Nicklas Backstrom scored in overtime on Sunday as the Washington Capitals completed a remarkable comeback without star Alex Ovechkin to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3.
Backstrom skated up the side, went around Chicago’s Brent Seabrook in the left circle and beat Antti Niemi for his second goal of the game.
Ovechkin, the two-time MVP and the league’s leading scorer this season, got a game misconduct in the first period for knocking Brian Campbell into the boards.
Washington fell behind 3-0 after two periods, but rallied with a quick three-goal spurt in the final period, showing why it has the NHL’s top record and also is the highest scoring team.
Jonathan Toews had two goals, and John Madden also scored for Chicago.
PENGUINS 2, LIGHTNING 1
At Tampa, Florida, Pascal Dupuis and Sergei Gonchar scored in a 2:57 span in the third period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for Pittsburgh.
Gonchar scored the winning goal at 5:17, blasting a slap shot past Antero Niittymaki from just inside the blue line.
Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier opened the scoring with his fifth goal in six games.
RANGERS 3, FLYERS 1
At New York, Sean Avery scored twice and helped New York climb within a point of eighth-place Boston in the Eastern Conference.
Michal Rozsival had the go-ahead goal in the second period, and Henrik Lundqvist made 17 saves for New York. Danny Briere scored for Philadelphia.
COYOTES 3, THRASHERS 2, SO
At Atlanta, Adrian Aucoin scored the shootout winner and Lee Stempniak had his sixth goal in five games with Phoenix as the Coyotes won their fifth straight.
Matthew Lombardi also scored for Phoenix. Maxim Afinogenov and Nik Antropov scored power-play goals for Atlanta in the third.
DUCKS 4, SHARKS 2
At Anaheim, Teemu Selanne scored his 599th goal, and Jonas Hiller made 31 saves to help Anaheim end a five-game winless streak.
Selanne gave the Ducks a scare early in the third period, when his head and left shoulder slammed into the boards after he failed to convert a pass from Saku Koivu and lost his balance. Selanne remained on the ice hunched over for a couple of minutes before making it back to the dressing room under his own power, but did not return.
Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Lubomir Visnovsky also scored. Joe Thornton and Jamie McGinn scored third-period goals for Western Conference-leading San Jose.
CANUCKS 3, FLAMES 1
At Vancouver, identical twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin set each other up for first-period goals and Roberto Luongo made 32 saves for the Canucks.
Ryan Kesler also scored in the first period for the Canucks, who won for a second straight night at home after spending the previous six weeks playing 14 consecutive road games while Vancouver hosted the Olympics.
Robyn Regehr spoiled Luongo’s shutout with 8:10 left. The Flames are a point behind Detroit for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
PREDATORS 3, KINGS 2
At Los Angeles, Patric Hornqvist scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:31 to play, and Pekka Rinne made 18 saves for Nashville.
Steve Sullivan and Colin Wilson also scored in the Predators’ seventh straight win over Los Angeles. Anze Kopitar scored his career high-tying 32nd goal, and Dustin Brown also scored for the Kings.
WILD 4, BLUES 2
At St Paul, Josh Harding made 36 saves, and Mikko Koivu had a power-play goal and two assists, propelling Minnesota past St Louis.
Andrew Brunette and Guillaume Latendresse also scored in a three-goal first period for Minnesota. Patrik Berglund and Paul Kariya scored for St Louis.
AVALANCHE 5, STARS 3
At Dallas, Craig Anderson made 48 saves, Paul Stastny scored twice, and Colorado rallied to beat Dallas.
Chris Stewart, Darcy Tucker and Milan Hejduk also scored for the Avalanche. Brandon Segal scored twice in a 1:22 span in the second, and Jamie Benn added a goal for Dallas.
ISLANDERS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1
At Uniondale, Richard Park scored a short-handed goal and added an assist, and Martin Biron made 26 saves for New York.
Tim Jackman, Frans Nielsen and Matt Moulson also scored, and Blake Comeau added three assists. Nikolai Kulemin scored for Toronto. The Maple Leafs had their season-high winning streak ended at three.
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but