Brenden Morrow’s overtime goal completed a 4-3 comeback victory for the Dallas Stars over Los Angeles on Monday, helping the visitors edge further ahead of the Kings in the tussle for Western Conference playoff spots.
The teams entered the contest separated by a single point, but the Stars (36-23-7) moved two clear of the Kings (36-25-5) and tied the Calgary Flames for fifth-place in the West thanks to a dramatic finish.
Mike Ribeiro dropped the puck off for Morrow, who snared his 26th goal of the season just 38 seconds into overtime to give Dallas its fifth win in six games.
Photo: Reuters
Dallas headed into the third period 2-1 down, but pulled off a come-from-behind victory after trailing in the third for the ninth time this season.
Los Angeles defenseman Willie Mitchell opened the scoring at 8:39 in the first period and each team traded goals until Dallas’ Jamie Benn tied it 3-3 at 5:20 in the third.
The Kings, who remain eighth in the West, also got goals from Justin Williams and Kyle Clifford who put the home team on top 3-2 early in the third.
Ribeiro and Trevor Daley netted goals for the Stars.
CAPITALS 2, LIGHTNING 1
In Tampa, Florida, Alex Ovechkin assisted on Washington’s only goal in regulation, then scored in the opening round of the shootout to give the first-place Capitals a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
Alexander Semin came up big for the Caps for the second straight night, tying the game 1-1 with 5:32 remaining in the third period.
Goalie Braden Holtby replaced Michal Neuvirth after the opening period and stopped 21 shots before stopping Dominic Moore, Adam Hall and Vincent Lecavalier in the shootout to give Washington its fifth straight win.
Sean Bergenheim scored Tampa Bay’s goal on a first-period power play, redirecting a shot past Neuvirth.
BLUES 5, BLUE JACKETS 4, SO
At St Louis, Andy McDonald scored two goals and added another in a shootout as St Louis edged Columbus.
Ben Bishop allowed one goal on 20 shots after relieving Ty Conklin midway through the first period with St Louis trailing 3-1.
The Blues scored three times on four shots against Steve Mason in the shootout with Alex Steen getting the deciding tally.
Jakub Voracek had a goal and assist for Columbus, and Rick Nash had two assists.
Patrik Berglund added a goal and an assist for the Blues, who totaled four goals the previous four games. David Backes had two assists, ending a five-game point drought.
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