Erik Cole and Eric Staal each had two goals to help the Carolina Hurricanes tie a franchise record for home victories by beating the Florida Panthers 5-2 Friday.
Craig Adams also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to an NHL-best 26-5-1 at home. That equaled the previous mark set 19 years ago when the team played in Hartford, but they'll have to wait nearly two weeks to break it. Nine of Carolina's next 10 games are in the road.
Martin Gerber, in his first action since playing for Switzerland in the Olympics, stopped 37 shots to improve to 5-0 this season against the Panthers. He was particularly solid while the Hurricanes staved off a pair of 5-on-3 power plays in the second period.
PHOTO: AP
Bret Hedican and Cory Stillman each finished with two assists.
Chris Gratton and Serge Payer scored for the Panthers, who lost for the second time in three games.
Sabres 6, Maple Leafs 2
At Buffalo, New York, Derek Roy scored three goals and Ryan Miller made 21 saves to lift Buffalo past Toronto.
Roy scored a power-play goal in the first period, notched a 4-on-4 tally in the second, and had another power-play goal with 3.5 seconds left to record his first NHL hat trick.
Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, and Thomas Vanek also scored for the Sabres, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Maxim Afinogenov had three assists for Buffalo, which raised Pat LaFontaine's No. 16 jersey to the rafters in a pregame ceremony.
Alexei Ponikarovsky and Alex Steen scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost their fourth straight. Toronto is 2-9-1 on the road since Jan. 1.
Oilers 3, Sharks 2
At Edmonton, Alberta, Ales Hemsky scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:07 left to help Edmonton edge San Jose and snap a four-game losing streak.
It was the Sharks' first loss in five games.
Raffi Torres and Shawn Horcoff also scored for Edmonton in the third period after a scoreless opening 40 minutes.
Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton scored for San Jose, which lost its fourth straight to Edmonton.
Ty Conklin made 19 saves for the Oilers in his first start since Jan. 14 and earned his first win since Jan. 3. Vesa Toskala, who had won four straight starts, made 27 saves.
Canucks 5, Blackhawks 4, SO
At Chicago, Markus Naslund scored the only shootout goal and lifted Vancouver to a comeback victory over Chicago.
The Canucks, who trailed 3-0 after the first period and 4-2 following 40 minutes, finally got even when Brendan Morrison scored with 6:56 left in regulation.
Todd Bertuzzi, Anson Carter and Henrik Sedin scored power-play goals for injury-depleted Vancouver. Alex Auld made 26 saves in regulation before a perfect shootout performance.
Chicago rookie Rene Bourque scored twice, and Matthew Barnaby and Kyle Calder added goals for Chicago. Bourque has two career two-goal games, both this season.
Mighty Ducks 4, Wild 2
At Anaheim, California, Sandis Ozolinsh scored the go-ahead goal with 7:11 left in the third period to lift Anaheim over Minnesota.
Ozolinsh was playing just his second NHL game after missing three months because of a knee injury and his entrance into the NHL's substance abuse program.
Corey Perry scored a power-play goal for Anaheim, Samuel Pahlsson ended an 18-game scoring drought with a short-handed goal,and Teemu Selanne added an empty-netter with 27 seconds left. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 36 saves, helping the Ducks avoid a four-game season sweep by Minnesota and preventing Jacques Lemaire from getting his 400th NHL coaching victory.
Todd White and Marian Gaborik scored for the Wild, whose four-game losing streak is their longest of the season.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set