For only the third time in 101 meetings, the New York Rangers faced a New Jersey Devils team minus goaltender Martin Brodeur, and took advantage with a 5-2 win on Wednesday.
Michal Rozsival and Nikolai Zherdev scored during two-man advantages in New York’s four-goal second period as the Rangers stretched their early lead in the Atlantic Division.
Brodeur, the four-time Vezina Trophy winner for the league’s best goalie, is sidelined by a torn left biceps.
The Rangers scored three goals in just over two minutes to turn a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
BRUINS 2, BLACKHAWKS 1, SO
In Chicago, Boston spoiled a big night for Chicago, which retired its No. 3 jersey in honor of Pierre Pilote and the late Keith Magnuson.
P.J. Axelsson scored in the third round of a shootout for the Bruins, who extended their winning streak to four games.
The Blackhawks remain unbeaten in regulation time in nine home games, but their run of four straight wins was ended.
CAPITALS 5, HURRICANES 1
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Washington routed Carolina to take sole possession of the Southeast Division lead.
Alexander Semin had two goals and three assists for the Capitals to move into the NHL scoring lead.
Washington led 3-1 after one period and cruised to their fourth straight victory, moving two points ahead of Carolina in their division.
The Capitals dominated from start to finish, and Semin had a hand in all five goals.
He scored his 13th midway through the second period to move one ahead of Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek on the NHL scorers’ list.
AVALANCHE 2, CANUCKS 1, SO
In Vancouver, Colorado prevailed in the shootout, and ended Vancouver goalie Robert Luongo’s franchise-record shutout streak at 242 minutes.
Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos scored in the shootout and Peter Budaj made 31 saves for Colorado.
Svatos won it with Colorado’s final shot, roofing a shot over Luongo’s glove.
The Canucks had taken the lead in the second period before the Avalanche equalized early in the third, ending Luongo’s bid for a fourth straight shutout.
Also on Wednesday it was:
• Coyotes 5, Blue Jackets 2
• Sabres 4, Blues 3
• Panthers 4, Lightning 0
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