Capitals’ Stanley Cup runneth over
Shaun Johnson is used to carrying the expectation of Warriors fans on his shoulders. Just as well.
As he returns from an ankle injury for the Warriors round 14 clash against Manly in Christchurch today, his captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will miss the match with an ankle complaint of his own.
Any hope that Johnson – the club’s star halfback and poster boy – had of returning from injury without a mountain of pressure on him evaporated when Tuivasa-Sheck did not board the flight south.
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney confirmed Tuivasa-Sheck had been ruled out when the Warriors arrived in Christchurch yesterday afternoon.
Tuivasa-Sheck has been struggling with the injury he suffered late in the 10-30 loss to the Rabbitohs two weeks ago.
‘‘It was a pretty significant twist of the ankle that he had,’’ said Kearney, who was optimistic Tuivasa-Sheck would be fit for Friday week’s match against the Cowboys.
Johnson, who returns for his first match since the round nine victory over the Wests Tigers, will be forced to hit the ground running with his attacking game to make up for the monumental loss of Tuivasa-Sheck.
Kearney backed his squad’s new found depth in 2018 to cover the loss of his captain.
‘‘One thing that I think we’ve coped with over the course of the first half of the year is when we’ve had players who have been unavailable through injury, guys have come in and done a wonderful job,’’ Kearney said.
Peta Hiku, who replaced Tuivasa-Sheck in the 24-10 victory over the Eels last month, starts at fullback with Gerard Beale moving into the match day 17 to start at centre.
Johnson, who will pull on the Warriors jersey for the 150th time, will need to pick up much of the attacking flair lost without Tuivasa-Sheck in the side.
Warriors lock Adam Blair is backing Johnson to step up in his milestone match despite not taking the field in more than a month.
‘‘He brings another dimension to our squad and it’s good to have him back around because it builds confidence in our group,’’ Blair said.
Following a week off with a bye, the Warriors will be searching for more consistency in the second half of the season and to
5pm today, AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Tom Trbojevic, Jorge Taufua, Moses Suli, Brian Kelly, Akuila Uate, Trent Hodkinson, Daly Cherry-Evans (c), Addin Fonua-Blake, Apisai Koroisau, Martin Taupau, Joel Thompson, Shaun Lane, Jake Trbojevic. Interchange: Matthew Wright, Toafofoa Sipley, Frank Winterstein, Taniela Paseka.
Peta Hiku, David Fusitu’a, Gerard Beale, Solomone Kata, Ken Maumalo, Blake Green, Shaun Johnson, James Gavet, Issac Luke, Agnatius Paasi, Isaiah Papali’i, Tohu Harris, Adam Blair. Interchange: Karl Lawton, Chris Satae, Bunty Afoa, Simon Mannering.
Stephen Kearney, Warriors coach
improve their, at times, fragile defence.
Kearney said the bye had given his players time to regroup and reset. With eight wins and four loses the Warriors have blown most expectations out of the water so far but the Warriors coach knows his side must improve to stay in the top four heading into the finals.
‘‘The last half a dozen weeks we’ve sort of been up and down and a bit inconsistent in terms of our performance,’’ Kearney said.
Blair said defence was a critical area if the Warriors are to control Manly’s bulky pack led by Kiwis test star Marty Taupau.
‘‘We’ve been working really hard defensively as a group, especially for our middle, I guess those are our jobs and our work ons,’’ Blair said.
He said the Warriors middle must bring communication, energy and trust their defensive structures and processes to control the likes of Taupau and Addin FonuaBlake.
Today’s contest is crucial for both teams. The Warriors need to win to stay in the top four and Manly need a win to stay in touch with the top eight.
As the Warriors were dealing with the loss of Tuivasa-Sheck, Manly have been given a lift with the news that Jake and Tom Trbojevic will back up after playing in New South Wales’ 22-12 State of Origin victory over Queensland on Wednesday night. After 43 seasons, the Washington Capitals are finally sitting on top of hockey.
Lars Eller broke a tie with 7:37 to play, and the Capitals raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in game five yesterday.
Devante Smith-Pelly tied it with a goal midway through the final period of the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory over the Knights, whose incredible expansion season finally ended in the desert.
So did the Capitals’ agonising wait for their first championship since the franchise’s debut in 1974. After so many years of post-season flops and crushing disappointment, these Capitals won their fourth consecutive closeout game with a tenacious third-period comeback.
Captain Alex Ovechkin, who scored an early power-play goal and was the playoff MVP, and his teammates are Washington’s first championship hockey team – and the city’s first champion in a major pro sport since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in early 1992.
After Vegas won the opener, the Capitals capped their four-game surge by rallying from a thirdperiod deficit in game five, banishing so many years of playoff failure with big goals and tenacious play across their lineup.
Ovechkin scored his franchiserecord 15th goal of the post-season in a cathartic victory for the Capitals.
Braden Holtby made 28 saves yesterday, outplaying three-time Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury in the other net.
The Caps couldn’t win a title without a little weirdness, however: The game clock stopped working on the T-Mobile Arena scoreboards during the final minutes, and the Capitals angrily protested while they played on. Vegas never got close to a tying goal.
Reilly Smith scored a go-ahead goal late in the second period for the Golden Knights, who won seven of their first eight home playoff games before dropping the last two.
Nate Schmidt and David Perron also scored in the second period, but Fleury’s 29 saves included a stopped puck that dropped underneath him where Eller swept it home for the Cup-winning goal.
Washington’s Cup-clinching win was their 10th on the road in this post-season, tying the NHL playoff record and illustrating the superior toughness of this team. While past editions of the Caps created their team’s reputation for post-season flops in part by losing five playoff series in which they had won three of the first four games, Ovechkin’s latest group promptly closed out all four of their series this year on the very first try.
And the remarkable Golden Knights hadn’t lost four consecutive games in their entire inaugural season before the Caps rolled them.
The Capitals had thousands of red-clad fans in the Vegas crowd and a building full of supporters watching back home along with countless thousands outside in the crowded DC streets.