Rookie Bobby Ryan scored two goals and Jonas Hiller made 31 saves in his second playoff shutout as the Anaheim Ducks rocked the top-seeded San Jose Sharks again, winning 4-0 on Thursday to take a 3-1 series lead.
Corey Perry had a late goal and an assist and Ryan Getzlaf added two assists for the Ducks, who emphatically moved within one game of becoming the eighth No. 8 seed to win an NHL playoff series since 1994.
Ryan scored twice in a 3:40 span of the second period, giving him four goals in the four-game series. Anaheim then clamped down on Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and the Sharks’ top scorers, making Hiller’s job relatively easy.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Game five is tonight in San Jose, California.FLYERS 3, PENGUINS 0
At Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Arron Asham and Claude Giroux scored the first two goals as Philadelphia avoided elimination by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Thursday to force a sixth game in the NHL Eastern Conference first-round series. Martin Biron made 28 saves and Mike Knuble also scored for Philadelphia.
After winning 2-1 in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, the Penguins were in position to finish off the Flyers in game five on home ice for a second successive season.
Game six is scheduled for today in Philadelphia.
DEVILS 1, HURRICANES 0
At Newark, New Jersey, Martin Brodeur tied Patrick Roy’s NHL record for playoff shutouts, making 44 saves to help New Jersey beat Carolina and take a 3-2 series lead.
David Clarkson scored a power-play goal in helping Brodeur post his 23rd postseason shutout and win a great goaltending duel with Cam Ward, who stopped 41 shots.
Brodeur’s gem, which ended with the crowd shouting “Mar-tee! Mar-tee!” came just 48 hours after a 4-3 loss in game four on a controversial goal by Jussi Jokinen with less than a second to play.
Jokinen and Brodeur bumped in front of the crease seconds before the goal and Brodeur felt the officials should have blown the play dead.
Game six is scheduled to be played tomorrow at Carolina.
RED WINGS 6, BLUE JACKETS 5
At Columbus, Ohio, Johan Franzen scored on a power play with 46.6 seconds left to give Detroit a first-round sweep over St Louis.
The call that led to the man advantage was hotly disputed by the Blue Jackets, who were assessed a bench minor for having too many men on the ice.
Marian Hossa had two goals, Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom each had a goal and an assist and Daniel Cleary also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings.
Rick Nash, Kristian Huselius and Kris Russell each had a goal and an assist and R.J. Umberger and Fredrik Modin also scored for Columbus.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set