Ray Whitney brought up his 300th NHL goal with a hat-trick on Friday as the Carolina Hurricanes boosted their Eastern Conference playoff hopes with a 6-1 thrashing of the Calgary Flames.
Whitney scored three power-play goals for the Hurricanes, who piled on three goals in just over five minutes to end the first period and moved within a point of the East’s playoff spots.
Flames goalie Curtis McElhinney, standing in for league wins leader Miika Kiprusoff, allowed all six goals.
STARS 3, DUCKS 2
In Anaheim, California, Dallas beat Anaheim to leave the Pacific Division rivals locked together for the vital eighth place in the Western Conference, along with Edmonton.
Loui Eriksson scored two goals and Marty Turco made 36 saves for the Stars.
SABRES 5, COYOTES 1
In Buffalo, New York, the home team also moved within a point of the East’s playoff spots with an easy win over Phoenix.
Tim Connolly had two goals and two assists for the Sabres. He has five points in two games after signing a two-year, US$9 million contract extension.
Goalie Patrick Lalime made 29 saves. He has stopped all but two of 69 shots in the past two games.
THRASHERS 2, CANADIENS 0
In Atlanta, Georgia, home goalie Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves to shut out Montreal.
Bryan Little scored the opener goal late in the first period, with an empty-net goal in the final minutes sealing the win.
The Canadiens have won only two of their past 14 road games.
BLUES 4, LIGHTNING 3, OT
In Tampa, Florida, Brad Boyes scored in the first minute of overtime to give St Louis victory over Tampa Bay.
Boyes, who also set up two first-period goals, won it with his 26th goal of the season after the Blues blew a two-goal lead in the final 8 minutes of regulation.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care