Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby racked power-play goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins ended one of the best homestands in team history in routing Martin Brodeur and the slumping New Jersey Devils 6-1 in the NHL on Wednesday.
Brodeur and the Devils have lost six straight.
Matt Cooke and Bill Guerin scored 36 seconds apart in the first period to make it 2-0, and Crosby and Jordan Staal made the game one-sided by scoring in a 13-second span of the second.
The Penguins finished 6-1-1 during the longest homestand in their history, improving to 13-2-1 since Feb. 25.
CAPITALS 5, ISLANDERS 3
At Washington, Mike Green’s two power-play goals less than 1.5 minutes apart in the third period as Alex Ovechkin’s NHL-leading 54th tally helped Washington close in on a second consecutive division title.
Green’s 18 man-advantage goals set a team record for a defenseman, breaking the mark of 16 held by Scott Stevens. Ovechkin has 33 home goals, one more than the Capitals’ record he set in 2007-2008.
Nicklas Backstrom added a final-minute goal for Washington, who completed their first season sweep of New York since 2002-2003.
Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen each had a goal and an assist for the Islanders.
THMAPLE LEAFS 3, FLYERS 2
At Toronto, Jamal Mayers, Lee Stempniak and Ian White scored for already-eliminated Toronto in a win over playoff-hopeful Philadelphia.
Arron Asham and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers, who were outworked all night by the Maple Leafs.
Mayers and Asham exchanged goals in an evenly played opening period.
The Flyers, fourth in the Eastern Conference, are tied on points with Pittsburgh with just over one week left in the season.
Curtis Joseph, who will turn 42 this month, earned the win in his 10th start of the season.
RASHERS 3, SABRES 2, OT
At Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk scored on an unassisted breakaway with 29.9 seconds left in overtime to lift Atlanta over Buffalo. The goal was Kovalchuk’s 41st and gave him 30 in 37 games.
Buffalo’s three-game winning streak ended. With 83 points, the Sabres are four behind ninth-place Florida and five behind Montreal and the playoff cutoff in the Eastern Conference.
Thomas Vanek scored twice for Buffalo.
Rookie defenseman Zach Bogosian and Slava Kozlov, with his 25th of the season, also had Thrashers goals.
Atlanta has won three straight and 10 of 13.
Also on Wednesday it was:
• Blackhawks 3, Blues 1
• Coyotes 3, Avalanche 0
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
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two