The Dallas Stars extended their red-hot start to the NHL season with a dominant 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday to extend their lead in the Pacific Division.
Jamie Benn scored goals in the first and second periods to help establish a 5-1 advantage as the Stars (10-3-0) cruised to their third straight victory and ninth in 11 games.
Dallas, who missed out on the playoffs for a franchise worst-tying third consecutive season in 2010-2011, are enjoying their finest start to a season since the 2006-2007 campaign and handed Carolina their third loss in four games.
Photo: AFP
“Last year they missed the playoffs by one point, so this year they’ve got something to prove,” Stars first-year coach Glen Gulutzan said. “So for me as a new coach, it’s been easy going into that locker room when you’ve got 20 hungry guys.”
The Stars raced out of the gate with first period goals from Eric Nystrom, Stephane Robidas and Benn, before Michael Ryder and Benn put the game out of reach with goals in the second.
Goaltender Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves to improve to 10-1-0 on the season and Dallas started their four-game road trip on a positive note.
Chad Larose and Tuomo Ruutu scored for Carolina (5-6-3), who sit near the bottom of the Southeast Division.
Goaltender Cam Ward’s struggles continued as he allowed four goals before being pulled in favor of Brian Boucher. Ward has given up nine goals in his past four-plus periods of play.
Dallas winger Loui Eriksson added three assists as the Stars continue to build chemistry during their winning ways.
“We’re getting to know each other better and better as the games go on,” said Eriksson, who has 15 points in 13 games. “[Benn is] such a good player to play with.”
Lightning 4, Panthers 3
In Sunrise, Florida, Dominic Moore scored the shootout winner to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a win over the Florida Panthers.
Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos and Teddy Purcell also scored for the Lightning. Dwayne Roloson stopped all 29 shots he faced after coming in late in the first period in relief of Mathieu Garon.
Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky and Mike Santorelli scored goals for the Panthers, who squandered a 3-0 lead and suffered their third straight shootout loss, all at home. Jose Theodore made 34 saves for Florida.
Rangers 3, Jets 0
In New York, Marian Gaborik scored on an odd-man rush and into an empty net in the third period, while Derek Stepan had a goal and an assist to help New York beat Winnipeg.
Martin Biron stopped 23 shots for his first shutout in more than two years, improving to 3-0 in his fourth appearance of the season.
The Rangers won their fourth straight despite another inefficient performance by the power play. The Jets still are 3-2-1 on a seven-game road trip.
For Gaborik’s second goal, he backhanded the puck up and over Zach Bogosian from the blue line into the empty net.
Canucks 6, Blackhawks 2
In Chicago, Henrik Sedin had a goal and three assists as Vancouver converted five of six power plays in a win over Chicago.
David Booth, Aaron Rome, Daniel Sedin and Dan Hamhuis each added power-play goals, while Jannik Hansen had Vancouver’s only even-strength score as the Canucks (7-7-1) handed the Blackhawks their first regulation home loss.
Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger scored for Chicago (8-3-3), who went 0 for 5 on the power play and have scored just once in their past 26 chances.
Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo made 38 saves to help the Canucks end a two-game slide.
Flames 2, Avalanche 1
In Denver, Colorado, Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 32 shots, while Mark Giordano and Curtis Glencross each had a goal as Calgary beat Colorado.
Calgary’s Alex Tanguay and Scott Hannan each had an assist against their old team.
Semyon Varlamov had 21 saves and Paul Stastny scored the lone goal for the Avalanche, who fell to 1-5 on home ice. They have scored just eight goals in those six home games.
The Flames got the tiebreaking goal on a power play early in the second period. With Milan Hejduk off for tripping, Tanguay threw a shot to the front of the net. The puck bounced off Glencross and by Varlamov to make it 2-1. It was Glencross’ fourth goal.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB