Sidney Crosby weaved through two defensemen to score during Pittsburgh's four-goal first period, then helped hold off a frantic Washington Capitals rally with a no-look, spin-move pass to set up Ziggy Palffy's second goal of the game in the Penguins' 5-4 victory on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin was limited to an assist on Matt Pettinger's goal in the third period, but repeatedly flashed the skills that have allowed him to score 15 goals in 21 games.
Not long after Palffy and Ric Jackman scored less than three minutes apart to make it 2-0 midway through the first, Crosby scored his 11th goal in 22 games.
PHOTO: AP
Pettinger and Brian Willsie scored in the third to cut Pittsburgh's lead to a goal, but the Penguins held on despite being outshot 45-28 -- 35-16 in the final two periods.
Crosby leads NHL rookies with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 22 games.
Rangers 3, Sabres 2, SO
At Buffalo, New York, Jaromir Jagr scored the decisive goal in a shootout, pushing New York past Buffalo.
Jagr also scored his team-leading 20th goal and added an assist in regulation. Michael Nylander had a goal and assist, as well, for the Rangers, who overcame two one-goal deficits and won their third straight game.
Chris Drury and Jay McKee scored for Buffalo, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Jagr decided the shootout -- the third straight the Rangers have won -- after both teams scored on their first two chances.
Kevin Weekes, who stopped 37 shots, preserved the win when he stopped Chris Drury on Buffalo's third shootout opportunity.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff inserted goalie Martin Biron after injured starter Mika Noronen allowed Martin Straka to score on the Rangers' first shootout attempt. Noronen made 25 saves in regulation.
Canadiens 3, Thrashers 2, SO
At Montreal, Pierre Dagenais scored the winning goal and Jose Theodore stopped Atlanta forwards Ilya Kovalchuk, Peter Bondra and Marian Hossa in the first shootout in Montreal.
Dagenais' shot beat Steve Shields between the legs on Montreal's second shootout opportunity after Michael Ryder missed high with the Canadiens' first shot.
Theodore, who stopped Kovalchuk on a breakaway in overtime, made a glove save on Hossa on Atlanta's third attempt.
Kovalchuk scored his 15th goal in the second period on a clear breakaway for Atlanta. Peter Bondra also scored for the Thrashers, who tied the game twice in the second.
Ryder scored his team-leading 10th goal to open the scoring early in the second on the first of the Canadiens' two power-play goals. Ryder also assisted on Andrei Markov's goal later in the period.
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer was "doing very, very well" on Tuesday, a day after he collapsed on the bench during a NHL game and a defibrillator was used to help revive him.
"The great news is that Jiri Fischer is doing very, very well," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said at a news conference at Joe Louis Arena.
Holland and team physician Tony Colucci said the 25-year-old Czech player was "in good spirits."
Fischer began having convulsions on the bench late in the first period of a game against the Nashville Predators. Colucci wasn't able to detect a pulse after Fischer collapsed, and an auto defibrillator was used on Fischer.
After performing CPR, Colucci said he detected a good pulse and Fischer was taken out of the arena by ambulance to Detroit Receiving Hospital. Colucci said Fischer's heart might have stopped, but he didn't know for how long.
Fischer's blood pressure and heart rate were stable by the time he got to the hospital.
"There's no way to speculate on what triggered it," Colucci said.
On Tuesday, when asked how long Fischer's heart had stopped, Colucci said: "Sometimes when you're feeling for a pulse you can't really say did it stop, or does he have a very weak, thready pulse."
Colucci said he didn't know when Fischer could play again or how long he will remain in the hospital.
Fischer was diagnosed with a heart abnormality in September 2002. The problem was found on an electrocardiogram as part of a routine battery of tests during the Red Wings' preseason physicals.
Colucci said Tuesday that tests were being conducted to determine whether the convulsions were related to the abnormality.
Lemieux AND THE OLYMPICS
Ice Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is willing to play again for Canada in the Olympics, but wonders if he will be needed.
With new players emerging in the National Hockey League such as Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Sidney Crosby, Lemieux said he won't allow himself to be picked for the February Olympics in Italy if he isn't deserving.
"There are too many good young players now to take a spot just because of your name," Lemieux said. "That wouldn't be right for Team Canada or myself. We have so many great young players for Canada now who can do the job.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier