The Philadelphia Flyers ended years of frustration against the New Jersey Devils, knocking the defending Stanley Cup champions out of the playoffs.
Danny Markov scored on a long shot with 5:23 left, and the Flyers closed out their first-round series against the Devils with a 3-1 victory in Game 5 on Saturday.
PHOTO: EPA
Markov's shot from just inside the blue line sailed past Martin Brodeur, who hardly resembled a reigning Vezina Trophy winner in the series.
Alexei Zhamnov also scored for Philadelphia, which advances to the second round for the second straight year. Sami Kapanen added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.
Scott Niedermayer scored the only goal for New Jersey, which won three championships the previous nine years.
Robert Esche, starting his first playoff series, had 31 saves in another solid effort, outplaying Brodeur. Esche allowed nine Devils goals in the series on 155 shots.
Avalanche 5, Stars 1
In Denver, Peter Forsberg had a goal and two assists, and David Aebischer stopped 21 shots to help the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars and close out the first-round series 4-1.
Colorado had lost five straight potential clinching games, including three consecutive in a first-round loss to Minnesota last year. The Avalanche avoided a similar fate by playing solid defense and scoring three goals in the third period.
Milan Hejduk scored for the third straight game and rookie Marek Svatos had three assists for Colorado, whose second-round opponent is yet to be determined. Darby Hendrickson, Steve Konowalchuk and Joe Sakic also had goals.
Red Wings 2, Predators 0
In Nashville, Tennessee, Ray Whitney and Steve Yzerman scored goals 30 seconds apart in the opening two minutes, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Nashville Predators in Game 6 to clinch their first-round series 4-2.
Robert Lang had two assists, and Curtis Joseph stopped 15 shots to earn his 16th career postseason shutout and first with Detroit.
The Red Wings improved to 8-0 in potential clinching games, dating to the 1998 Stanley Cup finals.
Canadiens 5, Bruins 2
In Montreal, Darren Langdon scored for the first time in over two years and Saku Koivu netted the go-ahead goal in the second period, leading Montreal over Boston.
That tied the first-round playoff series 3-3, forcing a deciding Game 7 on Monday in Boston.
Jose Theodore made 22 saves, and Yanic Perreault, Alex Kovalev, and Jan Bulis also scored for Montreal, which won its second in a row after falling behind 3-1 in the series. The Canadiens have never won a seven-game series in which they trailed 3-1.
Sergei Samsonov scored twice for Boston.
Canadiens 5, Bruins 2
In Montreal, Darren Langdon scored for the first time in over two years and Saku Koivu netted the go-ahead goal in the second period to lead Montreal over Boston.
That tied the first-round playoff series 3-3, forcing a deciding Game 7 today in Boston.
Jose Theodore made 22 saves, and Yanic Perreault, Alex Kovalev, and Jan Bulis also scored for Montreal, which won its second in a row after falling behind 3-1 in the series. Sergei Samsonov scored twice for Boston, including a goal off a partial breakaway 4:36 into the third which drew the Bruins within 3-2.
Canucks 5, Flames 4, 3OT
In Calgary, Alberta, Vancouver's Brendan Morrison scored 2:28 into the third overtime to give Vancouver the win over Calgary and force a seventh game.
Calgary overcame a 4-0 deficit to force overtime, with Chris Clark tying it with 7:04 left in regulation play.
But Morrison sent the series back to Vancouver for Game 7 on Monday, beating goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to end the longest game of the season and the longest in Vancouver history.
Geoff Sanderson, Jarkko Ruutu, Daniel Sedin and Brad May also scored for the Canucks. Martin Gelinas, Ville Nieminen and Oleg Saprykin added goals for the Flames.
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