A day after sacking its coach, Atlanta scored two goals in the first seven minutes, overcame an injury to goalie Kari Lehtonen and finally picked up their first victory of the season, beating the New York Rangers 5-3 on Thursday.
The Thrashers lost their first six games, leaving them as the only winless team in the NHL, triggering the sacking of Bob Hartley. The general manager is now serving as interim coach.
Pascal Dupuis put the Thrashers ahead 4:21 in, and Slava Kozlov stuffed the puck past Henrik Lundqvist during a two-man advantage just over 2 minutes later. Todd White added a short-handed goal midway through the second period, and the Rangers never recovered.
Flyers 4, Devils 0
In Philadelphia, Martin Biron made 38 saves in his second straight shutout and Philadelphia proved it is back as a Stanley Cup contender, beating New Jersey.
Mike Richards, Sami Kapanen, Jim Dowd and Joffrey Lupul scored for the Flyers, who won their fourth straight.
The Flyers are on their first four-game winning streak since March last year.
Bruins 4, Lightning 1
In Boston, Marco Sturm scored two goals as Boston beat Tampa Bay in their home opener to give coach Claude Julien a victory in his Boston debut.
Tim Thomas made 34 saves and Peter Schaefer and Mark Stuart also scored for Boston, which has won four of five since losing the season opener. It's a good start for the team that hasn't won a playoff series since 1999 and has gone through five coaches in four-and-a-half years, one of them a season lost to the lockout.
Islanders 5, Capitals 2
In Washington, Bill Guerin scored his first three goals with the New York Islanders, two on the power play, to beat Washington.
Guerin, the new team captain who also has a team-high six assists, netted one goal in the first period and two in the third. The Islanders went 3-for-5 on the power play and rallied for three late goals after blowing a 2-0, third-period lead.
The Capitals have lost three in a row after opening the season with three wins.
Senators 4, Canadiens 3
In Ottawa, Jason Spezza scored his first goal of the season, Nick Foligno netted the first of his career, and Ottawa beat Montreal.
After Alex Kovalev scored Montreal's second power-play goal 12:51 into the third to tie it at 3, Spezza brought the crowd to its feet as he restored Ottawa's lead 24 seconds later.
Ottawa won for the seventh time in eight games.
Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2
In Toronto, Nik Antropov's goal with 27.6 seconds left lifted Toronto to a comeback win over Florida.
Bryan McCabe and Jason Blake also scored for the Leafs, who trailed 2-0 after the first period. Mats Sundin had two assists, and Antropov registered his fourth consecutive two-point game.
Oilers 4, Coyotes 2
In Glendale, Arizona, Raffi Torres scored twice, including the go-ahead goal on a circus shot with 8:05 to play, and Edmonton beat Phoenix to snap a four-game losing streak.
Kyle Brodziak and Shawn Horcoff also scored for the Oilers, who won for the first time in four road games despite managing only a season-low 18 shots on goal.
Flames 4, Kings 3
In Calgary, Alberta, Daymond Langkow had two goals and an assist as Calgary erased an early deficit and beat Los Angeles.
Langkow's 200th NHL goal at 6:11 of the second period tied it 2-2. After Craig Conroy gave the Flames the lead at 11:33, Calgary made history as Langkow scored again.
Red Wings 4, Sharks 2
In San Jose, California, Matt Ellis put Detroit ahead with his first NHL goal on a no-look backhand with 12:26 to play, and Detroit rallied to beat San Jose in a rematch of last season's playoffs.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping