Sam Gagner scored twice and the Edmonton Oilers edged closer to Colorado in the race for the final playoff spot in the NHL's Western Conference with a 7-5 victory over the Avalanche on Saturday.
Dustin Penner, Fernando Pisani, Kyle Brodziak, Marty Reasoner and Marc Pouliot also scored for the Oilers.
Tyler Arnason, Ruslan Salei, Wojtek Wolski, Milan Hejduk and John-Michael Liles responded for the Avalanche, who went winless on their three-game road trip and have lost four straight.
It was the 11th win in the last 14 outings for the Oilers, three points behind Colorado for the eighth and final playoff position in the West.
Kings 4, Stars 2
At Dallas, Michal Handzus tied it with 3:01 left and Lubomir Visnovsky scored the go-ahead goal 55 seconds later as Los Angeles rallied past fading Dallas.
Handzus added another goal with 1:19 left to hand the Stars their season high-tying fourth straight loss.
Brenden Morrow and Stu Barnes scored for Dallas.
Predators 2, Blackhawks 1, SO
At Nashville, Tennessee, Rich Peverley and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout, and Nashville stopped a six-game home losing streak.
Jason Arnott scored for Nashville, and Dan Ellis stopped two of three attempts to help the Predators improve to 3-5 in shootouts. Andrew Ladd scored for Chicago.
Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1
At Columbus, Ohio, Pavel Datsyuk set up power-play goals by Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg and scored a short-handed tally to lead Detroit past Columbus.
Johan Franzen also scored for Detroit, giving him 14 points in 10 games.
Rick Nash's 38th goal was the lone score for Columbus, whose 12 shots were the fewest at home in franchise history.
Canadiens 3, Bruins 2, SO
At Montreal, Saku Koivu scored in the shootout and Montreal completed a season-series sweep of Boston. Carey Price stopped Zdeno Chara, Phil Kessel and Denis Wideman in the shootout after making 33 saves during the game.
Koivu put a backhander past Tim Thomas on Montreal's third attempt and was mobbed at center ice by his teammates.
The Canadiens, who have six games remaining, lead the Northeast Division and the Eastern Conference.
Montreal won each of its eight games against Boston this season and extended its winning streak against the Bruins to 11, the Canadiens' longest in the teams' 84-year rivalry.
Marc Savard and Petteri Nokelainen scored for the Bruins, who are tied with Philadelphia for eighth in the East.
Penguins 7, Devils 1
At Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, and Ryan Malone scored twice for Pittsburgh, which beat New Jersey and took a two-point lead in the Atlantic Division.
Jarkko Ruutu, Pascal Dupuis and Petr Sykora also scored and Marian Hossa had three assists for the Penguins, who broke open a tight game by scoring five goals in the third period and chasing goalie Martin Brodeur.
Brian Gionta had a short-handed goal for the Devils, who have lost three in a row.
The Penguins, who scored seven goals for the third time in four home games, remained one point behind Montreal in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
In other games it was:
* Maple Leafs 5, Senators 4
* Panthers 4, Lightning 2
* Ducks 2, Coyotes 1
* Flames 5, Wild 4
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