Jenner, Larocque propel Charge to key win over Sirens

OTTAWA — Brianne Jenner and Jocelyne Larocque led the way for their younger counterparts Saturday afternoon in the Ottawa Charge’s 5-1 win over the New York Sirens.

Jenner, 34, had a goal and two assists, while Larocque, 37, chipped in a goal and an assist. Ronja Savolainen, Peyton Hemp and Rebecca Leslie also scored.

Gwyneth Phillips stopped 23 shots.

Paetyn Levis scored the lone goal for the Sirens (9-2-3-1) and Kayle Osborne made 24 saves.

The win gave the Charge (8-7-1-12) a five-point lead on the Sirens and Toronto Sceptres for the fourth and final playoff spot with two games remaining.

The Sirens are winless (0-0-1-7) in their last eight road games.

New York opened the scoring with a power-play goal midway through the first period when Levis took a pass in the slot and beat Philips on the stick side.

With 61 seconds remaining in the period, Jenner attempted to find Leslie in front, but the puck was redirected and went in off Leslie’s shoulder. The play underwent a lengthy review before the call on the ice was upheld.

The Charge took the lead at 7:54 of the second period.

Larocque blocked a shot to spark a short-handed rush as Jenner picked up the puck and broke in on Osborne. She gave up a big rebound that Larocque buried for her first of the season.

Just over six minutes later, Hemp won a race for the puck and knocked it free. That allowed Alexa Vasko to take possession and she sent it back to Hemp, who gave the Charge a 3-1 lead.

Ottawa scored a pair of goals in the third to put the game out of reach.

Savolainen made it 4-1 by scoring from just inside the blue line through traffic. Larocque had a shot ring off the crossbar and Jenner buried the rebound with just over seven minutes remaining.

Takeaways

Charge: Penalties were an issue again for the Charge.

Sirens: New York had a solid first period and struggled to match Ottawa’s pace through the final 40 minutes.

Key moment

Larocque blocking a shot on the power play was key to setting up Ottawa’s first short-handed goal.

Key stat

Gwyneth Philips played her league-leading 16th consecutive game.

Up next

Charge: Ottawa visits Boston on Wednesday.

Sirens: New York plays Toronto on Tuesday.

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Kevin Gausman looks to help Blue Jays avoid sweep against Diamondbacks

The Toronto Blue Jays are sending out their ace in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

Kevin Gausman will start Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Blue Jays look to avoid a sweep and end a four-game losing skid (4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT, Sportsnet, Sportsnet+).

It’s been a frustrating series for Toronto, with its offence once again struggling to generate timely hits, putting pressure on the starters to keep the score close.

Gausman (0-1, 2.82 ERA) has been one of the few steady presences early in the season, pairing a strong WHIP (0.90) with 31 strikeouts. The 35-year-old has dominated the Diamondbacks over his career with a 6-2 record, 3.23 ERA and 64 strikeouts over 53 innings across 10 appearances.

For the season, Toronto (7-13) has struggled to find consistency, especially on the road, where it has dropped seven of eight. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has a home run, 12 walks and eight RBIs while hitting .315 this season, has lacked the power that dotted his epic post-season run last year.

Another question mark surrounds Daulton Varsho, who did not play Saturday due to left knee discomfort. The 29-year-old is 12-for-36 with three doubles, three home runs and six RBIs over his last 10 games.

The Blue Jays will also need to think about their high-leverage situations after Jeff Hoffman surrendered a go-ahead grand slam to Corbin Carroll in Saturday’s 6-2 loss, renewing questions about the bullpen hierarchy even as manager John Schneider publicly backs his closer.

“I know that’s a that’s a hot topic, or if you’re moving a batting order or you’re taking a guy out of a role, man. Again, I have a lot of confidence in Jeff Hoffman,” Schneider told reporters after Saturday’s loss. “I feel for him right now because he’s going through it and I get it. When you’re in that spot, it gets magnified. And that’s part of it. He’s man enough to handle it. So, yeah, if there’s a situation to close out a game, I’ll take Jeff Hoffman.”

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Opposing Gausman is Ryne Nelson (1-1, 3.54 ERA), who has put together solid outings to begin the year. For his career, the 28-year-old has a 1-0 record with a 2.45 ERA, 12 strikeouts and two walks over 18.1 innings and three appearances against the Blue Jays in his career.

Arizona (13-8) enters the series finale with momentum, going 8-2 over its last 10 games while outscoring opponents by 21 runs. The Diamondbacks been particularly strong at home (7-2), backed by a pitching staff that ranks among the National League’s best with a 3.72 ERA.

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Raptors’ Immanuel Quickley out Game 1 vs. Cavaliers

The Toronto Raptors will be without their starting point guard to begin the playoffs.

Immanuel Quickley has been ruled out for Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, per Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.

Quickley suffered a mild hamstring strain in the Raptors’ regular-season finale. He played 16 minutes in the first half, putting up four points, two rebounds and five assists.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic says that Quickley is making progress in his recovery but is not yet ready to play.

The 26-year-old averaged 16.4 points, a career-high 5.9 assists, four rebounds and 31.9 minutes over 70 games this season.

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Quickley’s standout skill is his three-point shooting, and after struggling over the first half of the season at 34.7 per cent from deep, he shot 41.5 per cent over the second half to bring his season mark to 37.4 per cent.

The Havre de Grace, M.D., native battled plantar fasciitis through the final portion of the season, missing eight consecutive games from late March through early April, and was frequently seen in a walking boot.

Quickley’s next chance at getting into playoff action will be Game 2 on Monday.

– With files from The Canadian Press

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Senators defenceman Tyler Kleven ruled out for Game 1

The Ottawa Senators won’t get Tyler Kleven back in the lineup for Game 1.

After practising in a non-contact jersey on Friday, the Senators determined that Kleven won’t be ready for the team’s series opener against the Carolina Hurricanes (Saturday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ – Coverage starts at 2:30).

Head coach Travis Green was optimistic that he was close to returning.

“He’s closer to playing, obviously, he’s out with the group,” Green said.

The 24-year-old has been out since April 2 after sustaining an upper-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres. He was injured in the first period when a hard slapshot careened up and appeared to hit him in the head.

The left-shot blue-liner has three goals and 18 points while appearing in 69 games this season and leads all Ottawa defencemen with 126 hits.

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Victor Hedman’s availability for Lightning vs. Canadiens unclear

The Tampa Bay Lightning could be without their captain for Round 1 against the Montreal Canadiens.

Victor Hedman has begun skating and is around the team, but he’s not available to play at the moment, per Lightning coach Jon Cooper.

The defenceman hasn’t played since March 19 due to an illness, and he then took a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons.

In 33 regular-season games — shortened by injuries — the Swede had one goal and 17 points.

The Lightning begin their first-round series with the Canadiens on Sunday (5:45 p.m. ET / 2:45 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+).

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