Page 20 - ARUBA TODAY

A20 SPORTS
Friday 17 January 2020
Voracek scores in OT,

Flyers beat Blues 4-3

By JOE HARRIS Justin Faulk, Ryan O'Reilly think we matched it as well
Associated Press and Alexander Steen as we have in the past, es-
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Phila- scored, and Jordan Bin- pecially during this home-
delphia Flyers have shown nington made 21 saves for stand. But going into the
the ability to play up to the Blues, who had their third I thought we stepped
their competition. NHL best nine-game home it up again. It was a back
Jakub Voracek scored in winning streak snapped. and forth hockey game."
overtime and the Flyers The streak matched the Faulk's power-play goal, a
beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 longest in franchise his- one-timer off a perfect feed
on Wednesday night. tory set from Jan. 26–Feb. from Steen, gave the Blues
The win capped a four- 26, 1991. Voracek's goal a 1-0 lead with 5:36 left in
game stretch in which the spoiled the Blues' come- the first period. Faulk has 21
Flyers played three teams back bid from two goals points in 31 career games
who at the time were tied down and snapped his 10- against Philadelphia, the
for the NHL points lead game scoreless drought, most he has scored against
(Washington, Boston and dating back to Dec. 21. any team. St. Louis has at
St. Louis) and one against "You could tell why they are least one power-play goal
Tampa Bay, the reigning so successful in the playoffs in 11 of their last 14 games.
President's Trophy winner. because I felt after we tied Laughton tied the game
Philadelphia went 3-1 dur- the game 1-1 they started with 7:17 left in the second
ing the stretch. playing physical and all 18 period as a deflected puck
"We've played against guys were finishing checks," got past Binnington for his
some real tough oppo- Voracek said. "They played sixth of the year. The goal
nents lately, Washington, really heavy for awhile was originally credited to
Tampa Bay, and Boston, there. When they bring this Tyler Pitlick, but the NHL
and to come in here to- kind of game in the play- on Thursday changed it to
night against the Stanley offs I see why they won last Laughton.
Cup Champions, play the year." With the Blues trailing Raffl banged home a re- St. Louis Blues center Ryan O'Reilly (90) fights Philadelphia Flyers
way we did hard at both 3-1, O'Reilly cut the deficit bound of Robert Haag's forward Michael Raffl (12) of Austria during the second period
of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020 in St. Louis.
ends, there were some in half with his ninth midway slap shot to put the Flyers Associated Press
performers on the ice that through the third. The goal up 2-1 with 4:17 left in the
were making it real chal- snapped a seven game second. It was Raffl's fifth Voracek said. "Everybody St. Louis since he was re-
lenging for us to keep our scoreless stretch for O'Reilly, goal of the season and first had a good game. They placed by Craig Berube
focus and our cool," Fly- dating back to Dec. 29. in three games. had six power plays. We in November 2018. ... The
ers coach Alain Vigneault Steen tied it with 6:21 left "It's just a different vibe, had two. I think we han- Blues are 21-0-6 this sea-
said. "But we did and we on a backhand after Rob- a different feeling in the dled ourselves pretty well son when scoring first, the
battled and we found a ert Thomas' pass found him locker room," Raffl said. "It and waited until overtime only team in the NHL with-
way to grind out and get a all alone in front of the Fly- seems like when we play for the game-winner so out a regulation loss in that
greasy road win against a ers' net. It was Steen's fourth the top teams boys show that's good." scenario. ... Flyers G Carter
real tough team." of the season, all of which up, boys are ready, and it NOTES: The Blues activated Hart (abdominal strain) will
Scott Laughton, Michael came on the Blues' current was a lot of fun lately." D Carl Gunnarsson (upper miss 2-3 weeks and G Alex
Raffl and Travis Konecny five-game homestand. Konecny's power play goal body) from the injured re- Lyon was recalled from
scored for the Flyers. Brian "I thought they started 26 seconds into the third serve and placed D Colton Lehigh Valley of the AHL
Elliott, playing for the first making wiser choices than gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead. Parayko (upper body) on under emergency condi-
time since Jan. 7, stopped us," Steen said. "Obviously Konecny capitalized on a the injured reserve, ret- tions. ... F Joel Farabee has
30 shots and improved to they were down one and slick no-look pass by James roactive to Jan. 2. ... Fly- been loaned to Lehigh Val-
6-2 in his career against his came out with some jump van Riemsdyk. ers assistant coach Mike ley and F Chris Stewart has
former team. in the second and I didn't "Everybody played hard," Yeo made his first return to been placed on waivers.q

WNBA expands to 36-game schedule adds Commissioner’s Cup

By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA season is expanding to a 36-game schedule and add-
ing the Commissioner’s Cup tournament the league announced Thursday.
The league had a 34-game schedule since 2003. The season begins on May 15 and
ends on Sept. 20.
Each team will play 10 Cup games during the season with the last one happening
on July 10. The games will be the first home and road games against conference
opponents. The championship is between the top team in each conference in Cup
standings and is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 14.
“We are incredibly excited to introduce a first-of-its-kind in-season tournament for our
league and present more regular-season games on ABC, increasing the WNBA’s na-
tional television exposure,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “The Commis-
sioner’s Cup offers fans another competition through which to support their favorite
In this Sept. 29, 2019, file photo, WNBA Commissioner Cathy teams and adds a new dimension to the season for our players and teams.”
Engelbert speaks at a news conference in Washington. Starting in 2021, the prize money for the Commissioner’s Cup and other in-season
Associated Press
tournaments will be a minimum of $750,000.q