NHL leading scorer Alex Ovechkin scored the game-winner in a memorable playoff debut, leading the Washington Capitals over the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 on Friday.
Held without a shot until late in the third period, Ovechkin stole the puck and netted the tiebreaking goal with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Flyers led 4-2 heading into the final period, thanks to two goals apiece by Danny Briere and Vaclav Prospal. But Ovechkin helped set up the first of two goals by defenseman Mike Green that lifted Washington into a tie.
PHOTO: EPA
And then Ovechkin, who set a NHL record for goals by a left wing this season with 65, put the finishing touch on the Capitals’ first playoff game since 2003.
The 22-year-old Russian known as Alex the Great took the puck away from defenseman Lasse Kukkonen and slid it past goalie Martin Biron. As the red-clad crowd’s “M-V-P!” chants rang through the arena, Ovechkin raced over and jumped into the glass to celebrate, then did a high-step along the boards before skating all the way down to the other end to exchange high-fives with his team’s goalie, Cristobal Huet.
Penguins 5, Senators 3
At Pittsburgh, Ryan Malone scored Pittsburgh’s third power-play goal with only 1:02 remaining and the Penguins squandered a three-goal lead against Ottawa, then rallied for a sweep of their first two home games in the Eastern Conference series.
Rangers 2, Devils 1
In Newark, New Jersey, Henrik Lundqvist and another flukey goal have New York halfway to the second round, and New Jersey wondering what they have to do to beat their longtime rival.
Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery scored 23 seconds apart early in the third period and Lundqvist made 26 saves in beating the Devils yet again in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
The win was the Rangers’ ninth in 10 games against New Jersey this season, and it gives New York a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series that will shift across the river for Game 3 today at Madison Square Garden.
John Madden finally put the Devils on the board with 1:23 to play.
Wild 3, Avalanche 2, OT
At St. Paul, Minnesota, Keith Carney scored on a slap shot 14 seconds into overtime to lift Minnesota past Colorado, tying the Western Conference series 1-1 and giving a huge sigh of relief to more than 19,000 towel-waving fans.
Game 3 is tomorrow in Denver.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite