Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan scored power-play goals, and Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves to lift the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, tying the Eastern Conference semi-final series after four games.
The best-of-seven matchup now shifts back to Buffalo, where the Sabres -- the NHL's best team in the regular season -- took a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. Now they will be feeling the heat from a nervous, title-starved town unwilling to accept anything less than the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.
The Rangers had to survive a video replay on a late save by Lundqvist that the Sabres felt didn't keep the puck out of the net.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Lundqvist dived onto his stomach with 17 seconds left and stopped Daniel Briere's stuff attempt with his right pad as the puck slid on the goal line. For the first time in five close goal calls in these playoffs, the Sabres didn't benefit from a video review.
Jagr scored his fourth of the playoffs and 71st overall in the postseason in the second period. Shanahan doubled New York's lead in the third as the Rangers earned their second straight 2-1 win. Michal Rozsival ended Game 3 on Sunday in double overtime.
Ales Kotalik answered for Buffalo less than a minute after Shanahan's goal, but it wasn't enough. Ryan Miller was sharp again in making 26 saves, allowing two goals for the fourth straight game.
Ducks 3, Canucks 2, OT
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Travis Moen scored 2:07 into overtime to complete Anaheim's comeback from two goals down in the third period and beat Vancouver.
The win gave Anaheim a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.
Scott Niedermayer's point shot hit a crowd in the crease and bounced to Moen in the slot, where he quickly snapped it past Roberto Luongo low on the stick side.
Chris Pronger scored early in the third period and assisted on Teemu Selanne's tying goal with 5:42 left as the Ducks rallied from the 2-0 deficit.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere robbed Markus Naslund from the slot 3:30 into the third period and Pronger tied it 30 seconds later with a screened shot from the point. Pronger, who along with Niedermayer was nominated for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman, then set up the tying goal with another long shot.
The rebound went straight to Selanne, who had an easy tap-in from the side of the net because Canucks defenseman Sami Salo had lost his stick earlier in the play.
Giguere finished with 24 saves for the Ducks, who can advance to the Western Conference finals for the second time in four seasons Thursday night in Anaheim.
Naslund and Brendan Morrison staked the Canucks to a 2-0 lead.
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
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