Philadelphia’s Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux each scored hat-tricks as the Flyers rallied for a thrilling 8-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, taking a 2-0 lead in their NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final series.
Giroux added three assists for Philadelphia, while former Penguins Max Talbot and Jaromir Jagr also scored for the visitors.
Ilya Bryzgalov overcame another shaky start to stop 23 shots for the Flyers, who twice trailed by two goals.
Photo: Reuters
Chris Kunitz had two goals for Pittsburgh, while Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy scored for the second straight game, but the Penguins failed to close out the Flyers for the second time in three days.
Pittsburgh also lost the opener of the series after leading by three goals, and their failure to close out both contests leaves it vulnerable as the series moves to Philadelphia for Game 3 today.
DEVILS 3, PANTHERS 2
In Sunrise, Florida, Martin Brodeur stopped 24 shots for his 100th post-season victory as New Jersey won and spoiled Florida’s long-awaited return to the playoffs.
Brodeur became only the second goalie to notch three figures in playoff wins, behind Patrick Roy’s 151.
Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus and Ryan Carter scored in an 8:25 span in the opening period.
Sean Bergenheim and Kris Versteeg scored for the Panthers, who were playing their first post-season game for 12 years. Coincidentally, their most recent playoff game also saw them lose to Brodeur and the Devils.
RED WINGS 3, PREDATORS 2
In Nashville, Tennessee, Ian White and Cory Emmerton scored in the first period as Detroit got the best kind of revenge by beating Nashville and tying the series 1-1.
Johan Franzen also scored, while Jimmy Howard made 24 saves as the Red Wings responded on the ice to the decision to fine Predators defenseman Shea Weber only US$2,500 for smashing Henrik Zetterberg’s head into the glass at the end of Game 1.
Todd Bertuzzi also had a stoush with Weber 1:36 into the game and landed a good punch.
Weber and Andrei Kostitsyn scored for Nashville.
Game 3 is today in Detroit, Michgan.
KINGS 4, CANUCKS 2
In Vancouver, Dustin Brown notched his first playoff hat-trick as Los Angeles beat top-seeded Vancouver to take a 2-0 series lead.
Brown had two short-handed goals and also scored on a power play, two nights after capping the Kings’ 4-2 Game 1 victory with an empty-net goal.
He opened the scoring with a short-handed goal with nine seconds left in the first period, gave the Kings a 2-1 lead with another short-handed goal at 5 minutes, 17 seconds of the second, and completed the hat-trick on a power play at 8:30 of the third. Trevor Lewis made it 4-1 with 5:09 left.
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made 46 saves, including 22 in the third period, allowing only Samuel Pahlsson’s goal with 3:38 to play. Jannik Hansen also scored for the Canucks.
Game 3 is today in Los Angeles.
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