The St Louis Blues snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the struggling Ottawa Senators on Friday.
It was a third consecutive defeat for the Senators, who are on a poor run after winning four straight earlier in the month.
Ottawa took the lead in the opening period through Mike Fisher, but Brad Boyes, Carlo Colaiacovo and Eric Brewer all scored in a 90-second spell in the second period for the Blues, who were dominant throughout.
Fisher raced in behind the Blues defense and took a perfect pass from Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson and lifted a backhand over Ty Conklin, making a rare start in net for the Blues.
Senators coach Cory Clouston called a timeout following the three goal outburst and delivered an animated speech to his team, who slowed the Blues offense thereafter, but were unable to turn the game around.
Andy McDonald and Patrik Berglund stretched the Blues lead in the third period before Jesse Winchester responded late on for Ottawa.
Conklin improved to 2-1-1 on the season and won his first game at home, providing some rest to Blues regular starter Jaroslav Halak, who had allowed 19 goals in his last four starts while going 0-3-1.
THRASHERS 5, CAPITALS 0
In Atlanta, Georgia, the Thrashers thrashed Washington to emphatically end the Capitals’ run of nine straight matches without a defeat in regulation time.
Ondrej Pavelec stopped 29 shots to earn his third NHL shutout and Evander Kane, Nik Antropov and Ben Eager had a goal and assist each.
The NHL-leading Capitals were shut out for the first time in almost a year. Washington had 10 wins and 21 points in its first 12 games, but missed a chance at a victory that would’ve been the Capitals’ best ever 20-game start.
Dustin Byfuglien made it 4-0 in the final minute of the second period with his sixth goal and Alexander Burmistrov finished the scoring when he netted his third goal late in the final frame.
WILD 4, RED WINGS 3, OT
In Detroit, John Madden scored 4:18 into overtime as Minnesota snapped Detroit’s four-game winning streak. Brent Burns, Cal -Clutterbuck and Mikko Koivu also scored for the Wild.
Detroit’s Patrick Eaves had a goal and an assist, while Darren Helm and Johan Franzen also scored.
AVALANCHE 5, RANGERS 1
In Denver, Craig Anderson stopped 25 shots in his return from injury to help Colorado beat New York.
Anderson was back in net after missing 10 games because of a right knee injury, showing little signs of rust as he gave up just a third-period goal to rookie Derek Stepan.
Matt Duchene scored and had two assists in a four-goal second period. David Jones, Kevin Porter, Kevin Shattenkirk and -Daniel Winnik also had goals for the Avalanche, who went 3-0 on their homestand.
In other NHL action it was:
‧ Blue Jackets 4, Ducks 3
‧ Sabres 4, Kings 2
‧ Penguins 5, Hurricanes 4, SO
‧ Flames 7, Blackhawks 2
‧ Coyotes 4, Oilers 3, SO
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
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