The Carolina Hurricanes scored three goals on special teams, including two by Jussi Jokinen, as they shutout divisional rivals the Washington Capitals 3-0 at the RBC Center on Friday.
Jokinen opened the scoring in the first period on a shorthanded breakaway after Eric Staal had forced a turnover with teammate Justin Faulk in the penalty box.
The Finnish left-winger doubled the advantage to the delight of the home fans with a power-play goal late in the second period.
Jokinen has scored three goals in his past three games after enduring a 25-game goalless drought dating back to Nov. 20 last year.
“Being an offensive player like me, I need to score goals for this team to win,” Jokinen told reporters. “Lucky I got that goal on Sunday. Now it’s been going better, so I hope I can keep going.”
Jiri Tlusty completed the scoring with a stunning power-play goal in the final minute of the game, the Czech center rounding Capitals goalie Tomas Vokoun and sliding the puck into the net.
“We had our chances again, but today you can tell by the stats that special teams killed us,” Capitals coach Dale Hunter said. “They scored two power-play goals and they scored shorthanded. Our power play, we gave up five or six scoring chances. We made bad decisions with the puck and it cost us.”
Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward had little difficulty stopping all 23 shots from the Capitals for his second shutout of the campaign to help Carolina (17-24-8) claim a first win over their Southeast Division rivals in four attempts this season.
Mike Knuble and Cody Eakin had the two best chances for the Capitals (25-19-2) and while the puck eluded Ward on both occasions, the goal posts came to the Hurricanes’ rescue.
BLACKHAWKS 3, PANTHERS 1
In Chicago, the Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane ended a seven-game goal drought as Chicago claimed the overall NHL lead with a victory over the Florida Panthers.
Kane also set up linemate Jonathan Toews’ breakaway score, while defenseman Duncan Keith added his first goal in 30 games to help Chicago overtake Detroit for the league lead. The Blackhawks are 5-0-1 in their past six games.
The Panthers dropped their eighth straight on the road and missed a chance to move clear of Washington and take the outright lead in the Southeast Division.
PENGUINS 5, CANADIENS 4, SO
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Evgeni Malkin scored in his fifth straight game and added the lone goal in the shootout to give the Penguins victory over Montreal.
Pittsburgh won their fifth straight, with Malkin capping a two-goal third-period rally with his 25th of the season with 2 minutes, 43 seconds left in regulation. The NHL scoring leader then beat Peter Budaj in the shootout.
Dustin Jeffrey scored twice and added an assist for Pittsburgh, while Kris Letang had a goal and an assist.
Andrei Kostitsyn and Erik Cole each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Lars Eller and Max Pacioretty also scored.
LIGHTNING 2, STARS 1
In Dallas, Teddy Purcell scored twice to give Tampa Bay a tight win over Dallas.
Mathieu Garon made 27 saves for the Lightning.
Tom Wandell scored for the Stars, who have only one win from their past six games.
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