Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist, and Jose Theodore made 31 saves to help the surging Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Tuesday.
Chris Bourque, the son of Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque, netted his first NHL goal, and Brooks Laich and Boyd Gordon also scored for the Capitals (24-11-3), who won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Adam Mair and Clarke MacArthur scored for Buffalo (17-15-5), which has lost four of five (1-2-2). Ryan Miller made 27 saves.
PHOTO: AP
RED WINGS 4, BLACKHAWKS 0
At Detroit, Ty Conklin made 36 saves for his seventh NHL shutout, and Johan Franzen scored twice as Detroit snapped Chicago’s team-record, nine-game winning streak.
Pavel Datsyuk added a goal and an assist, Tomas Kopecky scored his second of the season, and Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronwall each had two assists in the Red Wings’ 700th game against the Blackhawks.
PHOTO: AP
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 35 shots for Chicago in the start of a home-and-home series that will conclude Thursday outside at Wrigley Field in the Winter Classic. The Blackhawks had earned at least one standings point in 11 consecutive games.
CANADIENS 2, LIGHTNING 1, SO
At Tampa, Florida, Maxim Lapierre scored the winning shootout goal to lift Montreal over Tampa Bay.
The Canadiens won the shootout 2-1 to complete a two-game, two-day sweep in the Sunshine State. Montreal beat the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Monday.
Guillaume Latendresse scored Montreal’s goal in regulation. The Canadiens have won five of six.
Vinny Prospal scored for the Lightning, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
BRUINS 5, PENGUINS 2
At Pittsburgh, Marc Savard scored a power-play goal, then set up Boston’s next two goals as the streaking Bruins ran their longest winning streak in nearly 26 years to nine games by beating Pittsburgh.
Dennis Wideman had a goal and two assists as the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins improved to 23-2-1 in their last 26 games, outscoring opponents 106-51. Tim Thomas stopped 32 shots to win his seventh in a row.
The Penguins lost their fourth consecutive home game and sixth in eight. Evgeni Malkin, the NHL’s leading scorer, was held without a point, took a penalty that led to Savard’s goal, and committed a giveaway that set up Phil Kessel’s go-ahead tally.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had an assist in his 250th NHL game, but gave away the puck ahead of Martin St. Pierre’s short-handed goal at 5:28 of the third. Zdeno Chara also had a goal and assist for Boston.
DEVILS 4, BLUES 3
At St. Louis, Zach Parise scored twice and New Jersey earned its fifth win in seven games by beating St. Louis.
New Jersey took a 1-0 lead on its first shot just 1:02 in when Parise scored.
The Blues tied it when Brad Boyes jammed in a rebound off Jeff Woywitka’s shot at 4:19 for his team-leading 18th goal. St. Louis grabbed the lead at 7:41 when David Backes beat Scott Clemmensen for his 11th goal.
Brian Rolston tied it early in the second period with his fifth goal, and Parise’s second put New Jersey in front 3-2. Jay Pandolfo stretched the Devils’ lead to two goals.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, THRASHERS 3, OT
At Toronto, Curtis Joseph made 29 saves to earn his first win of the season and the 450th of his NHL career as Toronto rallied to beat Atlanta in overtime.
Pavel Kubina scored the winner on a power play 33 seconds into the extra session to help the Maple Leafs snap a three-game losing streak.
Nikolai Kulemin, Lee Stempniak and Jason Blake also scored for Toronto.
Joseph, 41, earned his first victory since April 5 when he beat Vancouver while with Calgary.
Colby Armstrong tied it at 3-3 for Atlanta on a power play in the third period. Bryan Little, with his seventh goal in four games, and Jim Slater also scored for the Thrashers, who have lost three in a row.
FLYERS 3, CANUCKS 2
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Jeff Carter had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, which beat Vancouver but lost top forward Simon Gagne to injury just 15 seconds into the game.
The Flyers were still able to extend their unbeaten streak in Vancouver to 14, a span that has lasted nearly 20 years.
The Flyers have 10 wins and four ties since they last lost to the Canucks on the road, a 5-3 defeat on Jan. 17, 1989.
SENATORS 3, OILERS 2
At Edmonton, Alberta, Brian Lee’s first NHL goal helped Ottawa beat Edmonton and break a 12-game losing streak on the road.
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
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Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier