Mariusz Czerkawski and Adrian Aucoin each scored twice Friday to help the New York Islanders clinch their third straight playoff appearance with a 6-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
New York secured the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference, eliminating Buffalo from the race.
"I'm happy, but more important I'm happy for the 24 guys in that room," said Islanders coach Steve Stirling. "They didn't need to hear from anybody that they backed in, or didn't get in. They needed to win their way in and they did."
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Islanders scored four straight goals within a span of 7:27 to take a 6-1 lead into the third period.
"We just didn't execute," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "We got what we deserved."
Carolina enforcer Jesse Boulerice had two goals, but the Hurricanes' NHL-worst power play failed them again in going 0-for-4.
Senators 3, Flyers 1
In Philadelphia, Zdeno Chara had a goal and an assist, and Martin Prusek made 39 saves to lead surging Ottawa past Philadelphia.
Despite a number of big hits, the much-anticipated game was less combative than the previous meeting. In the Flyers' victory on March 5, the teams combined to set an NHL record with 419 penalty minutes.
The rematch produced only six minor penalties, totaling 12 minutes.
Antoine Vermette and Peter Bondra also scored for the Senators, 4-0-1 in their last five. Ottawa pulled into a tie with Boston for the Northeast Division lead and the second spot in the Eastern Conference.
Michal Handzus scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who lead New Jersey by two points in the race for the Atlantic Division title.
Avalanche 4, Blue Jackets 2
In Columbus, Ohio, Marek Svatos scored his first two NHL goals and Joe Sakic added his 33rd to lead Colorado over Columbus.
Svatos scored on the fourth and fifth shots of his career -- in his third career game -- to end Colorado's five-game road losing streak. Nikolai Zherdev and Jaroslav Spacek each had a goal and an assist for Columbus, which lost its third straight.
Penguins 3, Thrashers 2
In Atlanta, Kelly Buchberger scored his first goal of the season and Pittsburgh beat Atlanta, overcoming Ilya Kovalchuk's 40th goal of the season.
The Thrashers tried all night to set up Ilya Kovalchuk and were finally successful with 5.6 seconds left when he scored his 40th goal of the season, tying Columbus' Rick Nash and Calgary's Jarome Iginla for the NHL lead.
Kovalchuk, who was denied on six first-period shots by Jean-Sebastien Aubin, hadn't scored in five games. Lasse Pirjeta also scored, and Aleksey Morozov had a goal and assist for Pittsburgh.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB