Jason Pominville ended a 20-shot first-period barrage against Kevin Weekes with a power-play goal as the Buffalo Sabres beat New Jersey 2-0 on Monday in what was the Devils’ first game in a long while without Martin Brodeur starting in goal.
Ryan Miller had 24 saves in registering his second straight shutout, Jaroslav Spacek added two assists and Patrick Kaleta scored his first goal of the season as the Sabres won for the eighth time in 12 games (8-2-2). Buffalo was 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
The loss was the Devils’ fourth in five games and it spoiled an outstanding effort by Weekes in place of the injured Brodeur.
PHOTO: AFP
“Kevin [Weekes] played a great game and kept them in it early,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff told reporters. “Ryan really made some big saves later on and we were fortunate to come out of here with a win.”
A four-time Vezina Trophy winner, Brodeur suffered a bruised elbow on Saturday.
Brodeur’s absence on Monday marked the first time in 57 games dating to last season that he did not start. It also marked only the 21st time in his career that he did not dress for a game.
ISLANDERS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3, OT
At Uniondale, New York, Chris Campoli had his first two goals in nearly a year, the second coming 3:13 into overtime, and the New York Islanders overcame another blown three-goal lead in the third period to beat Columbus.
In a bizarre final sequence, the defenseman got to a loose puck after teammate Mike Comrie lost it in the Columbus zone and fired a shot past Fredrik Norrena.
Play continued as Campoli waved his arms to signal that he scored, but to no avail. He then took a pass in the slot and drilled another shot into the center of the net, setting off a wild celebration as New York snapped a 0-5-1 skid.
Campoli’s short-handed tally capped a second period in which the Islanders took a 3-0 lead, connecting three times within 11:07.
Richard Park and Bill Guerin had the other goals for New York, which entered with the fewest points in the NHL.
BLACKHAWKS 6, AVALANCHE 2
At Chicago, Patrick Sharp and Andrew Ladd each had two goals and an assist, leading Chicago over Colorado for its third straight victory.
Troy Brouwer and Cam Barker also scored for the Blackhawks, unbeaten in regulation at home (5-0-2). Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin made 24 saves.
Ben Guite and Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche, who lost their fourth straight. Peter Budaj stopped 31 shots.
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