{allcanada} REPORT: JAYS EXERCISE OPTION ON JANSSEN FOR 2014

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The Toronto Blue Jays appear to have no problem with their ninth-inning strategy from 2013.

MLB.com has reported that the Jays have decided to exercise the $4 million option on closer Casey Janssen's contract for the 2014 season.

While the move has not yet been made official, the Jays are expected to pick up the remaining option year on the two-year, $5.9 million deal that the 32-year-old Janssen signed prior to the 2012 season.

Janssen recorded 34 saves in 36 opportunities with a 2.56 earned-run average in 2013, striking out 50 batters in 52.2 innings.

The closer will now eligible for free agency following the 2014 season.

The California native was originally selected by the Jays in the fourth round of the 2004 MLB Amateur Draft. He has made 339 career appearances for the team, posting a 26-21 career record with 65 saves.

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{allcanada} RED WINGS (7-4-2) at FLAMES (5-5-2)

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Friday, November 1, 2013

9:00 PM ET

 

RED WINGS (7-4-2) at FLAMES (5-5-2)

TV: FS-D+, SNET-W

Last 10: Detroit 5-3-2; Calgary 4-5-1

Season series: This is the first game between the Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames this season. The Flames won all three meetings with the Red Wings in 2012-13, including a 3-2 victory the last time they faced at Scotiabank Saddledome on April 17.

Big story: Now that Detroit has moved to the Eastern Conference, the Red Wings and Flames will face each other just twice each season. The two teams kick off their abbreviated season series Friday with each trying to pull itself out of the logjam in its respective divisions.

Team Scope:

Red Wings: The Red Wings come to Calgary off a much-needed win against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. After mustering two points (0-1-2) during a three-game homestand, Detroit opened its road trip through Western Canada by edging the Canucks 2-1 to snap a four-game skid.

The Red Wings limited Vancouver to 20 shots against Jimmy Howard by playing the kind of puck-possession game coach Mike Babcock has been preaching.

"We had the puck a lot more because we executed out of our defensive zone fast, we didn't waste a lot of time in there and we got through neutral zone, and in the end had way more puck possession because of it and that's the right way to play," Babcock said. "Tonight was a good step for our team. Now we've got to match it."

Flames: Calgary enters its matchup with Detroit looking to rebound from a 4-2 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, the team's first in regulation at home this season. The Flames outshot Toronto 43-22 but were able to beat Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier only twice.

"I felt that we had a good game," Flames coach Bob Hartley said after the loss to Toronto. "We are not very pleased with the result, but I don't know what we could have done more. Offensively we generated a lot. Our forechecking was good. Our puck decisions in the offensive zone were very good, but Bernier basically stole the game away from us."

The Flames struggled on the road in the first month of the season, which makes the chance to pick up two points against Detroit all the more important. Starting on Sunday, Calgary will embark on a four-game trip to face the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche.

Who's hot: Daniel Alfredsson has scored in back-to-back games for the Red Wings. ... Dennis Wideman has four assists in his past three games for the Flames.

Injury report: Detroit's Johan Franzen (undisclosed) is expected to return after missing the game in Vancouver. Jonathan Ericsson (shoulder injury) and Darren Helm (back injury) remain on IR … Flames defenseman Christopher Breen (strained abdominal) did not play against Toronto and is questionable to face Detroit. Lee Stempniak (broken foot) is out indefinitely and captain Mark Giordano (broken ankle) is expected to be out 6-8 weeks.

Team Stats

	GP	Record	Home	Away	L10	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%	PIM/G	S/G	S/A	FO%
	13	7-4-2	3-2-2	4-2-0	5-3-2	2.23	2.54	20.0	80.8	8.4	30.4	31.5	50.6
	12	5-5-2	3-1-1	2-4-1	4-5-1	3.00	3.50	17.0	76.3	10.6	30.6	30.0	43.9

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{allcanada} CANADIENS (8-5-0) at WILD (6-4-3)

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Friday, November 1, 2013

8:00 PM ET

 

CANADIENS (8-5-0) at WILD (6-4-3)

TV: RDS, FS-WI, FS-N+

Last 10: Montreal 7-3-0; Minnesota 6-3-1

Season series: This is the first of two games this season. The Montreal Canadiens will try for their third straight win against the Minnesota Wild.

Big story: Special teams could prove to be the detrmining factor Friday with two of the stronger power-play units in the NHL going head to head. The Wild sat at second in the Western Conference as of Thursday with a 24.5 percent success rate with the man advantage and the Canadiens were fifth in the Eastern Conference at 22.6 percent. Montreal will seek to exploit the struggling Minnesota penalty kill, which was 27th in the NHL as of Thursday at 75.9 percent.

Team Scope:

Canadiens: With so many injuries to its forwards this season, Montreal has been forced to rely on its defense and goaltending to shoulder the load. The goalie combination of Carey Price and backup Peter Budaj has been nearly perfect recently, combining for a 1.00 goals-against average and earning three wins in the Canadiens' past four games, including two straight victories.

Defenseman Douglas Murray made his Canadiens debut in a 2-0 road win Monday against the New York Rangers; in a 2-1 win Tuesday against the visiting Dallas Stars on Tuesday he chipped in with six hits and three blocked shots during his 12 minutes of ice time. In all, the Canadiens blocked 29 shots, three more Price's save total.

"You can see guys want to pay the price to get some wins, and that's a great sign," coach Michel Therrien said. "When guys were blocking shots on the ice you could see the reaction from the guys on the bench. This is good for team spirit. They sacrificed their bodies to make sure we get the job done."

Wild: Like its opponent Friday, Minnesota has been dealing with its share of injuries and roster decisions. But according to the Wild's official blog "View From the Lighthouse," the team expects center Charlie Coyle to return to the lineup Friday after missing nearly a month due to a knee sprain.

On the blue line, the front office must decide whether rookie Mathew Dumba will play in his 10th NHL game, which would make the first-year of his entry-level contract official. Coach Mike Yeo confirmed Wednesday that Dumba would not be in the lineup Friday, and it remains unclear if veteran defenseman Keith Ballard will be able to return after being sidelined since Oct. 14 with a head injury; he was struck in the face with a puck in a road game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Yeo was tinkering with his offense at practice Wednesday, including splitting up captain Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise from the top line.

"We're trying some stuff," Yeo said. "We know that [Koivu and Parise] are very good together and dangerous together. But we want to see if they can click with some other guys and strengthen our whole group."

Who's hot: Center Tomas Plekanec has two goals and four assists in his past five games for Montreal. … Parise has two goals and two assists in his past four games for Minnesota.

Injury report: Canadiens forward George Parros (concussion) is expected to be activated off injured reserve and return to the lineup. Forward Max Pacioretty (lower body) could return either Friday or Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. Travis Moen is questionable; he's dealing with a facial cut. Forwards Brandon Prust (shoulder) and Daniel Briere (concussion) and defensemen Davis Drewiske (shoulder) and Alexei Emelin (knee) remain sidelined. … Coyle is expected to return to the Wild lineup Friday, while Ballard's status is questionable. Defenseman Jonas Brodin (broken cheekbone) and forward Mike Rupp (knee) are out indefinitely.

Team Stats

	GP	Record	Home	Away	L10	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%	PIM/G	S/G	S/A	FO%
	13	8-5-0	4-4-0	4-1-0	7-3-0	2.85	1.77	22.6	84.3	14.5	30.1	31.9	51.4
	13	6-4-3	4-1-2	2-3-1	6-3-1	2.31	2.23	24.5	75.9	13.0	29.8	23.4	54.9

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{allcanada} ISLANDERS (4-5-3) at SENATORS (4-6-2)

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Friday, November 1, 2013

7:30 PM ET

 

ISLANDERS (4-5-3) at SENATORS (4-6-2)

TV: MSG PLUS, SNET-E

Last 10: New York 3-5-2; Ottawa 3-6-1

Season series: They'll meet this one time and not again until a home-and-home the first week in April. The Ottawa Senators went 2-0-1 against the New York Islanders last season and are 5-0-3 in the past eight games between the teams.

Big story: Each team finds itself in similar straits, taking a solid step forward only to suffer frustrating setbacks. The Islanders' road win against the Pittsburgh Penguins last Friday was their most emotional victory of the season, but home losses to the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers undid any benefits from that game. The Senators scored a season-high six goals against the Detroit Red Wings last Wednesday, but three straight losses since then make that 6-1 road win a distant memory.

Team Scope:

Islanders: Coach Jack Capuano said it Tuesday night and general manager Garth Snow acted on it over the weekend by acquiring Thomas Vanek from the Buffalo Sabres: The Islanders need to change things up to stave off stagnation.

So after Tuesday's teeth-grinding 3-2 loss to the Rangers, Capuano loosened things up in practice Wednesday.

"You have to stay positive," Capuano told Newsday in light of his team's 2-4-2 stretch. "These guys know what we need to be doing and they have to stick with it. There's no time for panic or being overly critical. They know."

Senators: After blowing a 4-3 second-intermission lead Tuesday night in a 6-5 loss to the host Chicago Blackhawks, coach Paul MacLean experimented with various combinations among forwards and defensemen at practice Thursday, particularly at the blue line.

"We haven't tried the ones that we had today," MacLean told the Senators website. "We're trying to find a way to play better, we haven't played a consistent -- the game in Detroit we were pretty good, the Edmonton game was a good 60 minutes, in Chicago for 30 minutes we got them at 4-2 but then we don't end up winning the game. I don't think we can just keep doing the same thing and expect to get better results. We have to try to make some changes and find some combinations at forward and defense that are going to work for us. That's all we're trying to do is find a way to give our team the best chance to win."

Who's hot: Ottawa's penalty-killers lead the NHL in success at home at 95.2 percent; the Islanders' power play is at 12.5 percent (1-for-8) on the road. ... Islanders center Frans Nielsen's four-game goal-scoring streak was stopped Tuesday, but he has seven points in his past five games. Kyle Okposo had a five-game point streak stopped, but that's the second time in 10 games he's been held off the board. ... Senators captain Jason Spezza leads the team with 12 points in 11 games, including four in Ottawa's past four games. Kyle Turris has five points in his past four games.

Injury report: Defenseman Brian Strait (upper body) has missed New York's past two games and is questionable for Friday. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) remains on injured reserve. … The Senators enter Friday injury-free.

Team Stats

	GP	Record	Home	Away	L10	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%	PIM/G	S/G	S/A	FO%
	12	4-5-3	2-3-3	2-2-0	3-5-2	3.00	3.08	25.6	81.1	9.8	28.1	30.7	45.9
	12	4-6-2	1-3-0	3-3-2	3-6-1	2.92	3.08	20.0	84.2	10.8	32.0	37.0	47.4

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{allcanada} QMJHL: OLYMPIQUES NET TWO THIRD PERIOD GOALS TO BEAT TIGRES

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VICTORIAVILLE, Que. -- Jonathan Bourcier and Vincent Dunn scored the tying and winning goals in the opening 90 seconds of the third period as the Gatineau Olympiques edged the Victoriaville Tigres 4-3 on Thursday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Bourcier made it 3-3 at the 45-second mark, and Dunn got the eventual winner at 1:30.

Derek Sheppard and Emile Poirier also scored for Gatineau (14-6-0), which trailed 2-1 after one period, and 3-2 after two.

Mark Tremaine, Mathieu Ayotte and Carl-Antoine Delisle replied for Victoriaville (8-8-1).

Anthony Brodeur made 32 saves for the Olympiques, and Brandon Whitney stopped 24 shots for the Tigres.

---

Sagueneens 3 Oceanic 2

RIMOUSKI, Que. -- Chicoutimi made the most of their 19 shots on goal in a 3-2 victory over Rimouski.

Jeremy Bouchard snapped a 2-2 tie at 7:42 of the third period. Victor Provencher and Laurent Dauphin added power-play goals for Chicoutimi (11-8-0).

Domenic Graham stopped 30 shots for the Sagueneens (9-6-3).

Scott Oke and Samuel Morin scored for Rimouski, while Philippe Desrosiers faced 19 shots.

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