The Pittsburgh Penguins closed in on the NHL Eastern Conference lead with a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers after a shootout on Thursday.
Pittsburgh’s Alex Kovalev scored the first shootout goal. He was matched by Philadelphia’s Danny Briere. Chris Kunitz got the final shootout attempt through the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky for the winner.
Philadelphia’s Mike Richards and Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy scored goals in regulation. The Flyers played in their fourth straight shootout and reached overtime for the fifth time in six games.
Photo: Reuters
The Penguins are five points out of the lead in the East and the Flyers hold a two-point lead over idle Washington.
Bruins 7, Canadiens 0
In Boston, the hosts turned a grudge match into a blowout, crushing Montreal.
Boston’s Zdeno Chara, a bete noire in Montreal since the hit that sent Max Pacioretty to the hospital, had three assists for the Bruins, who moved five points clear of the Canadiens in the fight for top spot in the Northeast Division.
Senators 2, Rangers 1, SO
In New York, Ottawa snapped New York’s season-best five-game winning streak with a shootout victory.
Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson and Rangers counterpart Henrik Lundqvist both denied the first four shooters in the tiebreaker.
Anderson got some help in the fifth round when Ryan Callahan got off a weak shot because his stick broke on the attempt.
Erik Karlsson then beat Lundqvist for the winner.
The Rangers — seventh in the East — closed within two points of sixth-place Montreal.
Maple Leafs 4, Avalanche 3
In Denver, Toronto boosted its playoff hopes by notching a third straight win, edging Colorado.
Nikolai Kulemin had two goals, and Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak also scored for the Maple Leafs, who moved within three points of Buffalo for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth.
Blues 4, Oilers 0
In St Louis, Jaroslav Halak needed to make only 12 saves to earn his sixth shutout of the season as St Louis dominated Edmonton.
T.J. Oshie had a goal and an assist while Matt D’Agostini, Chris Stewart and Adam Cracknell also scored for the Blues, who avoided falling below .500 for the first time this season.
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Kings 4, Sharks 3, SO
‧ Predators 5, Ducks 4
‧ Coyotes 3, Blue Jackets 0
‧ Thrashers 2, Islanders 1
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