Martin St Louis scored in overtime to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 win over Washington on Tuesday and vault the Lightning over the Capitals into top spot in the Southeast division.
St Louis beat goaltender Semyon Varlamov on a rebound at 2:54 in the extra session to give Tampa Bay the win and put them a point ahead of the Caps after both teams entered the game tied for the division lead.
“I felt like I might have a chance for a play and I wanted to give our guys a chance for a second opportunity [in the Washington zone],” St Louis told reporters after he followed a shot from team mate Vincent Lecavalier. “I just tried to go to the middle and the puck just ended up on my stick.”
Varlamov finished with 37 saves, while newly acquired Tampa Bay netminder Dwayne Roloson, who was making his debut after they traded for him on Saturday, made 34 stops for the shutout.
The 41-year-old Roloson is the oldest goalie in the NHL, and made a strong first impression on his new team by making 21 saves in the second period alone.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin fired a team-high eight shots, but was unable to register a point. He has recorded just two goals in his last 12 games.
“We just didn’t find a rhythm. We didn’t get rebounds,” Ovechkin said. “Defense played great and [Roloson] made unbelievable saves a couple times.”
Tampa Bay (24-11-5), winners of nine of 11, snapped Washington’s (23-12-6) three-game winning streak.
The Lightning had previously been dominated by the Capitals, losing both prior matchups this season by a combined score of 12-3.
Tuesday’s win was just Tampa Bay’s second in 11 games at -Washington’s Verizon Center.
WILD 2, DEVILS 1
In Newark, New Jersey, Clayton Stoner scored his first NHL goal and Jose Theodore made 21 saves as Minnesota beat New Jersey.
Stoner fired the puck along the right boards into the Devils’ end.
New Jersey goalie Johan Hedberg skated behind the net, anticipating the puck would wind all the way around.
It never reached Hedberg. The puck caromed off the boards and angled into the open net before Hedberg could dive back into position.
Cal Clutterbuck also scored for the Wild.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored for the Devils, who have only two wins in 15 games.
RED WINGS 5, OILERS 3
In Edmonton, Alberta, Todd Bertuzzi scored twice, including the game winner, as Detroit beat Edmonton.
After Edmonton rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game late, Detroit got a break when Bertuzzi’s shot banked in off the skate of defenseman Ladislav Smid with 2:50 left. The Red Wings, who had dropped two straight, sealed the win 44 seconds later on Darren Helm’s goal.
Henrik Zetterberg and Kris Draper also scored for Detroit, which moved into a tie atop the NHL standings with Vancouver.
Gilbert Brule, Theo Peckham and Sam Gagner scored for Edmonton.
COYOTES 4, BLUE JACKETS 2
At Glendale, Arizona, Shane Doan scored with 8:49 remaining to lift Phoenix over Columbus.
Doan, stationed just to the left of goalie Mathieu Garon, battled down Keith Yandle’s rising shot from the left boards to snap a 2-2 tie. Vernon Fiddler scored his first goal in 22 games just 52 seconds later to make it 4-2.
Doan added an assist, and Scottie Upshall and Sami Lepisto also scored for the Coyotes.
Jakub Voracek and R.J. Umberger had goals for the Blue Jackets, who have dropped two straight.
AVALANCHE 4, SABRES 3, OT
In Denver, David Jones scored a power-play goal 4:17 into overtime and Peter Budaj stopped 37 shots to help Colorado edge Buffalo.
Daniel Winnik, Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Duchene also scored for the Avalanche, picking up the scoring slack in the absence of Paul Stastny, who was scratched just before the game with flulike symptoms.
Thomas Vanek, Jochen Hecht and Steve Montador scored for Buffalo.
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
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite