Alex Ovechkin scored from a wrist shot at four minutes, nine seconds of overtime as the Washington Capitals came back to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Thursday, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Ovechkin celebrated the end of his four-game point drought by racing over to leap into the boards.
Washington trailed 2-1 late in the third period, before Marcus Johansson forced overtime by scoring with 3:58 left. Ovechkin’s goal ruined the first NHL start by Lightning goalie Dustin Tokarski, who was recalled from Norfolk of the AHL on Wednesday.
Photo: AFP
DEVILS 5, ISLANDERS 1
In Newark, New Jersey, Ilya Kovalchuk scored three goals to record his second hat trick in a little more than three weeks and lead New Jersey over the Islanders.
Patrik Elias and David Clarkson also scored and Martin Brodeur made 29 saves as the Devils earned their 38th win, matching last season’s total, when they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996.
Kovalchuk’s linemates, Adam Henrique and Zach Parise, each had two assists, with Parise scoring his 400th NHL point.
Defenseman Andy MacDonald scored for the Islanders, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
BRUINS 3, SABRES 1
In Boston, Massachusetts, David Krejci scored for the fifth time in five games as Boston won consecutive games for the first time in almost two months by beating Buffalo.
Defenseman Johnny Boychuk broke a 1-1 tie at 12:56 of the third period, and Krejci scored 2:58 later to make it 3-1.
The loss was the second in three games for the Sabres, who are battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Buffalo’s Jason Pominville scored in the first period and Boston’s Gregory Campbell tied it in the second.
FLYERS 5, PANTHERS 0
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ilya Bryzgalov made 28 saves to record his second shutout in three games as Philadelphia beat Florida for their fourth straight win.
Brayden Schenn, Matt Read, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr and Eric Wellwood scored for the Flyers.
Bryzgalov earned his fourth shutout of the season and the 27th of his career.
SENATORS 4, RANGERS 1
In Ottawa, Ontario, Ben Bishop made 25 saves in his home debut with the Senators, as Ottawa beat the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
Nick Foligno had the winning goal, and Zack Smith, Kyle Turris and Jason Spezza, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Senators.
The Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead from Ryan Callahan’s first-period goal.
BLUE JACKETS 3, KINGS 1
In Columbus, Ohio, Mark Letestu scored twice and Jack Johnson had a goal against his former teammates to lead Columbus to their fourth straight win on Thursday, a victory that ended Los Angeles’ three-game winning streak.
It was the second two-goal game of Letestu’s NHL career. He had not scored in 16 games.
Jack Johnson also had a goal in his first game since being traded by the Kings.
Steve Mason had 16 saves before he left with an injury.
Anze Kopitar scored a short-handed goal for the Kings.
BLUES 3, DUCKS 1
In St Louis, Missouri, Patrik Berglund scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves for his career-high seventh straight win to lead St Louis over Anaheim.
St Louis improved to an NHL-best 28-4-4 at home with their seventh win in eight games.
David Backes and Kevin Shattenkirk also scored for St Louis, 20-1-3 in their past 24 home games.
Corey Perry scored for Anaheim, who have lost four of six.
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Predators 4, Avalanche 2
‧ Stars 4, Sharks 3, SO
‧ Wild 3, Coyotes 2, SO
‧ Canadiens 5, Oilers 3
‧ Canucks 3, Jets 2
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but