Jochen Hecht scored twice in leading the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils in a meeting of the Eastern Conference's top two teams on Wednesday night.
Rookie Daniel Paille and Ales Kotalik also scored, while Ryan Miller stopped 28 shots to help the Sabres extended their lead atop the East standings to seven points over the Devils, as well as idle Pittsburgh and Ottawa.
The Sabres (49-20-7) moved into a tie for first place in the NHL with Nashville, and inched to within one victory of their second consecutive 50-win season.
PHOTO: AP
Scott Gomez, Paul Martin and Zach Parise scored for the Devils (45-24-8), who were coming off a 3-2 victory at the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Martin Brodeur stopped 19 shots and remains three wins short of matching Bernie Parent's single-season record for victories. Brodeur has 44 wins, tied with Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, for the NHL lead.
Panthers 3, Thrashers 2, SO
At Sunrise, Florida, Jozef Stumpel scored the tying goal in the third period and notched the winner in the shootout for Florida.
Bryan Allen also scored for the Panthers, who are hanging on to slim playoff hopes. Florida trails eighth-place Montreal by six points, with five games left.
Flyers 5, Hurricanes 1
At Philadelphia, Martin Biron stopped a penalty shot among his 23 saves and the Flyers stymied Carolina's playoff push.
Ducks 3, Blackhawks 1
At Chicago, Rookie Dustin Penner contributed two goals and Ilya Bryzgalov made 20 saves to lead Anaheim.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two