The Chicago Blackhawks won their 11th consecutive game with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night to extend the best start in NHL history.
Daniel Carcillo scored the tiebreaking goal with 49.3 seconds left, and Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw also scored for Chicago, who reached the halfway point of a season shortened by a lockout without losing in regulation time. The remarkable Blackhawks have earned at least one point in their first 24 games, an NHL record.
Dating back to last year’s regular season, the streak is 30 games.
The Blackhawks broke the previous team record for consecutive wins with their 10th in a row on Tuesday night, when they beat Minnesota 5-3.
John Mitchell and Matt Duchene scored for Colorado, who have lost six of seven.
Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller faced only 18 shots in his first shutout of the season and Corey Perry scored in the first period as the Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 for their ninth consecutive victory at home.
The Ducks have the second-best record in the NHL with 16 wins and three losses, and still trail the Blackhawks by 10 points. Anaheim’s start is level with the best in club history after 22 games.
Jason LaBarbera made 22 saves for Phoenix, one of them on a penalty shot by Andrew Cogliano.
At Toronto, Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists to help the Maple Leafs hold off the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in a game highlighted by a knockout punch from Frazer McLaren.
Only 26 seconds into the game McLaren downed Dave Dziurzynski when he caught the Ottawa forward flush with a right to the chin, sending him face down to the ice. A woozy Dziurzynski was slow getting up and eventually needed help from two teammates to skate off.
Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who won their third straight.
Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves in his return from a knee injury to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Blake Comeau scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period. Jarome Iginla, Roman Cervenka and Curtis Glencross (into an empty net) also scored for the Flames.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set