeless," Kansas City manager Ned Yost admitted.

'I can't lie to you anymore. I'm tired.'- Giants ace pitcher Madison Bumgarner

The 25-year-old Bumgarner capped off a performance for the ages and earned MVP honours Wednesday night, pitching five scoreless innings of relief in Game 7 as the Giants held off the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

Moments after he retired Salvador Perez on a foul pop with a runner on third base for the final out, Bumgarner insisted he wasn't worn down. About a half-hour later, he felt a bit differently.

"I can't lie to you anymore. I'm tired," he said.

Bumgarner earned a sensational save to go along with two sparkling wins as a starter in the Series, the first pitcher to do that in a Series since Randy Johnson in 2001. That on top of being MVP of the National League Championship Series and pitching a record 52 2/3 innings in this post-season.

'It's historic what this kid has done. Really, truly amazing.'- Giants manager Bruce Bochy on Bumgarner

A tremendous accomplishment, but hard to tell from watching the six-foot-five lefty or listening to him. He shows virtually no emotion on the mound, and seems to be the only person unimpressed by what he's done.

"He's such a humble guy, and we rode him pretty good," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

"It's historic what this kid has done," he said. "Really, truly amazing."

After winning the opener with seven impressive innings, Bumgarner threw a shutout in Game 5. And when the Royals forced a Game 7, there was little doubt that the guy called MadBum would be called on to pitch one more.

But five innings? Who would've believed that?

"Innings, I wasn't thinking about innings or pitch count. I was just thinking about getting outs, getting outs until I couldn't get them anymore and we needed someone else," Bumgarner said. "Fortunately was able to get some quick innings and I was able to stay in there."

Bumgarner boosted his World Series stats to numbers never seen before: 5-0 with a 0.25 earned-run average, along with three championship rings. In 36 innings, he's allowed just one run and 14 hits, striking out 31 and walking five.

Catcher Buster Posey said there wasn't much conversation on the bench with Bochy, pitching coach Dave Righetti and Bumgarner about how long he'd stay on the mound.

"Not much of anything. I think everybody could see how good he was," Posey said. "They weren't putting great swings on him."

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NHL: 4 stories from Wednesday night

The Edmonton Oilers weren't able to extend their win streak to five games Wednesday, while Washington winger Alex Ovechkin failed to record a point for a fifth straight game and Columbus lost another player to injury.

Here are the best stories:

October tough on Ovechkin

It's been an October to forget for Alex Ovechkin. After scoring five goals and six points in four games to start the season, the Washington Capitals' star left-winger is without a point in his last five outings, the longest drought of his nine-plus NHL seasons. Ovechkin tried to get out of his funk in a 4-2 loss to Detroit, registering a game-high seven shots in 19 minutes 51 seconds of ice time. He only had seven shots in his previous seven games. Washington (4-3-2) allowed three third-period goals and has lost three of four. Justin Abdelkader scored twice in the third for Detroit and had three points on the night. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk collected two points each for the 5-2-2 Red Wings. Zetterberg has 11 points in his past six games. Prior to the national anthem, a picture was shown on the scoreboard of Red Wings legend Gordie Howe, who had a stroke Sunday but his condition is improving.

Rangers' Moore suspended

New York Rangers defenceman John Moore will serve his second suspension of 2014, starting Saturday. The NHL slapped Moore with a five-game ban for an illegal check to the head of Minnesota Wild forward Erik Haula on Monday night. Moore, 23, will be eligible to return on Nov. 11 at home against Pittsburgh. In May, he was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of Montreal forward Dale Weise in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final. Moore's punishment follows Monday's two-game suspension handed San Jose Sharks enforcer John Scott for leaving the bench the previous night to fight Anaheim's Tim Jackman.

Rinne thwarts streaking Oilers

It took a hot goalie to put an end to the Edmonton Oilers' four-game win streak. Nashville's Pekka Rinne turned aside 22 of 23 shots to lift his team to a 4-1 victory after it suffered its first regulation loss of the season on Saturday against Pittsburgh. Rinne improved to 6-1-1 on the season, lowered his goals-against average to 1.71 and raised his save percentage to .936. Offensively, the 6-1-2 Predators were led by Craig Smith's two-goal performance. Taylor Hall replied with his team-leading sixth goal for the Oilers, who entered the game looking for their first five-game win streak since March 26-April 3, 2013.

More injuries for Blue Jackets, Bruins

The Toronto Maple Leafs won't have to face forward Mark Letestu or eight other Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. Letestu, who has three goals and five points in nine games this season, will miss two to four weeks with a groin injury. Columbus is also without forwards Artem Anisimov (upper-body), Nick Foligno (stiff neck), Matt Calvert (upper-body), Brandon Dubinsky (abdominal surgery), Boone Jenner (broken hand) and Nathan Horton (back) along with defenceman James Wisniewski (broken finger) and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (broken finger). Still, the Blue Jackets have a 4-5-0 record, a testament to their organizational depth.

Meanwhile, Torey Krug joins fellow Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara on the shelf. Krug, who tops all Bruins blue-liners with six points in 11 games this season, is expected to miss two to three weeks with a broken finger sustained in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to Minnesota. Chara isn't expected in the lineup until Dec. 1 at the earliest after tearing the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The 5-6-0 Bruins are also without defenceman Kevan Miller (shoulder) and forward Brad Marchand (undisclosed).

Will Columbus overcome its injury problems and challenge for a playoff spot?

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'Chevy Guy' overshadows Bumgarner's MVP moment

'Technology and stuff' now a thing

CBC Sports Posted: Oct 30, 2014 9:55 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 30, 2014 10:05 AM ET

With the World Series on the line Wednesday night in Kansas City, San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner came on in relief and tossed five shutout innings to deliver the Giants their third World Series title in five years.

He could not have been cooler under pressure.

The same can't be said for the man who presented Bumgarner with the World Series MVP trophy.

Chevrolet representative Rikk Wilde — or "Chevy Guy" as he was quickly dubbed on social media — fumbled through his lines as he tried to work through the advertorial elements ("technology and stuff?") of the sponsored trophy presentation.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig, a former car salesman himself, did not look impressed.

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We feel for you, Rikk. It's a tough spot. And, hey, your World Series probably still went better than Ned Yost's.

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Russell: CBC's Olympic deal a big win for Canadian sport

Today the CBC made great strides in the right direction while Canadian sport scored a major victory.

The announcement that the public broadcaster will continue to spearhead the Olympic narrative in this country through the 2020 Games in Tokyo is a recognition that what young Canadians do on a wide variety of fields of play really does matter.

But there is more to this than merely the acquisition of rights to broadcast an important and prestigious property.  

Much more than a business transaction, this amounts to a fundamental understanding that all of sport, including amateur, high-performance sport, is a building block to the evolving cultural landscape of our country.

It should never have been in doubt.

Now what's required is a strategy, on the part of CBC and its partners, to reflect the importance of the athletic pursuit in our everyday lives.  

It will never be good enough, nor will it be in the best interest of all Canadians, to just show up at the Olympics for 16 days every two years when the spectacle is in full bloom.  

There has to be a deeper commitment. 

The best reality TV

Sport is a way to bring the country together and share in a national celebration. It is also our comfort zone, as we witnessed in the wake of the attack on the nation's capital. The outward expression of Canadian solidarity came to life in sporting arenas where we gathered with kindred people.  

We are never more Canadian, never safer or more inspired, than when we commune at a rink, a field, a track or in a gymnasium to witness what young people who are full of potential are capable of. 

Sport has a universal vocabulary that the vast majority of Canadians can easily understand, no matter what language they speak. 

Words like win, lose, team and compete articulate the core concepts of everything we undertake as human beings. In business and in every other craft, the lessons we all learn from playing sport with dignity and honour are the ones which resonate over the course of our lives.

Those who are successful in sport, most notably at the Olympics, become lionized as the major achievers in many of our communities. We take great pride in what they do, especially when they represent us well. Almost without fail, the sportsmen and women of Canada struggle mightily to live up to the enormous expectations we have of them. In peaceful times, athletes who wear Canadian colours are arguably the most visible and effective ambassadors the country could ask for.

They are ordinary, young men and women of every race and faith who are consistently capable of such extraordinary things. There is no question in my mind that the best reality TV, as well as the most dramatic and compelling stories, have sport at the centre of the plot.

All of this deserves to be shared, even trumpeted, on a more consistent basis.

Big win for Canada

It has always been astounding to me that sport and physical education are not part of the core curriculum in many of our schools. The health and well-being that sport provides are often the first things sacrificed in times of restraint. 

It is disturbing that the values which good sport espouses are increasingly less adhered to by Canadian youth. More alarming still is the reality that fewer Canadians are engaging in athletic activity.

This is why today's announcement is encouraging and, in a sense, inspiring.

It means that the story of a wide variety of sport will continue to be written for all Canadians to reflect upon.

CBC has formed an alliance with broadcast partner Bell, along with Rogers, two of the country's media giants, to advance the Olympic story for another two quadrennials. 

That's the headline, and there can be no doubt it's much-needed good news for the public broadcaster, which has faced a number of serious challenges in the rapidly changing multi-platform universe.   

But if you dig deeper you'll understand a much greater significance to this deal.

It's a reaffirmation that sport is central to the Canadian storyline. 

In that respect, today is a big win for the country.

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Royals rout Giants to force World Series Game 7

Jake Peavy and the San Francisco Giants hoped Game 6 of the World Series would result in a parade.

It did, all right — a parade of Kansas City runs.

In the worst outing of his standout career, Peavy watched the Royals march around the bases on their way to an early blowout, routing the Giants 10-0 Tuesday night to force a Game 7.

Who will win Game 7 on Wednesday?

"It just wasn't my night. I don't know what else to tell you," Peavy said, shaking his head several times.

"It's hugely disappointing. It's as disappointing as it can get."

Always fired-up and vocal on the mound, Peavy walked to the dugout without any expression when he got pulled in the middle of a seven-run second inning that turned on a grounder botched by first baseman Brandon Belt.

On this evening, there wasn't much for the Giants to say. Not after a series of bloopers, bouncers and broken-bat hits doomed them.

The one good thing that did happen for manager Bruce Bochy: It was so one-sided early, he was able to preserve his best relievers for Wednesday night. That bullpen includes ace starter Madison Bumgarner, who has already volunteered to pitch if needed.

Now, San Francisco will have to reverse a most daunting trend. Home teams have won the last nine Game 7s in the World Series. The Giants are 0-4 when a best-of-seven Series has been pushed to the limit, most recently when Barry Bonds & Co. lost to the Angels on the road in 2002.

Peavy retired the first two batters of the game, then things unraveled in a hurry. The right-hander wound up escaping a two-on jam in the opening inning, showing no ill effects from a foul ball that rattled into the Giants' dugout in Game 3 and cut the thumb on his pitching hand.

In the second, it all fell apart.

Belt ranged far off the base, looked to see if he had a play at home -- Salvador Perez held at third -- and then missed his tag on a diving Escobar. Peavy yelled for Belt to check Perez for a possible play at the plate, and the Giants wound up getting no one.Mike Moustakas was able to ground an RBI double between a diving Belt and the bag for a 1-0 lead. Alcides Escobar came up with runners on second and third and no outs, and hit a grounder to the right side.

'I though he had pretty good stuff tonight. ... I know the numbers don't indicate that. If he had a little luck, he probably gets out of that [second] inning.'- Giants manager Bruce Bochy on SP Jake Peavy

The misplay seemed to open the door for the Royals. Nori Aoki followed with an RBI single, and that was all for Peavy.

"I thought he had pretty good stuff tonight. I did. I know the numbers don't indicate that," Bochy said. "If he had a little luck, he probably gets out of that inning. They just hit the ball where we couldn't get to it."

The 33-year-old Peavy was charged with five runs and six hits with a walk in just 1 1/3 innings.

It was the second-shortest of 346 career starts for Peavy over 13 seasons — in 2009, two years after winning the NL Cy Young Award with San Diego, he gave up four runs in one inning.

Peavy sat quietly in the dugout as the Royals kept scoring in the big second inning. By the time it ended, he was left with 7.98 earned-run average in nine post-season starts, and a 9.58 mark in three World Series tries. 

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Gordie Howe resting after suffering stroke

NHL hockey legend Gordie Howe suffered a serious stroke on Sunday.  

The 86-year-old Howe, known as "Mr. Hockey" to many, is resting at his daughter's home in Lubbock, Texas, where the stroke occurred.

The Detroit News quoted Howe's son, Dr. Murray Howe, as saying Howe is having trouble speaking and has lost some function on one side of his body. 

'He knows who he is. He knows the people around him. But it is very difficult for him to get up and walk around.'- Gordie Howe's son, Dr. Murray Howe

"The right side of his body is very, very weak," said Dr. Howe. "He's unable to stand without help. He's able to speak, but very, very difficult to speak. 

"He knows who he is. He knows the people around him. But it is very difficult for him to get up and walk around. So he is pretty much confined to his bed right now. So we're just trying to keep him comfortable, and that's our goal." 

Howe's daughter Cathy told the Associated Press on the Tuesday night her father had lost much use of his right arm and right leg.

"We'll just see what each day brings," she said. "He's tough. He's not giving up."

Howe's daughter said his speech is slurred, but he's been looking at family pictures and pictures from his playing days, and he's able to recognize and identify people he played with. His three sons were on the way there to see him.

Howe underwent spinal surgery this summer, but had returned to fairly good health prior to the stroke. 

"Since that time, which is maybe eight weeks or so, ago, maybe 10, he's been doing great," Dr. Howe said. He's been walking at least a mile a day, and he was essentially pain free and doing well, up until this past Sunday."

Murray Howe said last year his father was still strong but was struggling a bit with short-term memory loss. The senior Howe also suffers from a form of dementia.

Howe hails from Floral, Sask., and grew up in Saskatoon.

He retired in 1980 as the NHL leader in career goals (801) and career points (1850) — both records were later broken by Wayne Gretzky — but Howe always maintained that his string of 20-straight seasons as one of the league's top-five scorers was the true measure of his Hall of Fame career.

With one shift for the Detroit Vipers in the International Hockey League in 1997, he played professionally in a sixth decade at the age of 69.

Howe played 25 seasons with Detroit, winning four Stanley Cups, six Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player and six Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer.

He debuted with the Red Wings in 1946 at the age of 18 and quickly became a leader on the team. Howe and teammates Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay became known as the Production Line thanks to their hard-nosed style of play.

The term Gordie Howe hat trick — when a player scores a goal, records an assist and gets in a fight in one game — is named after him.

After a brief retirement in 1971, Howe returned to the ice as a member of the World Hockey Association's Houston Aeros, joining his sons Mark and Marty.

In 1977, the three Howes moved to the WHA's New England Whalers. When the league folded in 1979 the newly named Hartford Whalers joined the NHL with the Howes in tow.

At 51 years old, Howe played all 80 games of the 1979-80 NHL season with the Whalers, helping them to the playoffs with 15 goals.

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Leafs set record for fewest shots allowed in rout of Sabres

The Toronto Maple Leafs tied a franchise record for the fewest shots allowed in a game, and their offence eventually came to life in a 4-0 rout of the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at Air Canada Centre.

The Sabres finished with just 10 shots, and Jonathan Bernier stopped all of them for his eighth career NHL shutout.

Asked if that was his easiest shutout, Bernier said, "Probably, yeah."

The Leafs allowed 10 shots just once before in franchise history, Jan. 5, 2002 against the Ottawa Senators.

In this game Buffalo goaltender Michal Neuvirth stopped the first 28 shots he faced before the dam burst. Tyler Bozak, Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk scored three goals within a span of seven minutes, and Jake Gardiner added another, to improve Toronto's home record to 2-4-0 this season.

The shot differential of 27 (37-10) was by far the largest of the season for the Leafs (4-4-1).

The total of 10 shots was the lowest in franchise history for the Sabres (2-8-0).

The Leafs' onslaught began early as Joffrey Lupul hit the cross bar seven minutes in. Not long after, Peter Holland was hooked on a short-handed breakaway, and van Riemsdyk hit the post behind Neuvirth on the same play.

A five-on-three power play for 1:09 yielded more passes on the perimeter than shots, and Neuvirth made two big stops on Nazem Kadri at the end of the five-on-four portion.

Neuvirth kept the Leafs off the board with save after save until the Sabres' parade to the penalty box eventually cost them. With Buffalo's Marcus Foligno off for kneeing Nazem Kadri on a play that briefly sent Dion Phaneuf out of the game, the Leafs finally broke through.

A little over a minute later, Kessel threaded a perfect pass to Bozak at the blue-line, and the centre was in all alone. Bozak shot high glove on Neuvirth to make it 1-0 Leafs with 49.6 seconds left in the second period.

It was the Leafs' first power-play goal since Oct. 12.

As good as Neuvirth was for the game's first two periods, he gave up a bad one to Kessel 4:18 into the second. Santorelli cycled it to the star winger behind the net, and Kessel banked it in off the goaltender from way below the goal line to make it 2-0.

Exactly a minute later, Buffalo's defence was nowhere to be found as Morgan Rielly, stationed in the corner, found van Riemsdyk at the other side of the net for a tap-in to make it a 3-0 lead.

For good measure, Gardiner scored on a wrap-around at 9:17 of the third to turn this into a rout.

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NHL: 5 stories from Tuesday night

Five of the six Canadian teams in action Tuesday night tasted victory while Calgary's loss to Montreal proved costly with injuries to Matt Stajan and Joe Colborne. And Carolina is still looking for its first win.

Here are the best stories:

Price ends Calgary jinx

P.A. Parenteau and Carey Price helped the Montreal Canadiens bounce back from Monday's 3-0 loss at Edmonton with a 2-1 shootout win over the Flames in Calgary. Parenteau beat Flames goalie Jonas Hiller for the decisive goal while Price, who began the night winless in three starts in Calgary, made 38 saves to improve his season record to 7-1-0. Montreal, which tops the NHL Eastern Conference standings at 8-2-0, had lost its previous seven games at the Saddledome, dating back to Jan. 5, 2002. Calgary (5-4-2) has dropped two in a row but worse was the loss of forwards Matt Stajan and Joe Colborne to injury on Tuesday. Stajan was helped off the ice after a knee-on-knee collision with Canadiens defenceman Jarred Tinordi, while Colborne suffered an upper-body injury.

Miller stymies winless Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes will finish the first month of the season without a victory after dropping a 4-1 decision in Vancouver. Canucks goalie Ryan Miller stopped 28 of 29 shots for his sixth win of the young campaign and 300th of his NHL career. Vancouver, which improves to 6-3-0, has won three of its past four starts. Brad Richardson paced the offence with two goals. One bright spot for the 0-6-2 Hurricanes was the return of centre Eric Staal following a five-game absence with an upper-body injury. He collected an assist and had five shots in 19 minutes 50 seconds of ice time while winning 70 per cent of his faceoffs.

Senators bust out in 3rd period

Clarke MacArthur and his Ottawa Senators teammates took advantage of an undermanned Columbus Blue Jackets outfit. With starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky out of the Blue Jackets lineup with a broken finger, Ottawa scored five times against Curtis McElhinney in a 5-2 victory. The 5-2-1 Senators snapped a 2-2 tie with three goals in the third period to halt a two-game losing skid. MacArthur led the attack with two goals and one assist. Bobrovsky, who had started seven of Columbus' first eight games and boasted a 2.81 goals-against average, will be sidelined one to two weeks.

The news wasn't all good for Ottawa, which could be minus forward Eric Gryba in the near future should he be suspended for elbowing Blue Jackets forward Artem Anisimov in the head. Gryba was given a five-minute major and game misconduct at 8:04 of the second period while Anisimov, who has a history of head injuries, left the game with an upper-body injury and didn't return. Gryba was suspended two games for his hit on Montreal forward Lars Eller in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final in 2013.

Maple Leafs set franchise mark

Perhaps showing the wears of three games on the West Coast, the Buffalo Sabres mustered just 10 shots in a 4-0 loss at Toronto. The 10 shots allowed were the fewest in Maple Leafs history. Toronto remained unbeaten at 4-0 when Phil Kessel scores a goal. Tyler Bozak and Kessel each had a goal and an assist for the 4-4-1 Leafs, who are 2-4-0 on home ice. Jonathan Bernier recorded the shutout and defenceman Morgan Rielly chipped in with two assists. The 2-8-0 Sabres were 0-for-2 on the power play and are 0-for-32 on the season. Buffalo entered the game having allowed an NHL-high 36.7 shots per outing and surrendered 37 to Toronto.

Eight is plenty for Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins overcome a 3-1 deficit to the visiting New Jersey Devils with seven unanswered goals. Seven different Penguins found the back of the net and seven posted two-point performances. Captain Sidney Crosby scored twice and tops Pittsburgh with 14 points in eight contests. Evgeni Malkin also scored to extend his points streak to eight games (four goals, seven assists). The Penguins (5-2-1) have also killed their opponents' past 18 power plays after New Jersey (4-3-2) missed on each of its three chances. Devils goalie Cory Schneider, who has appeared in all nine of New Jersey's games this season, allowed five goals on 23 shots and was replaced by Scott Clemmensen.

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Kurt Browning, Pj Kwong recap Skate America

Click above as CBC Sports' Kurt Browning and Pj Kwong look back at Skate America over the weekend in Hoffman Estates, Ill., in their podcast.

On Saturday, Canada's Nam Nguyen jumped four spots to win a bronze medal. Seventh after the short program, he showed well in the free and finished with 232.24 points. Japan's Tatsuki Machida was a runaway winner with a score of 269.09.

Nam, whose heritage is Vietnames, was born in Ottawa but moved to Vancouver at the age of one. The 16-year-old is considered by many as Canada's next great skater. 

He was 13th at the 2012 junior worlds and landed his first-ever triple axel in competition at the event. 

Earlier this year, Nam landed two triple axels in his free program to become the 2014 world junior champion. Two weeks later, he was skating at the senior worlds in Saitama, Japan where he finished 12th.

In pairs, Vanessa Grenier of Sherbrooke, Que., and Maxime Deschamps of Loretteville, Que., were sixth in their senior Grand Prix debut on Sunday.

In Friday's ice dance short competition, Nicole Orford and Thomas Williams of Canada placed sixth with 55.10 points.

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10 NBA players to watch this season

The 2014-15 NBA season tips off on Tuesday night. As usual, the league serves up no shortage of appetizing storylines.

LeBron James, you may have heard, is back in Cleveland, where he's joined by star big man Kevin Love. Canadian rookie Andrew Wiggins is looking to make a splash in Minnesota, while Kyle Lowry will try to lead the Toronto Raptors back to the playoffs.

Plus, all eyes will be on reigning Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant and former MVPs Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose as they all attempt to come back from injuries.

Check out those guys, plus some more stars to watch this season, in the gallery above.

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Rangers' Chris Kreider, Moore ejected for dangerous hits

Former NHL defenceman-turned league disciplinarian Stephane Quintal could be busy for a second consecutive day Tuesday.

After the NHL suspended John Scott of the San Jose Sharks two games Monday for leaving the bench the previous night to start a fight with Anaheim's Tim Jackman, New York Rangers forwards Chris Kreider and John Moore could face supplemental discipline.

Kreider was ejected in the final minute of the first period during Monday night's game against the visiting Minnesota Wild for boarding defenceman Jonas Brodin. 

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Moore was kicked out midway through the second for a blatant hit to the head of forward Erik Haula that resulted in a match penalty. Moore will reportedly have a hearing with the NHL.

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Kreider, who was standing behind his opponent, used his arm to shove Brodin as they chased a loose puck, driving the Minnesota blue-liner into the end boards with 15.8 seconds left in the period.

Brodin, who hit the boards hard, limped to a tunnel after staying on the ice a few minutes. He was on the bench in the second period.

Kreider was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct.​

Which New York Ranger should be suspended for Monday's incidents?

Kreider was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct.

Monday's incident wasn't the impression Kreider was hoping to make with Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault, who took the 23-year-old left-winger off the team's power-play units before the game after he gave the puck away often during Saturday's 3-1 loss at Montreal.

The rough play in Monday's game wasn't anticipated, given these teams are in different conferences and meet only twice per season.

Less than a minute after the Rangers took a 2-0 lead, Moore drilled Haula in the side of the head between the two circles in the New York end. The Rangers killed that five-minute power play, too, but again gave up an even-strength goal moments later to fall behind 3-0.

Earlier in the period, Wild forward Zach Parise was struck in the face by an errant stick from New York defenceman Marc Staal behind the Rangers net, in the same place in which Brodin was injured. Parise was bleeding while he was down on his knees and was then helped to the tunnel to the dressing room with a towel pressed to his face.

No penalty was called on that play.

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Scrivens posts 29-save shutout vs. NHL East-leading Habs

The Edmonton Oilers may have stumbled out of the gate to start the season, but they seem to have hit their stride now.

Ben Scrivens made 29 saves and Benoit Pouliot had a goal and an assist as the hometown Oilers continued to turn their season around with a 3-0 victory over the league-leading Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

Nail Yakupov and Taylor Hall also scored for the Oilers (4-4-1) who have won four in a row to erase a 0-4-1 start to the season, their worst in franchise history.

"It's feels good," said Yakuopov of Edmonton's reversal of fortune. "I think it's the best moment I've had with the team in the last three years. It's a really good feeling when the team is winning, especially here at Rexall Place with our fans.

'For us it's about today, getting better today. It's about today, what can we improve on, what can we continue to do well.'- Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins

"Overall, it was a good game, it was really tight. That's a good team, they are really hard to play against. We can see why they made it to the Conference final last season."

Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens eyes the puck in front of Montreal's Travis Moen during Monday's game in Edmonton. The Oilers won 3-0 for their fourth straight victory and Scrivens made 29 saves for his seventh NHL shutout. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)

Head coach Dallas Eakins said it is important the Oilers stay grounded despite their recent success.

"For us it's about today, getting better today. It's about today, what can we improve on, what can we continue to do well," he said. "That's what it's about, we want to stay with that process mindset. That way you never get too high if you won some games in a row. You'll actually start forgetting, you enjoy it tonight and when you come in tomorrow, it's about the next game. That way you don't get too low if you're not getting the wins either."

Dustin Tokarski stopped 16 of 18 shots for the Canadiens (7-2-0), who had a four-game winning streak come to an end.

"I didn't like what I saw today," said Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban. "We had some key opportunities that we didn't bury. For us to wait until the third period to start playing the way we want to play is to late. We're not that good. We are good when we are playing the right way. We are an average team at best when we don't play the right way.

"We have played a lot of good hockey of late and this is not time to panic, but we have to play the same way every game and I don't think we played the way that has gotten us so much success early in the season."

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said that while his team was a bit off on the night, the Oilers deserved some credit as well.

"We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone," said Therrien. "We were just having a hard time generating offence. The Oilers blocked a lot of shots tonight, you have to give them credit. Their goalie made some key saves too. It's a fine line between winning and losing."

Montreal came very close to starting the scoring in an up-tempo first period. With five minutes remaining in the period, the Canadiens had a flurry of shots before Max Pacioretty blasted a shot into the net from the high slot. However, the goal was disallowed after it was determined that Brendan Gallagher had interfered with Scrivens after bowling him over in the crease seconds earlier.

Edmonton went up 1-0 with just 18 seconds left in the first as Mark Arcobello raced to a loose puck to create a two-on-one and fed a nice pass to Pouliout, who deked and beat Tokarski with a backhand for his first goal with the Oilers.

Edmonton forward Matt Hendricks left the game late in the first after being run head-first into the boards by Montreal defender P.K. Subban, but returned early in the second period.

Yakupov gave the Oilers a two-goal lead six-and-a-half minutes into the second period as a shot came off the boards to Pouliot at the side of the net. He sent it through the crease to Yakupov, who scored his second of the season.

The shots were 17-12 in Montreal's favour through 40 minutes.

Montreal continued to pepper the Edmonton goal, but the Oilers had the best opportunity in the first half of the third period as Justin Schultz crashed the net on a power-play scramble. Habs defender Travis Moen was able to help his goalie out and sweep away what would likely have been a goal.

The Canadiens pulled Tokarski for an extra attacker with three minutes left and it gave the Oilers the insurance they needed as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sprung Hall for an empty-net goal.

Scrivens was solid all evening, earning his seventh career shutout.

The Oilers goalie said the shutout was truly a team effort, with his teammates committed to doing whatever it took to preserve the win by throwing their bodies in front of pucks.

"It's a huge testament to those guys, they're fearless out there," he said. "It's kind of crazy, I have all the gear, it kind of makes sense for me to block shots, but those guys are laying themselves on the line and putting themselves in danger and we have to respond to that. You can't talk about this win without mentioning those big blocked shots in the second and third."

The Canadiens play the second game of a Western Canadian road trip on Tuesday in Calgary. Edmonton plays the sixth game of a season-high seven-game homestand on Wednesday against Nashville.

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NHL: 3 stories from Monday night

An expected quiet Monday night in the NHL was anything but with Ben Scrivens punctuating Edmonton's fourth straight win with a 29-save shutout, two New York Rangers being ejected and the league suspending San Jose enforcer John Scott.

Here are the best stories:

Oilers extend win streak

It seems little intimidates the Edmonton Oilers these days, especially the Montreal Canadiens and their success when trailing after two periods. Edmonton scored once in each period en route to its fourth consecutive victory, defeating the NHL East-leading Canadiens (7-2-0) for the first time on home ice since February 2011. Ben Scrivens made 29 saves for his seventh NHL shutout, and has allowed just eight goals in his past five starts after being lit up for 14 goals in his first three outings. Benoit Pouliot, Nail Yakupov and Taylor Hall, with his team-leading fifth goal, scored for Edmonton (4-4-1). Montreal, which entered Monday with a 3-1 mark this season when behind after two periods, continues its three-game Western Canada road trip on Tuesday in Calgary.

Wild night in Manhattan

In New York, the hometown Rangers began a stretch of 10 of 13 games at Madison Square Garden in thrilling fashion by scoring five times in the third period to beat Minnesota 5-3. It marked the first time in 10 years the Wild (4-3-0) have given up five goals in a period. It was also the first time Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper, who entered the game with three shutouts this month, surrendered more than two goals this season. Rick Nash scored his ninth goal for New York (5-4-0) and shares the NHL lead with Anaheim's Corey Perry.

It was an uncharacteristically rough game between teams from separate conferences that only meet twice a season. Rangers forwards Chris Kreider and John Moore could face supplemental discipline for separate incidents. Kreider was ejected in the final minute of the first period for boarding defenceman Jonas Brodin. Moore was kicked out midway through the second for a blatant hit to the head of forward Erik Haula that resulted in a match penalty.

John Scott to sit 2 games

San Jose Sharks enforcer John Scott was handed his second NHL suspension and will miss games this week at Colorado and Minnesota for leaving the bench to start a fight with Anaheim's Tim Jackman on Sunday night. Scott racked up a game-high 22 penalty minutes and will forfeit $17,073.18, per the league's collective bargaining agreement, based on his average annual salary. The 32-year-old Edmonton native was barred seven games last season for an illegal hit to the head of Boston Bruins forward Loui Eriksson. The six-foot-eight, 270-pound Scott is playing for his fifth team in seven NHL seasons and has seven points in 241 regular-season games.

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NFL Week 8: Must-see moments

Video

Pass-catchers Bennett, Brown show outstanding ability, focus

By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports Posted: Oct 26, 2014 7:02 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 27, 2014 2:58 AM ET

Our must-see plays from Week 8 in the NFL feature remarkable receptions by Chicago's Martellus Bennett and Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown along with a fumble recovery for a walk-off touchdown by Minnesota's Anthony Barr.​

Bears tight end Bennett might have the play of the season, hauling in a 20-yard pass by Bears quarterback Jay Cutler while lying on his back with his team trailing 45-7. New England was whistled for pass interference on the play but it mattered little as they won 51-23.

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Brown earned his first of two first-half touchdowns against Indianapolis with a pretty one-handed, eight-yard grab from Ben Roethlisberger to increase the Steelers' lead to 28-10.

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Tampa Bay's joy at winning the coin flip to begin overtime was short-lived. On the first snap, quarterback Mike Glennon completed a pass to Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who gained 10 yards before the Vikings stripped him of the ball. Linebacker Anthony Barr picked it up and scampered 26 yards for the walk-off major in a 19-13 Minnesota victory to send the Buccaneers to 1-6-0.

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Cardinals OF prospect Oscar Taveras dies in car accident

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras, a 22-year-old slugger who was regarded as one of the majors' top prospects, died Sunday in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic.

Taveras was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro at the time of the crash on a highway between the beaches of Sosua and Cabarete in Puerto Plata, about 346 kilometres (215 miles) north of the capital of Santo Domingo, said Col. Diego Pesqueira of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency.

"He wasn't carrying documents at the time of the accident, but his body was identified by family members," Pesqueira said.

• SP Nick Adenhart, age 22, died April 9, 2009: Killed by drunk driver.​
• 1B Harry Agganis, 25, died June 27, 1955: Massive pulmonary embolism.
• OF Roberto Clemente, 38, died Dec. 31, 1972: Plane crash.
• OF Mike Darr, 25, died Feb. 15, 2002: Automobilie accident.
• OF Greg Halman, 24, died Nov. 21, 2011: Stabbing.
• RP Josh Hancock, 29, died April 29, 2007: Car accident.
• SP Darryl Kile, 33, died June 22, 2002: Coronary atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries).
• SP Cory Lidle, 34, died Oct. 11, 2006: Plane crash.
• C Thurman Munson, 32, died Aug. 2, 1979: Plane crash.
• Ps Steve Olin, 27, Tim Crews, 31, died in spring training 1993: Boating accident.

National police spokesman Jacobo Mateo Moquete said he was told by the mayor of Sosua that Taveras lost control of his vehicle and went off the road.

Taveras made his major league debut this year. He hit .239 with three homers and 22 RBIs in 80 games for the National League Central champions.

"I simply can't believe it," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said in a release. "I first met Oscar when he was 16 years old and will forever remember him as a wonderful young man who was a gifted athlete with an infectious love for life who lived every day to the fullest."

Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said the organization was "stunned and deeply saddened" by Taveras's death.

"Oscar was an amazing talent with a bright future who was taken from us well before his time," DeWitt said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends tonight."

Taveras was a teenager when he signed a free-agent deal with the Cardinals in 2008. Before this season, Taveras was ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect by MLB.com and Baseball America, and had a .321 average over six minor league seasons.

He homered in his major league debut on May 31, a solo shot against Yusmeiro Petit of the San Francisco Giants.

"I think he can be a star," manager Mike Matheny said last Monday at his season-ending press conference. "He proved that at times. Right to the end, he was very, very much into the competition. Yes, he wanted to be the guy out there every day. You see some things offensively that absolutely excite you."

Have a look at this Taveras highlight package from this season.

Taveras held a Canadian passport. He spent four years as a teenager living in Montreal with his father, Francisco Taveras, and played for the Marquis de Montreal of the Quebec midget triple-A league before moving back to the Dominican Republic.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement that Taveras was "at the dawn of a wonderful career in our game."

"All of us throughout Major League Baseball are in mourning this evening, shocked by the heartbreaking news of the accident involving Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend in the Dominican Republic," Selig said.

It looked as if Taveras was headed to the majors in 2013, but he had surgery for a high right ankle sprain last August for an injury that did not respond to treatment. He then got off to a nice start at triple-A Memphis this season, earning a promotion by batting .325 with seven homers in 49 games.

"Oscar had a very promising future, on and off the field, and this news is heartbreaking on many levels," Tony Clark, the leader of the players' association, said in a statement. "It's never easy to lose a member of our fraternity, and to lose one so young is devastating news."

Giants outfielder Juan Perez heard about Taveras's death during Game 5 of the World Series. He hit a big two-run double in the eighth inning of San Francisco's 5-0 victory and dedicated the hit to his fallen countryman.

"He's a really close friend of mine," Perez said. "I know his family pretty good, I know his mom, his dad, his brothers, we were really close. It's a huge loss for all his family, his teammates and the people that care about him."

Several of Taveras's Cardinals teammates took to Twitter to express their condolences.

"Last 30 minutes I've been sick to my stomach. Keep thinking about Oscar's big smile in the dugout whenever we made a big play/got a big hit," all-star reliever Pat Neshek posted.

Rookie second baseman Kolten Wong tweeted: "RIP you will be missed buddy."

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Ducks, Sharks engage in fight-filled tilt

Line brawl

165 penalty minutes assessed in 4-1 San Jose win

By Amy Cleveland, CBC Sports Posted: Oct 26, 2014 11:31 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 27, 2014 3:26 AM ET

The Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks played some old-school 1970s-style hockey Sunday night, combining for 165 penalty minutes. Things really heated up in the third period with five fighting majors and eight game misconducts. 

A fight between Sharks tough guy John Scott and Ducks counterpart Tim Jackman sparked a line brawl late in the third. Their matchup didn't last long, but inspired many of their teammates to get in on the action.

Even the Ducks' top skilled players Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf joined in, with each assessed a fighting major and game misconduct. There was no love lost between these divisional rivals. 

---

Anaheim's virtually empty bench told the story of the game.

Oh yeah, San Jose won on the scoreboard, 4-1.

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Bumgarner's Game 5 gem gives Giants World Series lead

With every pitch, Madison Bumgarner etched his place among the World Series greats.

The long, tall lefty kept slinging away and put the San Francisco Giants just one win from yet another championship, throwing a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 Sunday night for a 3-2 Series edge.

Hardly menacing on the mound, Bumgarner was simply untouchable -- again. As "MVP! MVP!" chants broke out from each packed corner of AT&T Park, Bumgarner finished off the first World Series shutout in 11 years.

Will the San Francisco Giants win the World Series in Game 6?

"You know what? For some reason, I keep getting really lucky this time of year, so I'll take it," Bumgarner said.

It must be more than luck.

Because by the time the 25-year-old from Hickory, North Carolina, outdid his own winning performance in Game 1, he had evoked memories of Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Curt Schilling and the top October aces of all-time.

Who else has gone 4-0 in four World Series starts with an 0.29 ERA? Throw in only 12 hits in 31 innings, along with 27 strikeouts, and that math makes him the very definition of Big Game Pitcher.

'We're looking forward to getting back to our home crowd, where it's going to be absolutely wild and crazy.'- Royals manager Ned Yost

On this evening, Bumgarner fanned eight without a walk and never was in trouble as he constantly changed speeds, with no runners reaching third base. There hadn't been a shutout in the Series since Josh Beckett's clinching gem for the Florida Marlins in 2003 at Yankee Stadium.

The Giants' work isn't done. To add to the crowns Bumgarner helped them take in 2010 and 2012, they'll need to win in Kansas City.

"We're looking forward to getting back to our home crowd, where it's going to be absolutely wild and crazy," Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Jake Peavy gets the first chance to seal it for San Francisco when he starts Game 6 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night against rookie Yordano Ventura.

If the Giants don't win then, there is always this possibility: Bumgarner said he's ready to come out of the bullpen in Game 7.

Hunter Pence once again was in the middle of things for Giants. He singled off James Shields in the second and scored on a groundout by Brandon Crawford, who had three RBIs.

Post-season star Pablo Sandoval also singled twice. Juan Perez broke it open with a two-run double off the top of the centre-field fence in the eighth against Wade Davis and scored on a single by Crawford.

Bumgarner won for the fourth time against one loss in this post-season, and this blanking bookended the four-hit shutout he threw at Pittsburgh in the National League wild-card game. Durable, he's thrown 47 2/3 innings this October, trailing just Schilling's 48 1/3 in 2001 for the most in a single post-season, with a 1.13 ERA.

About the only thing Bumgarner didn't do well was get a hit. He takes pride in his plate prowess and launched four home runs this season, including two grand slams. Bumgarner went 0-for-4, leaving him hitless in 22 post-season at-bats.

Yep, he's still got some work to do.

Of the 41 previous instances the World Series was tied 2-2 in the best-of-seven format, the Game 5 winner won the title 27 times. …​ Bumgarner's ERA is the lowest in World Series history for pitchers with at least 25 innings. Jack Billingham is next at 0.36. Among the leaders are Babe Ruth (0.87) and Mariano Rivera (0.99). … Since 1982, teams down 3-2 going home for Games 6 and 7 have won eight of 10 World Series, including the Royals in 1985.

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5 stories from Sunday night in the NHL

A lively Sunday in the NHL featured scoring milestones, an unstoppable trio, injuries to key players, a line brawl and a struggling star winger.

Here are the best stories:

Jets' Little big man

Centre Bryan Little notched his team-leading fifth goal in eight games this season with 25 seconds left in overtime to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 victory over visiting Colorado. Jets captain Andrew Ladd recorded the 200th assist of his NHL career on the play after opening the scoring in the first period with his 100th goal with the Jets franchise. Jamie McGinn was the lone Avalanche player to beat Ondrej Pavelec, who made 22 saves for his third win of the season against four losses for Winnipeg (3-5-0), which remains last in the NHL Western Conference. Colorado counterpart Semyon Varlamov turned aside 26 of 28 shots for the 2-5-2 Avalanche.

That '70s Line runs roughshod

We first heard of the Kings' That '70s line with regularity late last regular season. Now, we seem to be hearing about Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson on a daily basis early in the 2014-15 season. They combined for 10 points as the Kings capped a 6-0 homestand with a 5-2 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets. The trio has 16 of L.A.'s first 22 goals this season and have combined for 17 assists. The news wasn't all positive for L.A., which lost top forward Anze Kopitar to an upper-body injury in the second period. Columbus left-winger Nick Foligno exited midway through the third when his head met the elbow of linesman Shane Heyer.

Sens can't buy win in Chicago

Craig Anderson made 43 saves in the Ottawa Senators net, including an Andrew Shaw penalty shot, but it wasn't enough to prevent a sixth straight defeat at Chicago's United Center since March 28, 2001. Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook scored as the Blackhawks (5-2-1) eked out a 2-1 win to snap a two-game losing skid and improve to 4-0-1 on home ice. Patrick Kane assisted on Toews's goal for his 500th NHL point. Milan Michalek scored his first of the season for the 4-2-1 Senators, converting an Alex Chiasson pass on a 3-on-1 short-handed rush.

Fight night in Anaheim

The San Jose Sharks and hometown Anaheim Ducks turned back the clock and made like Philadelphia's Broad Street Bullies of the 1970s. The Pacific Division rivals combined for 165 penalty minutes, racking up five fighting majors and eight game misconducts in the third period. John Scott and Tim Jackman led the respective squads with 22 and 21 penalty minutes, respectively, as the 5-4-1 Sharks won 4-1 to had Anaheim just its second loss in regulation (7-2-0) this season.

Canucks keep Ovie quiet

Radim Vrbata's strong start as a Vancouver Canuck continued as he fired his team-leading fifth goal in eight games and added an assist in a 4-2 doubling of the visiting Washington Capitals. Vrbata has 10 points playing on Vancouver's top line with Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who scored a power-play goal against the Capitals (4-2-2). Washington left-winger Alex Ovechkin was held without a point for a fourth consecutive start after scoring five goals in a three-game span. Ryan Miller earned his fifth win for the Canucks (5-3-0) with a 20-save performance. Vancouver is 13-2-2 versus the Capitals since the start of the 1998-99 season, including 8-0-1 at home.

Capitals' star Alex Ovechkin is pointless in 4 games. How long will the slump last?

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Canadiens best Rangers, improve to NHL East-best 7-1-0

Carey Price is doing a fine job impressing his teammates.

Price stopped 34 of 35 shots as the Montreal Canadiens beat the visiting New York Rangers 3-1 Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens netminder has given up just four goals in his last three starts while stopping 93 shots — good for a .959 save percentage. Last Saturday, Price frustrated the Colorado Avalanche with a 32-save performance, and he limited the Detroit Red Wings to one goal on 28 shots on Tuesday.

"He's playing unbelievably," said Max Pacioretty, who had a goal and an assist in Montreal's Conference-best seventh win of the season. "When you see him lead the way like that, it obviously gives us confidence and gives us motivation. It seems like we've been talking about the same thing for at least two years.

"It really is an honour to have a guy like that kicking for you."

'He's playing like one of the top goalies in the league.'- Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien

With the score knotted at 1-1 midway through the second period, Price stoned New York's Derick Brassard as he rushed out of the penalty box. Montreal's Lars Eller scored the go-ahead goal just seconds later.

At 11:14 of the third, Price made back-to-back saves on Martin St. Louis and John Moore to preserve Montreal's two-goal lead. And with 90 seconds remaining on the clock, Price made a dramatic pad save on Dan Girardi to kill any hope of a New York comeback.

"He's playing like one of the top goalies in the league," said Montreal head coach Michel Therrien. "And tonight was no different.

"He's calm. He's a good leader for us. He gives us the confidence to attack every game with a chance to win."

Added Eller: "He's playing like Carey Price. He spreads confidence to the defenders. He makes it look really easy. We're fortunate to have him back there."

Lone blemish

The only blemish on the night for Price was conceding a game-tying goal at 17:07 of the first period. With the Habs up 1-0, Price made a pad save on Girardi's shot from the point, but kicked the puck right to a wide-open Carl Hagelin.

The Rangers (4-4), however, wouldn't add another past Montreal in the teams' first meeting since New York knocked the Canadiens out of last year's Eastern Conference final in six games. The first game of that series also saw Ranger Chris Kreider injure Price for the remainder of the playoffs.

The Habs (7-1-0) got a bit of revenge for their post-season exit on Saturday night, as Therrien's men halted New York's three-game winning streak. Montreal is now 8-2-0 in their last 10 regular season games against the Rangers.

"We're a confident hockey club, we enjoy putting the work in, and we stick up for each other," said Price. "We're not trying to do anything special, we're just trying to have fun and get the job done."

Montreal, still undefeated at home so far this year (4-0), secured two points when Eller got his stick on a loose puck in front of the net and slotted it home between Henrik Lundqvist's pads. The Swede, who frustrated the Canadiens for much of last year's intense playoff series, stopped 27-of-30 shots in defeat.

"You have to go to the net, and we did that very well tonight," said Eller, who scored his first of the season. "Sooner or later it's going to go in. A lot of the times, you don't score too many pretty goals anymore."

After possibly the team's best start to a game this season, Tomas Plekanec scored a pretty goal in the first period for Montreal on a shorthanded, two-man breakaway.

King Henrik fooled

With Manny Malhotra in the box for holding, Plekanec capitalized on a New York mistake at the blue-line, poking the puck past an overly aggressive Ryan McDonagh along the boards. With all five Rangers in the offensive zone and acres of space in front of them, Plekanec and Pacioretty fooled Lundqvist with four quick passes before the Czech fired home his team-leading fifth of the season.

"A 2-on-0 like that, it's a little less nerve racking than a breakaway," said Pacioretty. "I was happy to give it over to Plecky. We all have confidence in each other right now, and that play kind of showed it. It sucked the momentum out of them."

With the goal, Plekanec tied Habs legend Yvon Lambert for 27th on Montreal's all-time scoring list.

After Eller put the Canadiens in front at 11:46 of the second, Pacioretty added a third for Montreal at 6:35 of the final period when Dale Weise, from behind the net, found the left-winger all alone in the slot. The assist was Weise's second of the game - his first two points of the season.

"We had a push in the third, but obviously it wasn't good enough," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. "We weren't good enough in front of their net. We just couldn't capitalize on those second chances in front of Price."

In just his sixth NHL game, Montreal-born rookie Anthony Duclair finished with one assist and three shots. The 19-year-old winger, whose friends and family were in the stands, now has four assists this season. He was named third star of the game.

Prior to puck drop, fans at the Bell Centre observed a moment of silence to honour Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, two Canadian soldiers who were killed in separate attacks this week in Ottawa and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.

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Undermanned Bruins continue dominance over Maple Leafs

Eight games into the season, Toronto is leaking goals at home and searching for answers.

The door to the Maple Leafs' dressing room was closed longer than usual after Saturday night's 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins as the players talked it out.

"Frustration, anger. Those are two things front and centre that were probably from the coaching staff's perspective," head coach Randy Carlyle said when asked for his emotions during the game. "We didn't win too many battles early in the hockey game."

'We've got to find a way to become a lot more consistent because one good game, one bad game, one OK game here, one OK game there is just not good enough in this league.'- Maple Leafs defenceman Dion Phaneuf

Toronto, while 2-0-1 on the road, is 1-4-0 at the Air Canada Centre where the Leafs have been outscored 19-10 while giving up four or more goals four times.

"No explanation. I think we're two different teams on the road and home for some reason," said centre Nazem Kadri.

"We've got to find a way to become a lot more consistent because one good game, one bad game, one OK game here, one OK game there is just not good enough in this league," added captain Dion Phaneuf. "And we are finding that out right now."

After a moving rendition of "O Canada," in conjunction with arenas in Montreal and Ottawa to honour two fallen soldiers, Toronto came out flat and was down 1-0 after three minutes 27 seconds.

Defenceman Dougie Hamilton had a goal and two assists and Patrice Bergeron collected his 500th NHL point on the first of two assists for Boston. Tuukka Rask, meanwhile, continued his mastery over Toronto (3-4-1) as the Bruins, in their first game without injured captain Zdeno Chara, had their way with the Leafs.

"It's the rink that I grew up watching games in and dreaming of being in the NHL so it was an awesome feeling," said Hamilton, a Toronto native.

Carl Soderberg, David Krejci and Gregory Campbell also scored for Boston (5-5-0).

Richard Panik finally beat Rask with 5:33 remaining, on a delayed power play, slapping in a rebound from in close for his first as a Maple Leaf. Toronto showed some spark after that but it was too late.

Leafs' killer

Rask, the reigning Vezina Trophy-holder, is now 10-2-0 in 14 outings against Toronto. He came into the game with a .943 save percentage and 1.64 goals-against average against the Leafs.

Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier exited after giving up two goals on two shots early in the third (he finished with four goals on 25 shots). Carlyle refused to point the finger at his netminder, noting instead the lack of protection around him.

The coach did take a shot at his offensively skilled players, saying that while they are not required to run opposing players over, "I ask them to get in the way."

Both teams finished with 33 shots. Then the Toronto post-mortem began.

"Our coach came in and talked to us, then we talked as a group," defenceman Cody Franson said without elaborating.

While the two teams split four games last season, the Bruins have had Toronto's number in recent years.

Boston has won 12 of the last 16 regular-season games (12-2-2) against the Leafs and is 15-3-4 in its last 22 visits to the Air Canada Centre.

The Leafs weren't the only ones feeling the pain Saturday.

Referee Chris Rooney left the game late in the second period, after being hit with the puck just seconds before Krejci's goal. He departed cradling his arm but returned for the start of the third.

The game was preceded by an emotional ceremony to honour Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, killed in separate incidents this week in Ottawa and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., respectively. The 19,132 fans at the ACC stood and sang "O Canada" with their counterparts in Montreal and Ottawa as the anthem from the Canadian Tire Centre was shown on the scoreboard's big screen.

Cirillo's murder and subsequent attack of Parliament Hill by a lone gunman, prompted the league to cancel the Leafs' game Wednesday in Ottawa. Toronto last played Tuesday, defeating the New York Islanders 5-2 on the road.

Bruins strike first

Saturday's pre-game emotion did not carry through as the Bruins went ahead early.

Soderberg opened the scoring on the power play after a fanned shot from Hamilton from the face-off circle found Bergeron in front. Bernier stopped his rapid-fire redirect with his pad but the puck went straight to Soderberg who had circled around the back of the net.

"The first goal seems to sink our group," said Carlyle.

"The first sign of adversity at home, it seems to multiply," he added.

Bergeron's 500th NHL point moved him past Adam Oates into sole possession of 13th place on the Bruins' all-time points list.

It took the Leafs 5:41 to get their first shot in the second period before a crowd sitting on its hands.

Krejci made it 2-0 at 15:58 of the second with a beautiful solo effort for his third of the year. Krejci drove at the Toronto goal, ignoring an attempted check by Phil Kessel, and swatted in his own rebound as he flew over Bernier.

The Leafs paid for a lapse on a power-play opportunity at 2:32 of the third as Campbell beat Phaneuf in front of the goal to a pass from Daniel Paille and beat Bernier with five second remaining on the man-advantage.

Hamilton rubbed salt into the wound, splitting the defence on a rush and beating Bernier with a wrist shot at 4:09. That chased Bernier in favour of James Reimer.

A subsequent pair of Leaf minor penalties did not help the home side's comeback cause.

It was the first game for the Bruins since losing giant defenceman Chara to a knee injury. The six-foot-nine, 255-pounder tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee throwing a hit on Islanders star John Tavares in front of the Boston net. Chara is expected to be out four to six weeks.

It marked just the 21st game Chara has missed of a possible 622 games since joining the Bruins in July 2006.

"You miss a big guy like him, you have to really get together and play as a unit out there," said Rask. "Missing [Chara] we have to play as a unit and we did that today and it paid off big time."

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Don Cherry tells Canadians to step up for military

Hockey Night in Canada personality Don Cherry challenged the Canadian public on Saturday night.

But on this night, his words had nothing to do with hockey. He was speaking about the country's support of a couple of fallen soldiers.

On Wednesday, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was killed at the National War Memorial in Ottawa when a gunman shot him in the back with a shotgun before storming into the Centre Block on Parliament Hill. 

Two days earlier, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was killed and another soldier was injured when a man deliberately drove a car into them in the parking lot of a federal building near Montreal.

"If you think so much of those guys and I know you do," an emotional Cherry said during his Coach's Corner segment, "let's help the wounded. Help the guys that are trying to get jobs. … Send the money."

Wearing a black suit, read tie with a white Canadian flag and Remembrance Day poppy, Cherry pleaded with Canadians to offer their support to the Canadian Forces Morale & Welfare Services (www.cfmws.com) so military families, department of national defence employees, RCMP personnel and others receive the morale and welfare programs, services and activities they deserve.

Cherry said he doesn't want Canadians to forget about our soldiers like those who fought in Afganistan.

"The war is over, we forget about it now," Cherry said. "All you people out there [showing your support this week] that's terrific. If you think anything of it, you'll do what you should do."

The emotional Cherry looked on the verge of tears as he spoke about Cirillo, shown in photos with his son Marcus and two rescue dogs.

"What a beautiful guy, that's a rescue dog, that dog would have been put to death if Nathan hadn't got hold of him …people that rescue dogs like that, unbelievable," Cherry said. "Doesn't he look like a guy you'd like to sit and have a pop with?"

He spoke about how Vincent was an organ donor, and "gave up all his organs so that other people can live.

"It's unbelievable that the two guys that were killed was because they were soldiers, it's hard to believe."

Cherry talked about Kevin Vickers, Parliament's sergeant-at-arms who shot and killed Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.

"Terrific, what a guy, stepped up to the plate and did the job that had to be done," Cherry said over footage of the long standing ovation Vickers received in the House of Commons the next day.

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NHL pays tribute to fallen Canadian soldiers

It was an emotional beginning to Saturday night in the NHL following the tragic events of the past week. The Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs came together to honour two fallen soldiers, and unite a country still reeling from the attacks. 

The rousing tribute to Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent occurred simultaneously at the Canadian Tire Centre, Bell Centre, and Air Canada Centre, respectively. This was the first time all three teams have played since Cirillo was killed by a gunman at the National War Memorial on Wednesday. 

In Ottawa, fans were asked to wear red to the game where the New Jersey Devils and Senators met in a circle at centre ice for the singing of the national anthems. Fans belted out the Canadian anthem in unison in all three arenas for the whole country. It was a special moment that demonstrated how hockey has become part of the healing process. 

Canadian forces members, including several from Cirillo's Hamilton regiment, opened the ceremony. A moment of silence was observed before the anthems. Those in attendance were clearly moved by the tribute, but even fans and Canadians watching across the country were impressed by the unique show of support.

In Montreal and Toronto, the arenas were lit up in Canada's red and white reinforcing that Saturday night was about Canadian strength as much as any hockey game.

"Hockey Night In Canada" started the ceremonies with a video montage featuring scenes from Ottawa. The message of the video was made clear when it concluded with the message, "unite around this game because we always unite around the game."

At the National War Memorial, the importance of hockey in the process of healing was evident. The makeshift memorial of traditional flowers, candles, stuffed animals and hand-written thank-you notes included a black Canadian Olympic hockey jersey.

At Air Canada Centre in Toronto, the message was echoed.

"We may battle in arenas and on ice but tonight we stand together," PA announcer Andy Frost said. Many fans shared that sentiment.

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