In Anaheim, California, Steve Rucchin set up Mike Leclerc's goal 10 seconds into overtime with his third assist on Wednesday as Anaheim beat Calgary 4-3 to set an obscure NHL record.
The Ducks' last 10 victories all have been by one goal. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that breaks the mark set by the first Ottawa Senators franchise during the 1926/1927 season.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Petr Sykora scored twice in the third period for the Mighty Ducks. Patric Kjellberg also connected for Anaheim, which increased its lead over Chicago to four points for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. Paul Kariya had two assists
Oleg Saprykin scored on his 22nd birthday for Calgary and Chris Drury recorded his 100th career goal during a power play. But the Flames remained winless in their last eight games at Anaheim (0-6-2).
Blue Jackets 1, Sharks 0
Marc Denis stopped 38 shots and rookie Rick Nash provided the only goal as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0.
It was the first time the Blue Jackets had ever won a 1-0 game.
The shutout was Denis' third of the year and seventh of his career. He faced 19 shots in the first two periods and 19 in the third as the Sharks turned up the pressure. Denis came into the game 0-4-0 against the Sharks with a 5.11 goals-against average.
San Jose, which lost its fourth successive game, had beaten the Blue Jackets in their last four meetings. Columbus tied a franchise record as it stretched its home points streak to six (4-0-2).
Senators 3, Penguins 0
In Pittsburgh, Toni Dahlman scored his first NHL goal and Patrick Lalime stopped 20 shots for his sixth shutout of the season as Ottawa defeated Pittsburgh.
Marian Hossa, the NHL's second-leading goal scorer, and Chris Neil also scored for the Senators, who moved within one point of Dallas for the league's overall points lead.
Facing his former team, Lalime was rarely tested while playing for the first time since sitting out two games with the flu. Only Toronto's Ed Belfour [seven] has more shutouts this season.
Rangers 3, Panthers 1
In Sunrise, Florida, Sandy McCarthy scored his second goal of the season late in the second period and Mike Dunham made 27 saves as New York beat Florida to snap a seven-game winless streak.
Alexei Kovalev, acquired from Pittsburgh in an eight-player trade Monday, scored an empty-net goal with 10.8 seconds remaining.
Defenseman Tom Poti also scored for the Rangers, who gave Glen Sather his first victory since he took over as coach Jan. 30, when he fired Bryan Trottier. The Rangers had been 0-2-1-1 under Sather.
Capitals 5, Thrashers 1
In Atlanta, Jaromir Jagr scored his 31st goal as Washington scored five times in the first period to thrash Atlanta.
The Capitals had five goals on their first eight shots against goalie Byron Dafoe, who was booed by the Philips Arena crowd before he was replaced by Pasi Nurminen at the start of the second period.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was