Claude Giroux scored 23 seconds in, while Simon Gagne added a goal in his first game back with the Flyers as Philadelphia rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Wayne Simmonds gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead less than four minutes later and Gagne scored his first goal of the season in the second period, one day after being reacquired by the Flyers from the Los Angeles Kings.
Max Talbot stretched the advantage to 4-0 in the second, chasing goalie Braden Holtby to the bench just one day following his home shutout of Carolina.
Photo: Reuters
Ilya Bryzgalov made 23 saves and was in line for a shutout until Joel Ward tipped in his own deflection with 2 minutes, 9 seconds left to cut the Capitals’ deficit to 4-1.
Gagne had not scored since Nov. 17, 2011 — a span of 28 games.
Philipp Grubauer made his NHL debut in relief of Holtby and blanked the Flyers the rest of the way.
CANADIENS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2
In Toronto, Brendan Gallagher, Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta scored third-period goals in Montreal’s win over Toronto.
Gallagher scored his sixth of the season 9:08 into the third to break a 2-2 tie. Pacioretty cemented the win with his sixth goal — and second of the game — at 14:26. Gionta added an empty-net tally with 2:26 left.
Pacioretty also scored in the second period, while defenseman Alexei Emelin got Montreal on the board in the first period. Carey Price made 21 saves for his 11th win.
Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur scored for Toronto (12-9), who have won three straight at home.
This victory was payback for the Canadiens (13-4-3), who were routed by the Maple Leafs 6-0 in Montreal on Feb. 9. Since then, the Canadiens have gone 7-0-2.
Montreal outshot Toronto 40-23.
Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens made his eighth straight start and kept his club in the game, finishing with 35 saves.
KINGS 2, RED WINGS 1
In Los Angeles, Anze Kopitar scored the tiebreaking goal on a slick pass from Dwight King with 4:48 to play as Los Angeles rallied from a third-period deficit against Detroit for their fifth straight victory.
Jonathan Bernier made 32 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who tied it with 9:34 left on Jeff Carter’s goal during a two-man advantage. King then made a spinning pass from the boards in front to Kopitar, who beat Jimmy Howard for his sixth goal of the season.
Howard stopped 27 shots for the Red Wings, who had won two straight after an 0-3-2 skid.
Kyle Quincey scored his first goal of the season on a misplay by Bernier in the first period.
Los Angeles are on their longest winning streak of the season, winning seven of eight overall after a 3-5-2 start to their title defense.
DUCKS 5, PREDATORS 1
In Anaheim, California, Kyle Palmieri ended a 10-game goal drought with his first NHL hat-trick. Viktor Fasth made 20 saves as Anaheim beat Nashville for their seventh straight home victory.
Nick Bonino and Saku Koivu also scored for Anaheim. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf assisted on all three goals by Palmieri, who had not scored since netting back-to-back game-winners on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2 against Minnesota and Los Angeles.
Palmieri completed his outburst against Pekka Rinne 1:07 into the second period, during a power play after Nashville had too many men on the ice.
Anaheim (14-3-1) tied Montreal for the second-most points in the NHL behind Chicago’s 35. The Ducks have won seven of eight overall.
Rinne gave up five goals on 21 shots before he was replaced at the start of the third period. He has allowed at least four goals in three consecutive games.
Craig Smith scored Nashville’s goal.
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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
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