Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby continued his potent point-scoring run since returning from injury, but the Penguins fell 4-3 to New York on Tuesday, allowing the Rangers to close the gap in the Atlantic division.
James Neal put the Pens ahead 1-0 with his 14th goal of the season in the first period, but the Rangers hit back in the second with strikes from Ryan Callahan, John Mitchell, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik to take control.
“I didn’t feel like they had a lot of zone time or anything like that, they just got a few chances off the rush and power-play goals,” Crosby told reporters. “We made some mistakes and gave them momentum.”
Photo: AFP
Evgeni Malkin netted his ninth goal of the season with seven seconds left in the second period to bring the Penguins back to 4-2, and Pascal Dupuis pulled the visitors within one at 3 minutes, 39 seconds in the third, but that was as close as they came.
New York (13-5-3) held on for their third consecutive victory, pulling within three points of the Atlantic division-leading Penguins.
Crosby finished with two assists for the Penguins (14-7-4) and now has two goals and nine assists in five games since returning from concussion symptoms that sidelined him for 10 months.
Photo: Reuters
“He’s definitely lethal every time he touches the puck,” New York defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “You want to keep him away from that slot, that’s where he likes to hide and get his chances. It wasn’t easy.”
New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, coming off a shutout against Philadelphia on Saturday, made 24 saves to continue the Rangers’ dominance at home. New York have won seven in a row on their ice and have the best home record in the NHL at 7-1-1.
Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 26 saves in the loss.
PHOTO: Reuters
COYOTES 4, BLACKHAWKS 1
In Chicago, Mike Smith made 24 saves as Phoenix recorded a comfortable win over Chicago.
Ray Whitney had a goal and two assists, while Daymond Langkow, Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata also scored as the Coyotes improved to 7-3-1 on the road.
Smith looked set for back-to-back shutouts until Patrick Sharp scored for Chicago with 42.9 seconds left in the game.
CANUCKS 4, BLUE JACKETS 1
In Vancouver, Cory Schneider stopped 47 shots for his fifth straight victory as Vancouver beat Columbus.
Schneider, filling in spectacularly for injured Roberto Luongo, has given up just four goals during his winning streak, including two shutouts. Daniel Sedin, David Booth, Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows scored to help the Canucks win their fifth in a row.
Samuel Pahlsson had the only goal for the Blue Jackets, who lost despite outshooting the Canucks 48-34.
BLUES 2, CAPITALS 1
In Washington, Dale Hunter’s NHL coaching career began with a thud as the Capitals struggled again in a loss to St Louis.
T.J. Oshie and Matt D’Agostini scored for the Blues, who won their fourth straight game.
Nicklas Backstrom got the sole goal for the Capitals, whose attack was as ineffective under Hunter as it had been recently under fired coach Bruce Boudreau. Washington was outshot 30-19 by the stingiest defense in the NHL.
PANTHERS 3, HURRICANES 1
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Shawn Matthias scored with 3:19 left to help Florida spoil Kirk Muller’s debut as Carolina coach.
Tomas Fleischmann also scored and Matthias added an empty-netter for the Southeast Division-leading Panthers.
Jeff Skinner scored for last-place Carolina, which lost their fourth straight.
Muller took over after Paul Maurice was dismissed by Carolina on Monday for the second time in a decade.
SENATORS 6, JETS 4
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Zack Smith and Milan Michalek had two goals apiece to lift Ottawa over Winnipeg.
Smith broke a 4-4 tie with his second score of the night on a power play with 6:15 left.
Jason Spezza had the tying goal in the third period and Nick Foligno added an empty-netter with 1:08 remaining.
Evander Kane had two goals for the Jets, while Blake Wheeler and Alexander Burmistrov also scored.
FLAMES 1, PREDATORS 0
In Calgary, Alberta, defenseman Derek Smith scored his first NHL goal to give Calgary a win against Nashville.
Smith scored with 1:10 left in the first period.
Rookie defenseman T.J. Brodie skated in from the point and sent a perfect pass through the slot to Smith, who neatly steered the puck behind goaltender Pekka Rinne.
Flames goalie Miika Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots for his first shutout of the season and 41st for his career.
ISLANDERS 2, SABRES 1
In Buffalo, New York, Brian Rolston scored the go-ahead goal 9:23 into the third period as New York edged Buffalo.
Al Montoya stopped 30 shots and Matt Moulson also scored for New York. Montoya was particularly solid in the third period, when he stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced.
Jochen Hecht scored for the Sabres, who were missing seven regulars and lost defenseman Jordan Leopold to an upper body injury in the first period.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
FLOP TO CONQUEROR: It was sweet vindication for Sam Darnold, who played for four NFL teams before his debut season in Seattle ended in the ultimate win The Seattle Seahawks on Sunday coasted to Super Bowl glory, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL’s biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. “It’s unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. The victory was buoyed by a dominant defensive display and kicker Jason Myers’
RSS