Chicago Sports

The first major move of the NHL trade season went down Monday, with Tyler Toffoli moving from the Canadiens to the Flames for two draft picks, a prospect and a depth forward.

That hefty haul — headlined by a first-round selection — is surely exciting to see for the Blackhawks, who will be eager sellers (just like the Canadiens) in the coming weeks.

There’s still more than a month left until the deadline March 21, although the action might start more in advance than usual considering how abnormally late the deadline is this season. The Hawks probably won’t do anything groundbreaking until they name their permanent general manager.

But the imminence of the deadline, the mounting buzz and the inevitability of numerous trades occurring eventually has entered the Hawks’ consciousness.

“Hey, we all want these guys to play for the Hawks and make this organization get back on track again,” interim coach Derek King said Monday. “But that’s obviously not going to happen. These guys are going to move on and go somewhere else. They got to realize that, too.”

Pending unrestricted free agents Marc-Andre Fleury and Calvin de Haan are the Hawks’ biggest trade chips. They rank third and 13th, respectively, in TSN’s leaguewide trade-bait rankings.

The Hawks happily would deal fellow pending UFAs Ryan Carpenter and Erik Gustafsson, too, if another team was interested. Pending restricted free agents Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik have been on the market for months already, even though there are persuasive arguments for keeping both.

Brandon Hagel is virtually off the table, a source said recently, but Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported Monday the Hawks have been offered the juicy combination of a first-rounder and prospect for him.

And almost everyone else on the roster can’t be completely sure they won’t be part of a surprise move.

“It’s never easy, the trade deadline,” King said. “I’ve been a part of it. I know what goes on with that. It’s more just communicating with those guys . . . [that] if it happens, [it] happens. You can’t control that.

“These guys just have to focus on each day. If they play well, compete and do all the right things, then, yeah, we might win some hockey games. But they might [also] open some eyes to some of these teams looking for a player at the deadline.”

It’s still officially unknown whether Fleury — who has been promised control over his trade fate — is willing to leave the team midseason.

Gustafsson said Monday the deadline is “not really” on his mind, but he sounded frustrated to have been a healthy scratch in the Hawks’ first two games after the All-Star break before returning Monday.

“I’ve been through this [process] a couple times, so I know what it is,” he said. “I want to be here in Chicago, so I’m going to do all I can. It’s fun to be back in the lineup.”

And then there’s the Strome situation, which has been on everyone’s mind all season long.

Strome has been fantastic lately, entering Monday with 14 points in his last 13 games. That might be increasing or decreasing the odds he’s traded, depending on how one looks at it. Patrick Kane notably argued Saturday in favor of retaining him.

“It’s pretty obvious if you give him

a chance in a top-six role and on a power play, he’s going to produce,” Kane said. “That’s just the fact — ever since he came into Chicago.

“To be honest with you, I feel like keeping a guy that’s that young is probably a better solution. [Strome] can be part of the future here. Especially when you give him a chance and he shows that he can do it, time and time again.”

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The Blackhawks’ second trip to Winnipeg this season proved far more satisfying than their first.

A snipe by Alex DeBrincat gave the Hawks the lead with 10:18 to play, and Marc-Andre Fleury shut the door with 31 saves in a 3-1 win Monday over the Jets, avenging the lifeless 5-1 loss back in November that cost then-coach Jeremy Colliton his job.

“Looking back at that, we obviously didn’t have a great effort, and tonight we played really well,” DeBrincat said. “If we can keep up the structure we’re playing [with] and keep doing everything for the team, we’re going to have a good run here.”

After Mark Scheifele tied the game early in the third, DeBrincat shifted momentum back to the Hawks for good when he caught the Jets on a bad change, took the free offensive-zone entry and released a sizzling wrist shot over Connor Hellebuyck and into the top corner.

The Hawks’ defense locked down the game from there, keeping the Jets’ balanced attack to the outside until Brandon Hagel could seal the win with an empty-netter — which also earned Fleury his first assist of the year.

The Hawks rebounded not only from that November matchup but also from their Saturday “stinker,” in interim coach Derek King’s words, to finish 2-1-0 on the three-game road trip.

“That’s what we talked about from the last game,” King said. “[DeBrincat] wasn’t shooting those pucks. He was cutting across the blue line or looking for somebody late, and the play would get knocked down and they’d go back the other way.

“So what does he do tonight? He starts shooting more; he doesn’t do the lateral plays. We played with our structure, and he played within himself.”

Toews training

Jonathan Toews — out since Jan. 26 with a concussion — resumed training, King said, although King wasn’t sure if Toews had progressed yet to skating.

“I know he has been training, getting a little sweat, putting a little stress on his body, but I’m not sure how he’s reacting to that,” King said.

Dach to wing?

Toews’ absence has forced the Hawks to keep Kirby Dach at center, despite his awful 33.8% faceoff percentage.

But King admitted that moving Dach to the wing, even though the rest of his playing style matches perfectly at center, might be considered later this season.

“Kirby is such a good skater, [and] he likes to keep his feet moving,” King said. “The wing is more stop-and-start. So center, for now, is a good position. But eventually, as the team gets stronger [with] Toews back, [it] could be a possibility to see him on the wing.”

Carpenter still searching

Ryan Carpenter currently sits atop what could be aptly described as the NHL’s “misery leaderboard” — a ranking of forwards with the most shots on goal without a goal.

The defensive-minded Hawks veteran has recorded 48 shots on goal this season without scoring once, which is a lot more than other top misery contenders at the moment — Flames forward Brett Richie (37 shots) and Coyotes forward Riley Nash (30).

“I had a goal waved off this year, and another one where I celebrated hard but it wasn’t my goal,” Carpenter said Monday. “Sometimes I’ve had periods where I go a long time without scoring, and then sometimes they come in bunches. But my game has always got to be a simple direct game, and all it takes is a rebound or a puck off you with a screen, so if I keep doing the right things, it’ll work out.”

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DeMar DeRozan truly believes there is a “sunny island” awaiting him this season.

And not the vacation kind that most players fly off to when the playoff run comes to an unexpected screeching halt.

No, DeRozan’s island is much different.

Alex Caruso is playing defense like his usual wolverine self, his wrist surgery a distant memory. Lonzo Ball is pushing the action in transition, knee feeling 100%. Patrick Williams is back to guarding the opposition’s best scoring wing, fully recovered from his wrist surgery. And the mystery surrounding Zach LaVine’s knee is solved, leaving the fellow All-Star to doing what he does best – defying gravity and scoring.

That’s the “island” DeRozan can see over the horizon.

Some days it’s just feeling more distant.

The short-handed Bulls continued doing all they could to carry the load, this time outlasting San Antonio 120-109 Monday night at the United Center.

It was the 11th game they’ve had to play without LaVine, now improving to 6-5 in those games, and DeRozan remained a big reason why, now scoring 35-plus in a career-best six-straight games, finishing with 40 against his former team. His third 40-point game of the season.

DeRozan’s mind, however, was on the news that LaVine was in Los Angeles to meet with a specialist, trying to get some clarity on why his left knee keeps swelling up and hurting.

“It’s tough not playing with Zach,” DeRozan told reporters. “It’s something we’ve got to weather. His health is the most important thing, him just figuring out what’s what for the long run. As bad as I know he wants to play now, he’s got to take care of himself first and foremost.

“We’re going to get to that point where we’re all healthy and we have everybody full strength, but the important thing is getting everyone healthy.”

That’s the “sunny island” DeRozan was talking about.

Obviously there were still a lot of clouds to get through.

Coach Billy Donovan did offer up more details on what was going on with LaVine, and while the team’s medical staff was convinced that there was no major structural damage in the latest imaging, the All-Star guard wants his mind eased.

“Zach obviously had an ACL [repaired in 2017], so there’s a doctor there [in Los Angeles] that he obviously trusts and wants to go see that knows his knee pretty intimately because he actually did surgery on him before he ever came to Chicago, so I think the more collaboration with people – our people here and Zach, the people he trusts – is a good place to start,” Donovan said. “I think it probably makes the player feel very, very comfortable when there’s a lot of really smart people in a room talking.”

What Donovan needed against the Spurs, however, was smart people on the floor playing for him.

None have been smarter than DeRozan, who once again put on a clinic when it mattered most, scoring 19 of his 40 points in that final quarter. A fourth quarter in which the Bulls (37-21) entered down 89-83, looking slow on their on-the-ball defense and inconsistent offensively.

DeRozan’s scoring and leadership solved a lot of that.

“It’s amazing because it’s not only to score at the level he does, it’s the IQ,” Donovan said of DeRozan’s latest masterpiece. “He generated a lot of offense. Him basically making basketball plays.

“There were struggles for our team really on both ends, but he’s just biding his time, and knows what he has to do.”

And it’s not just his scoring in this streak, it’s DeRozan’s efficiency. He tied Wilt Chamberlain in having six-straight games of at least 35 points and 50% shooting.

“I can’t believe how efficient he is night in and night out,” Donovan said. “It’s mind boggling to me.”

DeRozan of course downplayed all the individual numbers he’s been putting up, prioritizing the winning.

“I just got to my spot and treated it like I was in the gym by myself,” DeRozan said. “Every shot that I take is a shot that I work on.”

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Please send scores and corrections to [email protected].

Monday, February 14, 2022

INDEPENDENT

Lake Forest Academy at U-High, 6:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Plano at Ottawa, 7:00

LAKE SHORE

Cruz at Waldorf, 5:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN CROSSOVER

Oak Lawn 59, Lemont 54

Argo at TF South, 7:00

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE CROSSOVER

Plainfield Central 73, Oswego 57

NONCONFERENCE

Bogan 76, Evergreen Park 46

Bulls Prep at Kennedy, 7:00

Intrinsic-Downtown at Steinmetz, 5:00

Noble Street at Intrinsic-Belmont, 6:00

Ottawa Marquette at Sandwich, 7:00

Peotone at Wheaton Academy, 6:30

Waukegan at North Chicago, 7:00

Westminster Christian at Northridge, 6:00

CHICAGO PREP TOURNAMENT

at Hope Academy

Christ the King 62, Holy Trinity 33

Rochelle Zell vs. Northtown, 5:30

METRO PREP TOURNAMENT

Islamic Foundation at CPSA, 6:00

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Zach LaVine earned being an All-Star for a second consecutive season.

He just might not be able to answer the bell this time around.

The Bulls guard was scheduled to meet with his specialist in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and find out his immediate path to dealing with the discomfort in his left knee, according to coach Billy Donovan.

That could include sitting out the All-Star Weekend, where LaVine was supposed to compete in the Three-Point Contest, as well as play for Team Durant in Sunday’s game.

“I have not spoken to him about [All-Star Weekend],” Donovan said on Monday. “I think all those issues before the All-Star Game, doctors will have spoken to him about all that stuff, and then decisions will be made. But I’m not sure what they’ll come to. Right now we’re just going from the step of him just going out to LA to get looked at, and once these doctors talk they’ll advise him on what they think is the best course of action after the meeting.”

The Bulls have ruled him out of regular-season games to at least after the break, after already deciding last week that they would limit his play in back-to-backs. The nice thing for the Bulls was there were no back-to-backs on the schedule until Mar. 3-4 when they play in Atlanta and then host Milwaukee.

Before LaVine left for California, he did express to the team that he was still hoping to participate in the All-Star festivities, but obviously that all remains fluid.

“I’ll have a much better feel when I talk to our medical people,” Donovan said. “They’ll be there with the people in LA, but I don’t know how much more we’ll know or not know or what the process will be as far as treatment and care.”

Donovan was asked about LaVine’s style of play possibly changing short-term if he does return quickly, specifically the dunking, but the coach didn’t see that happening.

“No one is telling him, ‘Hey, if you can go in for a layup, go in for a layup,’ ” Donovan said. “That’s definitely not being said to him. When a player is out there you certainly want him to play.”

Gutting it out

Derrick Jones Jr. has obviously been playing in pain since returning for the Thunder game over the weekend, dealing with a fractured finger that is splinted but still on the mend for another few weeks.

The versatile wing also knows the Bulls have been short-handed, so it’s all hands on deck.

“I’m just gonna get through it,” Jones said of his mindset. “Personally, I love to compete, and me being out since Jan. 12 has been eating me alive on the inside. I was just waiting for this pain to die down a little bit so I could hop back out there. Soon as it went away a little bit, I was right back out there.”

Remembering the Alamo

All-Star DeMar DeRozan was asked recently why he seems to be like a fine wine, improving with age, and credited his three seasons in San Antonio as a reason why.

“My three years in San Antonio, I kind of took a back seat from scoring so much,” DeRozan said. “Open up other parts of my game and understand, but in the back of my mind I always at heart knew I was a scorer. That was my mentality first and foremost. I didn’t give it a chance to really just let it out like I wanted to in San Antonio because there were other parts of my game I started to grow at.”

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As the Blackhawks wrapped up their three-game road trip Monday against the Jets, Jonathan Toews was ramping up his recovery back in Chicago.

The Hawks captain — out since Jan. 26 with a concussion — has resumed training, interim coach Derek King said Monday, although King wasn’t sure if Toews had progressed yet to skating.

“I know he has been training, getting a little sweat, putting a little stress on his body, but I’m not sure how he’s reacting to that,” King said.

Without Toews, the Hawks’ depth down the middle has been tested, with Ryan Carpenter, Sam Lafferty and even Josiah Slavin spending more time at center — and, in Slavin’s case, on the NHL roster — than they had before.

Toews’ absence has also forced the Hawks to keep Kirby Dach at center despite his awful 33.8% faceoff percentage. King admitted Monday that moving Dach to the wing, even though the rest of his playing style matches perfectly at center, might be considered later this season.

“Kirby is such a good skater, [and] he likes to keep his feet moving,” King said. “The wing is more more stop-and-start. So center, for now, is a good position. But eventually, as the team gets stronger [with] Toews back, [it] could be a possibility to see him on the wing.”

Carpenter still searching

Toews’ ridiculous goal drought early this season had him, at one point, sitting atop what could be aptly described as the NHL’s “misery leaderboard” — a ranking of forwards with the most shots on goal without a goal.

Now, it’s Carpenter who sits atop that unfortunate list.

The defensive-minded Hawks veteran has recorded 48 shots on goal this season without scoring once, which blows the other top misery contenders at the moment — Flames forward Brett Richie (37 shots) and Coyotes forward Riley Nash (30) — out of the water. No other goal-less forwards around the league have more than 23 shots to their name.

“I had a goal waved off this year, and another one where I celebrated hard but it wasn’t my goal,” Carpenter said Monday. “Sometimes I’ve had periods where I go a long time without scoring, and then sometimes they come in bunches. But my game has always got to be a simple direct game, and all it takes is a rebound or a puck off you with a screen, so if I keep doing the right things, it’ll work out.”

The goal drought isn’t the only thing nagging Carpenter. He also has to answer for the Hawks’ penalty kill struggles, as a longtime key member of that unit.

“Sometimes you’re doing everything right and still feel like you’re getting bounces against you,” he said. “And other times, you’re maybe not as good [but] goalies are making big saves for you and the PK looks better than what it is. It feels like we’ve been limiting seam passes and slot chances on the PK, as of late. But still, we’ve just got to find a way [to improve].”

Super party

King credited Hawks team services guru Tony Ommen for throwing a great Super Bowl party Sunday at the Hawks’ Winnipeg hotel, giving the team a much-needed evening of fun.

“It wasn’t uncomfortable,” King said. “It wasn’t like we threw up a stinker [against the Blues] and we came into that [party] and everybody’s quiet and got their heads down. It’s like, ‘Hey, you can cheer on the football, have some laughs, have a couple of chicken wings and relax.’ It was just a really good day.”

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LOS ANGELES — Sean McVay is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, and he sounded every bit like a 36-year-old after walking into the Los Angeles Convention Center before 8 a.m. following what was surely a sleepless night of celebrating the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI victory.

“It’s an incredible honor to be here,” he said hoarsely. “It’s also torturous to have a team win a championship and they make you come the next morning to do a press conference this early.”

It’s exhausting work outfoxing the rest of the NFL all season. Hopefully McVay gets to sleep in now that it’s over.

Every team has been trying to find its own McVay, including the Bears who thought they nailed it when they hired Matt Nagy at 39 in 2018.

Now they’re going a different route — taking the exact opposite approach of the two teams in the Super Bowl. Bengals coach Zac Taylor is just two years older than McVay.

Instead of a young, offensive mastermind, the Bears chose defensive guru Matt Eberflus. He’s a 52-year-old who did it the old-fashioned way: three decades climbing the ladder from student assistant at Toledo to Colts defensive coordinator before getting his first head-coaching job last month.

Eberflus begins his tenure chasing the kid, though fortunately he catches the break of not having to face McVay in the upcoming regular season. The teams faced off each of the last four seasons, with the Rams winning the last three by double digits.

But as McVay described the philosophies that governed the Rams’ ascent, key elements of it paralleled what Eberflus has laid out for the Bears.

McVay talked about cohesion with general manager Les Snead, and there’s promise that Eberflus and new Bears general manager Ryan Poles can align their visions the same way. Poles called Eberflus his “brother” at their opening press conference with the intent “to create an elite partnership.”

McVay highlighted “foundational pieces” like left tackle Andrew Whitworth and defensive tackle Aaron Donald that have kept the team steady.

The Bears have solid leaders in Khalil Mack and Darnell Mooney, and they need to make sure they facilitate Justin Fields and Roquan Smith growing into those roles immediately. They also need to move on from anybody that isn’t on board.

“We’ve made a lot of good decisions to bring in the right people,” McVay said. “When [my father] was in advertising and sales he said, ‘We compete with our products but we win with our people.’ For us, we try to compete with our schemes, but we win with our players, coaches and people in our organization. That’s what’s been right about the Rams.”

That starts at the top. McVay praised Stan Kroenke for being a “willing owner,” which translates to spending money and being patient. Chairman George McCaskey must make sure he’s an asset rather than an impediment.

Eberflus is off to a strong start when it comes to drawing a straight line from his mind to the field. This will be fully his defense. He hired several of his former assistants in a commitment to keep from straying, including defensive coordinator Alan Williams.

When Nagy took over, conversely, the Chiefs prohibited him from taking any assistants. He hired Mark Helfrich to be offensive coordinator despite that he’d never coached in the NFL and they’d never worked together.

That doesn’t sound like the kind of mistake McVay would make, and it’s clear Eberflus also knows better.

“When you get around great players and great coaches that are all committed to working in the same direction, good things can happen,” McVay said.

That’s the goal for Poles and Eberflus. They can’t build the Bears into the Rams overnight, but every step of this rebuild is crucial. It starts with these first moves and charting a viable course, then beginning the process of making sure they have players and coaches capable of venturing ahead as planned.

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One of the biggest bright spots for the Chicago Bulls this season has been the emergence of rookie Ayo Dosunmu, a Chicago native that played his college ball at the University of Illinois. It didn’t take long for Dosunmu to crack the rotation and earn key minutes this season. And with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso both sidelined, Dosunmu has earned a spot in the starting lineup.

And he’s taken full advantage of it.

Dosunmu is averaging 8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game this season while also playing really good defense. Sitting here in February, one has to wonder how he fell to the second round and his hometown team as he’s been one of the best rookies all season long. Now, Dosunmu is getting some praise from a national NBA analyst.

The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connell had a really good breakdown on  Dosunmu in his latest piece on Monday, showing just how good he has been and how he’s executed the offense:

Dosunmu is flourishing in the first five, averaging 11.8 points on 42.1 percent 3-point shooting with 7.1 assists and only 1.8 turnovers in 16 starts while playing stellar defense. Over a month ago, I raved about Dosunmu’s defense, spot-up shooting, and passing for this column and said that he could grab one of the last spots on my second team All-Rookie. But at this point, he is a lock and could push for a spot on the first team if his scoring opportunities continue to increase now that Zach LaVine is also sidelined by a left knee injury.

Dosunmu is only 22 years old but plays with a veteran’s poise so Bulls head coach Billy Donovan uses him in a primary playmaking role. He can reliably facilitate in the pick-and-roll and limit turnovers—a rarity for a rookie!

As we hit the All-Star break here in the NBA season, Dosunmu is playing with a lot of confidence for a team that is right there near the top of the Eastern Conference.

And one has to wonder if the Bulls did get the biggest steal of the draft.

Make sure to check out our Chicago Bulls forum for the latest on the team.

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When it comes to brackets, Crete-Monee coach John Konecki is a firm believer in the bigger, the better.

So he welcomed this week’s news that the IHSA will use 1-32 seeding for all classes in the football playoffs starting this fall.

Most recently, there had been 1-32 seeding for the two biggest classes — 7A and 8A — and two 1-16 brackets for the other six classes, based on a north-south geographic split.

The IHSA has been tinkering with various seeding formulas for years. At one point, it used eight-team quadrants.

“I was glad to see that go away,” said Konecki, who has guided the Warriors to a 70-22 record, eight playoff berths and a pair of state runner-up finishes in 6A since 2013. “I never thought that was the most fair for us.”

He also wasn’t a fan of the north and south brackets, partly because it was so hard to predict where the IHSA would draw the dividing line.

Ranking the qualifiers in each class 1-32 and pairing them on that basis “is a truer representation as opposed to having that weird cutoff line,” Konecki said.

Crete has always been in the south bracket, but Konecki got a big surprise last fall when the Warriors drew St. Ignatius — a team he figured for sure would go north — as a first-round opponent.

“About Week 5 I get my notebook out” to start scouting potential opponents, Konecki said. “I like the part of ‘who are we going to see.’ I’m never right.”

That’s usually a function of guessing incorrectly where the line will be for the north-south split. With 1-32 seeding, he expects his predictions to be more accurate going forward.

Konecki at least has been sure what class he’s scouting from year to year. Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg has been in four title games since 2012 — three in 6A and one in 7A — winning 6A titles in 2018 and last fall.

The new bracketing format won’t change the Trojans’ traditional perch on the 7A/6A bubble. But Seaburg likes it nonetheless.

“I think it’s good for the state,” he said.

One byproduct will be fewer early-round playoff rematches of regular-season games, something Cary-Grove has seen a lot of — especially against neighboring power Prairie Ridge.

Now Seaburg will have to widen his net in terms of prepping for the playoffs.

“We would never have thought to scout a team like Lemont,” Seaburg said. “Great team, great program. But the odds of us playing them were low.”

Marty Quinn’s homecoming

After stops in Kentucky, Florida, California and Louisiana, Marty Quinn is coming back home.

Quinn is the new coach at De La Salle, replacing Mike Boehm, who resigned after eight seasons.

Quinn played at Mount Carmel and Lake Forest College before embarking on a coaching career that included stops at his alma mater and Marist, high schools in California (Orange Lutheran) and Louisiana (St. John’s Catholic in Plaquemines) and two colleges (Ave Maria in Florida, where he was head coach, and Kentucky Wesleyan).

De La Salle principal Tom Schergen, who was at Marist during Quinn’s time there, approached him about the Meteors’ job and the chance to return to Chicago was too good to turn down.

“Getting back to family [was important],” said Quinn, whose most recent job was in Louisiana. “My mom, my brother, nieces and nephews, cousins and a lot of friends are still in the area.”

De La Salle has had eight IHSA playoff berths overall, two since 2009. But Quinn sees similarities to Marist, which took off after hiring Pat Dunne in 2008. “Everybody feels De La Salle can be a program that can take it to the next level,” Quinn said.

Jack Lausch a Wildcat

For the longest time, Brother Rice quarterback Jack Lausch thought he was going to Notre Dame to be a preferred walk-on in football and baseball.

But just before the early signing period, the Sun-Times Football Player of the Year was offered a scholarship by Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. Lausch signed and will continue the pipeline of local talent to the Wildcats.

“A leader in the community, classroom and in competition, @jack_lausch is staying HOME,” Fitzgerald tweeted after Lausch’s signing. “(They build ’em different on the SOUTHSIDE)”

Jahleel Billingsley heads to Texas

Former Phillips star Jahleel Billingsley, who entered the transfer portal after Alabama lost to Georgia in the national championship game, announced on Twitter he’s transferring to Texas.

The junior tight end will be reunited with former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who is the Longhorns’ head coach.

Billingsley had a breakout season on Sarkisian’s watch as a sophomore in 2020, catching 18 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Last season, he had 17 receptions for 256 yards and three TDs.

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BEIJING — Hilary Knight had a goal and assist, Alex Cavallini stopped 25 shots, and the defending Olympic champion United States defeated Finland 4-1 in the women’s hockey semifinals at the Beijing Games on Monday to set up the sixth gold-medal showdown between the Americans and Canada.

The cross-border rivals will play on Thursday after Canada erupted for five first-period goals over an Olympic record span of 3:24 in a 10-3 win over Switzerland earlier in the day. The two world powers have played for the championship in every Olympic tournament but the 2006 Turin Games, when Canada defeated Sweden after the Swedes eliminated the Americans in the semifinals.

This time, the U.S. is attempting to defend its title following a 3-2 shootout win at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, which ended Canada’s Olympic run of four championships.

Cayla Barnes had a goal and assist, while Hayley Scamurra and Abby Roque, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Americans.

Barnes opened the scoring 3:39 into the second period by pinching in from the right point to convert Hannah Brandt’s pass through the crease for a power-play goal. The tripping called against Finland’s Tanja Niskanen was questionable after it appeared the U.S. player fell on her own.

Knight, playing in her U.S. women’s team record-tying 21st Olympic game, scored with 1:07 remaining in the second period. Savannah Harmon’s initial shot was blocked and Knight got to the loose puck to the left of the net and snapped it in for her 11th career Olympic goal to tie Jenny Potter for third on the USA list.

Cavallini was sharp in her third start of the tournament, and lost her shutout bid on Susanna Tapani’s goal with 26 seconds remaining. Her best saves came in the final minute of the opening period when she got her left pad out to stop Michelle Karvinen and then got her glove up to bat away Karvinen attempting to convert the rebound on a two-on-one rush.

Anni Keisala stopped 38 shots for Finland.

Finland will face Switzerland in the bronze-medal game on Wednesday in a repeat of the same matchups from the world championship tournament in August, when Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime of the championship game. Finland won bronze with a 3-1 win over the Swiss.

Canada is considered the favorite in Beijing with a 6-0 record, including a 4-2 win over the U.S. in the preliminary round finale last week.

Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored two goals against the Swiss, said it made no difference who her team faces in the final.

“We worked for these moments. We’ve been working for four years,” Poulin said. “I think we deserve it.”

Canadian player Sarah Nurse, however, was looking forward to renewing the rivalry one more time.

“Obviously, playing the U.S. it’s always an exciting game, always an exciting rivalry,” said Nurse, who had four assists. “Our biggest focus is we get to play another game at the Olympics. We came here to play seven games. We wanted the last one to be the gold-medal game.”

The opponent might not matter given how Canada has been the tournament’s most dominating team by raising the bar in how the women’s game is played with a four-line deep, relentlessly attacking style of offense.

Claire Thompson had a goal and two assists as Canada improved to 6-0 and has out-scored its opponents by a combined margin of 54-8 to set a single Olympic tournament record for most goals. The previous mark of 48 goals by Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Games came in only five games.

“I think we’re taking the game to new heights right now,” Nurse said. “We’re playing a style of hockey that’s never been seen in our tournament before. And so, in 5-10 years, other countries are going to be playing our style of play, and we’re going to keep pushing the envelope and keep making our sport better.”

The five goals scored in under 3 1/2 minutes broke the previous record set by the Canadians in 2010, when they scored five times in a 4:03 span in a 13-1 win over Sweden.

The barrage left Switzerland coach Colin Muller awestruck in how quickly things unraveled.

“We just had a blackout for four minutes,” he said. “You can’t give them that momentum because they’re just like sharks when they smell blood. And when they they taste it, they’re going.”

The one consolation is how his team didn’t let down as it did during a 12-1 loss to Canada in the tournament opener. Lara Stalder and Alina Muller cut the lead to 5-2 before Poulin and Emily Clark responded by scoring 11 seconds apart to put Canada up 7-2 at the 8:03 mark of the period.

Unlike the high-scoring Canadians, the U.S. has struggled with finishing chances while also playing without top-line center Brianna Decker, who broke her leg in a tournament-opening 5-2 win over Finland.

The struggles continued Monday following a scoreless first period in which the Americans had a 12-6 edge in shots. Keisala got her right pad out to make a spread-eagled stop on Amanda Kessel driving in on a breakaway, while Kelly Pannek was stopped trying to jam in a loose puck from atop the crease.

The Americans outshot the Finns 42-26.

The Americans entered the day fifth among 10 teams in scoring efficiency with 24 goals on a tournament-leading 292 shots. Their power play ranked fourth in converting five of 24 opportunities.

NOTES: Canada F Melodie Daoust had an assist in her first game since sustaining an upper body injury in the tournament-opener against Switzerland. … Nurse now has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists), which are the second-most in a single Olympic tournament. The record of 17 points was set by Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser, who did so in five games in 2006. … Switzerland became the fourth opponent to score three or more goals in regulation against Canada in Olympic competition, and first since the Canadians’ 7-3 win over Finland at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

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