The Washington Capitals and Calgary Flames put their Stanley Cup ambitions back on track with big wins on Monday while the Boston Bruins pushed the Montreal Canadiens to the brink of elimination.
After dropping the opening two games of their series on home ice, the Capitals roared into Madison Square Gardens and came away with a dominating 4-0 victory that trimmed the Rangers lead in the best-of-seven Eastern conference quarter-final to 2-1.
Alexander Semin scored the Capitals first two goals then set up another but it was his 20-year-old Russian compatriot rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov who stole the spotlight, stopping 33 shots to collect his first career shutout.
In other action, the Calgary Flames returned home to the Saddledome and rode the energy of a sell-out crowd to an ill-tempered 4-2 win over Chicago cutting the Blackhawks series edge to 2-1.
The Canadiens were also on home ice for the first time in these playoffs but Montreal’s Centennial season looks ready to end in bitter disappointment after falling 4-2 to the Boston Bruins, who take a 3-0 stranglehold on their quarter-final.
The Eastern Conference top seeds can complete the sweep with a Game Four win in Montreal today and clinch their first playoff series since 1999.
The “Original Six” rivals have clashed 32 times in the post-season with the Canadiens having dominated the rivalry winning 24 but history is against Montreal maintaining that domination.
Only twice have teams fought back from 3-0 deficits to win a playoff series, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders.
Welcomed by a capacity crowd of 21,273 at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens came out flying and were rewarded with the early goal from Christopher Higgins.
However, it was the only time the Canadiens led, with Michael Ryder, Phil Kessel, Shawn Thornton and Chuck Kobasew all scoring for the Bruins while Yannick Weber had the other Montreal tally.
The Rangers, who had the league’s best penalty-killing record during the regular season, surrendered two power-play goals, as the Capitals bombarded New York netminder Henrik Lundqvist with 40 shots.
“I’m not going to whine about penalties, we stunk,” Rangers coach John Tortorella told reporters.
Alexander Ovechkin, who led the NHL with 56 goals this season, has yet to score in the playoffs but contributed a pair of assists to the Washington cause.
After two one-goal losses in Chicago, the Flames spotted the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead on a goal by Patrick Sharp then hit back with four tallies from Eric Nystrom, Rene Bourque and a pair of third period markers from David Moss.
With the Flames closing in on the win, tempers flared in the final minutes sparking several skirmishes that left only a handful of players on the bench for the last 10 seconds.
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