Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice to raise his NHL-leading total to 19 goals and also added two assists on Wednesday, leading Atlanta to a 5-1 victory over Washington.
The defeat meant the Capitals have the NHL's fewest points and are off to their slowest start in 26 years. Washington's 3-0 start to the season is a distant memory. The Capitals have lost five consecutive games. The team has its lowest 21-game point total since the 1981-1982 season.
Canadiens 4, Islanders 1
At Uniondale, New York, Steve Begin scored twice to lead Montreal over the New York Islanders.
Native Long Islander Christopher Higgins added a goal and assist for the Canadiens.
New York lost for the first time at home in five games. They also had their NHL-record streak of regulation one-goal decisions snapped at seven, a span in which the Islanders were 5-2.
Flyers 6, Hurricanes 3
At Raleigh, North Carolina, Daniel Briere scored three goals in the third period to lead Philadelphia past Carolina.
Briere added an assist during his third career hat trick and first with the Flyers, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Philadelphia won for just the second time this season when trailing after one period.
Panthers 5, Blue Jackets 2
At Columbus, Ohio, Rostislav Olesz had two goals and an assist as Florida downed Columbus to earn a third win in four after a four-game skid.
The Blue Jackets have only one win in eight games.
Red Wings 3, Blues 0
At Detroit, Chris Osgood made 12 saves for his 44th career shutout to help Detroit down St Louis.
Dan Cleary had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings.
The defeat snapped St. Louis' four-game winning streak.
Sabres 4, Senators 2
At Buffalo, New York, Derek Roy and Drew Stafford had a goal and assist each and Buffalo scored three times in the first period en route to victory against NHL-leading Ottawa.
The Sabres won successive games after a three-game losing streak.
The Senators have lost two of three. Ottawa lost for just the fourth time overall.
The game marked their first meeting in Buffalo since an overtime goal in Game 5 of last season's Eastern Conference finals sent the Senators to the Stanley Cup finals.
Rangers 2, Lightning 1
At Tampa, Florida, keeper Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves to edge the New York Rangers past Tampa Bay.
The Rangers have won five straight road games and six of seven overall.
The Lightning have dropped successive games after a five-game winning streak.
Devils 2, Penguins 1
At Pittsburgh, Zach Parise scored two power-play goals to support New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur's 501st career victory.
Parise has five points and three goals in his last two games and seven points, including three goals, in four games against Pittsburgh.
Canucks 4, Wild 2
At St. Paul, Minnesota, Markus Naslund scored three goals and Vancouver beat Minnesota.
The Canucks are 6-0-2 in their last eight games. Vancouver has gone 9-0-2 against Northwest Division opponents this season and moved into a first-place tie with Minnesota.
The Wild lost for the first time in four home games.
Stars 2, Ducks 1
At Dallas, Mike Modano notched his 513th career goal during a third-period power play to extend his record for US-born NHL players and Dallas ended Anaheim's four-game winning streak.
Niklas Hagman scored 41 seconds after Modano on the same advantage.
The Stars are 3-0-1 since last week's front-office shake-up by owner Tom Hicks.
The Ducks are 0-3 against the Stars this season.
Coyotes 4, Kings 1
At Glendale, Arizona, keeper Ilya Bryzgalov, acquired off waivers from Anaheim last Saturday, stopped 28 shots and beat Los Angeles for the second time in two starts with Phoenix.
He shut out the Kings on Saturday just hours after being picked up by the Coyotes. Bryzgalov also made 28 saves in that one.
Bryzgalov surrendered the only goal in the opening period, ending his shutout streak with the Coyotes at 75 minutes, 7 seconds.
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
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