Patrik Elias scored two of New Jersey's team-record five power-play goals and the Devils earned their 12th straight victory by beating New York 6-1 in their playoff opener.
Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski and Jamie Langenbrunner also scored power-play goals for New Jersey.
New York, which lost its final five games of the regular season to allow the Devils to win the Atlantic Division on the last day, tied it 1-1 on rookie Petr Prucha's first-period, power-play goal. But the Rangers, playing their first postseason game since 1997, were hurt by a slew of penalties in the second and third.
The Rangers took 13 penalties in all.
Elias gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead during New York's first infraction, and Gomez and defenseman Ken Klee beat Rangers rookie goalie Henrik Lundqvist in the second. Rafalski, Langenbrunner and Elias made it a blowout in the third.
The final New Jersey goal, scored with 4:26 remaining, might prove way more costly to New York than just on the scoreboard. Right after Elias scored, Rangers leading scorer Jaromir Jagr was helped to the dressing room with an apparent elbow injury.
Sabres 3, Flyers 2
At Buffalo, New York, Daniel Briere tipped in Jochen Hecht's centering pass 7:31 into the second overtime to lift the Buffalo Sabres past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in Game 1 of their NHL playoff series on Saturday.
Tim Connolly and Jay McKee also scored for the Sabres, who won after squandering a 2-0 lead in the postseason opener.
Philadelphia's Simon Gagne forced overtime with a power-play goal with 1:51 left in regulation. Robert Esche was strong in stopping 55 shots, and Mike Knuble had a goal and assist for the Flyers.
With a delayed penalty being called against the Flyers, Hecht got to a loose puck in the left circle of the Philadelphia zone. Circling along the left boards, he sneaked a pass into the middle, where the wide-open Briere stuck his stick out and directed the puck past a helpless Esche.
Avalanche 5, Stars 2
At Dallas, Rob Blake and John-Michael Liles scored power-play goals 2:04 apart in the second period and seventh-seeded Colorado overcame an early 2-0 deficit to win Game 1 of the Western Conference series.
Colorado cut the 2-0 deficit in half before the end of the first period, and had three goals in the second. Rookie winger Wojtek Wolski tied it at 2 before Blake and Liles scored. Milan Hejduk and Brett Clark also scored for the Avalanche.
Joe Sakic, the Avs' captain and leading scorer, had two assists, and Jose Theodore stopped 16 shots. Bill Guerin and Brenden Morrow scored for Dallas.
Canadiens 6, Hurricanes 1
At Raleigh, North Carolina, Cristobal Huet made 43 saves, 12 players recorded points and Montreal made up for four lopsided losses to Carolina during the regular season with a blowout victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series.
Alex Kovalev had two goals and Francis Bouillon, Radek Bonk, Chris Higgins and Sheldon Souray each added one for seventh-seeded Montreal, which ended the regular season with four losses in its last six games.
The Hurricanes earned the second seed in the conference with the best season in franchise history, a run that included a 4-0 record against Montreal. None were really close, with the combined margin of the final three 20-6.
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