Odermatt wins GS, sets World Cup points record
Capitals’ playoff hopes take another hit with loss to Blues Shiffrin receives slalom trophy; Vlhova claims last race
SOLDEU, Andorra, March 18, (AP): Marco Odermatt underlined his dominance in men’s ski racing Saturday by breaking the 23-year-old male record for most World Cup points in a single season.
The Swiss standout won his last race of the season, the giant slalom at the World Cup Finals, by a massive 2.11 seconds over secondplace Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway.
The victory lifted Odermatt’s tally to 2,042 points and past the previous mark of 2,000 set by Austrian great Hermann Maier in the 1999-2000 season.
“Sorry, Hermann,” Odermatt quipped in a post-race interview with Austrian TV, adding the record meant “a lot” to him.
“The past days I always said: no no, not so important, just numbers,” Odermatt said. “But like I felt today with the pressure again, I knew it was more important than I said. I’m very happy that it worked.”
Last week, Maier wrote on his website he hoped that Odermatt would overtake him.
“In my eyes Marco hasn’t even reached his zenith and can still improve, especially in downhill,” Maier said.
Theoretically, Odermatt had a chance to add even more points in Sunday’s season-ending slalom, but he sits it out as he has never raced in that event on World Cup level.
The overall record, between men and women, is held by Slovenian standout Tina Maze, who accrued 2,414 points when she won the women’s overall title in 2013.
Odermatt, who is the Olympic champion, matched another best mark with his 13th win of the season. No male skier has ever won more races in one campaign, and only Maier, Ingemar Stenmark and Marcel Hirscher achieved the feat in the past.
The overall record here is held by Mikaela Shiffrin, who won 17 times on her way to the 2018-19 women’s overall title.
Odermatt had already successfully defended his overall title and secured the super-G and GS discipline globes.
“I was looking forward to finals without pressure, but today I felt this pressure again,” he said. “Today it wasn’t easy, I was nervous again because of those damn 2,000 points. Now with another victory, more than two seconds ahead, I don’t know what to say.”
On Saturday, the Swiss standout posted the second-fastest time in his final run as he built on his clear lead from the first run, when he was 1.09 seconds faster than Alexis Pinturault. The French skier then dropped to eighth.
Kristoffersen ranked only eighth after the opening leg before climbing to second position. Marco Schwarz of Austria finished 2.29 behind in third.
Seven weeks after securing it, Mikaela Shiffrin was finally able to hold and kiss the crystal globe for the best slalom skier of the women’s World Cup season.
The dominant American had already locked up the discipline title at
a mid-season slalom in the Czech Republic in January, but trophies in ski racing are traditionally handed over only in the final week of the season.
Her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova used a frenetic finish on her decisive run Saturday to win the slalom at the World Cup Finals ahead of Croatian prodigy Leona Popovic, while Shiffrin placed third.
“It’s the sum of a lot of hard work and many amazing races and the work of the whole team,” Shiffrin said. “I’m very thankful and very proud.”
Shiffrin, who also secured her fifth overall and second giant slalom globe, won six of the 11 slaloms this
SKIING
season, making her the first woman to win seven season titles in slalom, surpassing Swiss standout Vreni Schneider, who won it six times in the 1980s and ’90s.
Shiffrin will be after her 14th win of the season and 88th in total in Sunday’s giant slalom, the last race of the season, a week after setting the record for most career victories with 87 at a slalom in Sweden.
“Since Are I felt a little bit more free,” Shiffrin said. “And even then, I still feel the nerves and the pressure, like I want to win just as much as before. I still have the same motivation, which is the most exciting thing.”
In a tight finish to Saturday’s race, Vlhova trailed then-leader Popovic by eight-hundredths of a second at the last split but gained time through the gates on the flat final sector and
finished 0.43 seconds ahead of the Croatian, who earned her first career podium.
Shiffrin trailed Vlhova by 0.83 for her 17th podium result from 30 starts this season.
Vlhova won the season title in slalom last year and won her second race in the current campaign after triumphing in a night event in Austria in January.
“It’s (emotional) because my season was so up and down,” Vlhova said. “I wanted to come here and show my skiing in the last races and have a good feeling for the next season.”
After the first run, Vlhova led Popovic by 0.32 seconds. Third-place Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden straddled a gate in her final run.
Shiffrin was 0.59 behind in fourth. The American led the opening run until the final split but lost three-quarters of a second after making a mistake entering the flat finish sector.
Canadian skier Laurence St-Germain, who beat Shiffrin to the world slalom title last month, was 10th after the opening run but became one of six skiers who didn’t finish the second run, which was affected by rain and wet snow as dark clouds moved over the course.
“It was tricky with the snow coming. There’s just like so many weather conditions today,” Shiffrin said. “It was really fun to race, it’s a challenging slope and it’s kind of interesting to finish the season with that. Because for me it gives a lot insight into the things we can work on through the summertime and into the preparation for next season. So, it kind of leaves some motivation.”
WASHINGTON, March 18, (AP): Sammy Blais scored twice, Joel Hofer made 33 saves in his season debut and the St. Louis Blues dealt the Washington Capitals a significant blow in their long-shot bid for a playoff spot with a 5-2 victory Friday night.
The Capitals missed an opportunity to make up ground in the race for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot against an opponent long out of it in the West. They trail the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders by five points with 12 games left to play.
“We have no wiggle room,” winger Conor Sheary said. “The fact that we weren’t able to come out and be ready for this one and try to move up the standings is unfortunate. So, at this point, we got to get rolling, and if we don’t it’s going to end quickly for us.”
Their odds of making it would have been even slimmer if not for a comeback victory in a shootout against Buffalo on Wednesday, but each regulation loss makes the climb more difficult. Coming up empty in a listless, mistakeheavy loss to St. Louis does just that.
“Sometimes you get a nice comeback like last game, but it’s too hard,” center Nicklas Backstrom said. “It’s too hard in this league to just chase every game. It’s not doable.”
There was plenty of blame to go around for Washington.
Trade deadline pickup Rasmus Sandin - one of two additions amid a selloff - was on the ice for four goals against, and some poor puck management all around gave the Blues quality chances. Darcy Kuemper allowed at least one soft goal among the four he gave up on 21 shots behind a defense missing Nick Jensen because of injury.
At the other end, the Capitals got third period goals from Martin Fehervary and Nicklas Backstrom against Hofer, a rookie playing just his third NHL game after starter Jordan Binnington was suspended for throwing a punch in the Blues’ last game.
“It was fun. I had a blast out there,” Hofer said. “There’s obviously a lot of uncertainties with being in the (American Hockey League) all year and the first game in a long time, but I thought the guys played really well in front of me and kind of kept them to the outside. It’s super nice to get the win.”
St. Louis again got contributions from all three reclamation projects acquired in deals prior to the deadline: the goals from Blais and one from Kasperi Kapanen and an assist from Jakub Vrana on Jordan Kyrou’s team-leading 31st of the season. Brayden Schenn sealed it with a long-distance empty netter with 1:39 left.
Vrana, who was drafted by the Capitals and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2018 and was traded to Detroit in 2021, has five points in six games since joining the Blues from the Red Wings earlier this month.
ICE HOCKEY
Now with six goals since going back to the Blues from the New York Rangers, Blais has outscored longtime Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko since the trade.
Maple Leafs 5, Hurricanes 2
In Toronto, Zach Aston-Reese scored twice and Toronto snapped a two-game skid with a win over Carolina.
Morgan Rielly had a goal and an assist, and Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews also scored to help Toronto improve to 4-2-1 in its last seven games. John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok each had two assists and Ilya Samsonov finished with 32 saves to help Toronto increase its lead to three points ahead of third-place Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division.
Martin Necas and Brady Skjei each scored for Carolina in its third loss in four games. Pyotr Kochetkov had 19 saves as the Hurricanes remained one point ahead of second-place New Jersey in the Metropolitan Division.
Flyers 5, Sabres 2
In Philadelphia, Owen Tippett had his first career hat trick, Carter Hart made 34 saves and Philadelphia snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Buffalo.
James van Riemsdyk and Joel Farabee also scored, and Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo each had two assists for Philadelphia. The Flyers won for the fourth time in 14 games since the All-Star break.
Victor Olofsson scored both goals for the Sabres, who lost for the eighth time in 11 games to further hurt their playoff chances. Buffalo entered six points back of a wild-card spot and needed to jump three teams.
Ducks 7, Blue Jackets 4
In Anaheim, Max Jones scored the tiebreaking goal on a breakaway with 2:37 remaining and Anaheim won a matchup of teams near the bottom of the NHL standings.
Scott Harrington had two goals for the Ducks, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Troy Terry and Ryan Strome each had a goal and an assist, Trevor Zegras and Max Comtois also scored and Simon Benoit had two assists for Anaheim. Lukas Dostal stopped 38 shots.