Phoenix Coyotes goalie Brian Boucher broke the record for the longest shutout streak in modern NHL history, extending his string to more than five hours in a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.
Boucher's streak stands at 325:45, entering a Sunday home game against Atlanta. He stopped 21 shots and posted his modern-record fifth consecutive shutout, leaving the ice to a loud cheer from Minnesota's fans.
"It's just been unbelievable. It's just a great ride we're on right now," Boucher said.
Early in the third period, Boucher passed Bill Durnan's mark of 309:21 -- set in 1949 with Montreal. Durnan also held the record of four straight shutouts.
Boucher has 130 saves since the streak began.
"I did look up at the clock. Once I saw it was, I think, four minutes into the third, I knew I could breathe easy as far as the streak is concerned," he said.
Boucher, whose mask is painted to look like a wall built with red bricks, improved to 6-2-4.
Ossi Vaananen and Fredrik Sjostrom scored goals for the Coyotes, who tied a franchise record by extending their unbeaten streak on the road to nine games (5-0-4).
Lightning 4, Devils 1
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Dave Andreychuk and Fredrik Modin scored the two fastest goals in Tampa Bay history, tallying nine seconds apart in the third period against reeling New Jersey.
The quick goals broke the mark of 11 seconds set last Saturday by Ben Clymer and Ruslan Fedotenko against Philadelphia. The previous record of 12 seconds was set in 1993 and matched on two other occasions, the last in 2002 on tallies by Modin and Martin St. Louis.
Scott Gomez scored for New Jersey, 1-4-1 in its last six games.
Sabres 3, Senators 2
In Buffalo, New York, Rory Fitzpatrick's third-period power-play goal and Martin Biron's 23 saves enabled Buffalo to end Ottawa's 11-game unbeaten streak.
The loss snapped Ottawa's franchise-record-tying unbeaten streak built on nine wins and two ties as well as its six-game winning streak and seven-game road unbeaten streak.
J.P. Dumont and Daniel Briere also scored power-play goals for the Sabres, 3-1-2 in their last six games.
Todd White and Martin Havlat scored 25 seconds apart in the third period for Ottawa, which lost for the first time since Dec. 13.
Capitals 4, Hurricanes 1
In Washington, Jaromir Jagr broke out of a prolonged slump with a goal and two assists, and Washington snapped a seven-game winless streak.
Alexander Semin, Robert Lang and Bates Battaglia also scored as the Capitals (0-6-1 in their last seven games) recorded the 1,000th regular-season victory in the franchise's 30-year history.
Jeff O'Neill scored for Carolina, which had won two straight. Of the Capitals' 12 victories, three have come against the Hurricanes.
Canucks 5, Mighty Ducks 2
In Anaheim, California, Dan Cloutier made 18 of his 44 saves in the second period, and Trevor Linden assisted on goals by Jarkko Ruutu and Mike Keane as Vancouver beat Anaheim to extend its club-record road winning streak to seven games.
In a matchup featuring the leaders of the Northwest Division and the last-place team in the Pacific, Henrik Sedin scored on a two-on-none breakaway with his twin brother in the second period, and Markus Naslund chased playoff Most Valuable Player Jean-Sebastien Giguere from the nets with a goal that padded Vancouver's lead to 4-0 at 13:25 of the second.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care