Jaromir Jagr scored his second goal as a member of the Bruins, helping Boston end a four-game winless streak with a 3-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
The Bruins were playing the second of back-to-back afternoon games after hosting the Penguins in a 3-2 loss on Saturday. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but postponed because of the lockdown and manhunt for one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers.
Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the Bruins pulled into a share of first place in Northeast Division with Montreal on 59 points. The Bruins have four games to play, one more than the Canadiens.
The Panthers honored local law enforcement by wearing Boston Police hats during their pregame skate. Bruins fans once again took over the singing of the national anthem, a practice that started last week in the first game since the deadly explosions at the marathon finish line.
DUCKS 3, OILERS 1
In Edmonton, Alberta, Cam Fowler, Kyle Palmieri and Corey Perry scored to help put Anaheim on the brink of clinching the Pacific Division with a victory over Edmonton.
The Ducks could have clinched the division title if the Kings lost to Dallas in regulation, but that game went to overtime.
Taylor Hall scored for Edmonton, which lost for the seventh time in eight games to extend their playoff drought to seven years.
The Oilers’ last playoff appearance came in a Game 7 loss in the 2006 Stanley Cup finals against Carolina.
KINGS 4, STARS 3
In Los Angeles, Jeff Carter deflected the winning goal off his upper body with 51 seconds left in overtime as Los Angeles seized fourth place in the Western Conference with a win over Dallas.
Captain Dustin Brown scored two goals for the defending Stanley Cup champions, and Mike Richards scored an early goal before putting the puck off Carter’s chest for the overtime winner.
The Kings (26-14-5) moved two points clear of San Jose for fourth place and home-ice advantage in the first round after the Sharks lost to Columbus.
Alex Goligoski scored in the third period and Kari Lehtonen stopped 27 shots for the Stars, who sit three points behind Columbus and Minnesota for the final playoff spot in the West.
AVALANCHE 5, BLUES 3
In Denver, Colorado, Jamie McGinn scored twice and Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 29 shots as Colorado prevented St. Louis from wrapping up a playoff spot.
Cody McLeod, Matt Duchene and Chuck Kobasew also scored for the Avalanche, who chased Brian Elliott late in the second period. It was Colorado’s eighth straight home win over the Blues.
David Backes, Jaden Schwartz and Kevin Shattenkirk had goals for St Louis, which could have secured a postseason berth with a win over a Colorado team that’s last in the Western Conference.
After Elliott gave up a fourth goal, the Blues pulled him in favor of Jake Allen. He allowed Kobasew’s third-period goal that gave Colorado a 5-3 advantage.
BLUE JACKETS 4, SHARKS 3
In San Jose, California, Ryan Johansen scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:37 remaining to give Columbus a big boost in their push for the playoffs with a victory over San Jose.
Mark Letestu scored twice and Vinny Prospal also had a goal for the Blue Jackets, who moved into a tie for seventh place with Minnesota in the Western Conference with 51 points. Columbus have played one more game than the Wild and two more than ninth-place Detroit, who is three points back in the race for the final playoff spot. Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves.
Marty Havlat, Andrew Desjardins and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks, who needed only to take the game to overtime to clinch a ninth-straight playoff berth. Antti Niemi made 18 saves.
RANGERS 4, DEVILS 1
In New York, Ryan Callahan scored a goal in the opening minute and another in the third period, and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves as New York eliminated New Jersey from the playoff race.
Callahan provided the lead 34 seconds in, Derek Stepan added a goal in the first period and Taylor Pyatt snapped a long drought in the second for the eight-place Rangers, who are inching closer to a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
Callahan made it 4-0 at 5:13 of the third with a power-play goal, flipping a shot over sprawled-out Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who finished with 18 saves.
Lundqvist was solid, allowing only Andrei Loktionov’s goal with 6:30 remaining.
FLAMES 4, WILD 1
In St Paul, Minnesota, Joey MacDonald made 34 saves and Mark Cundari scored a goal in his first NHL game as Calgary handed Minnesota a potentially harmful home loss in their playoff push.
Mikael Backlund, Mike Cammalleri and Jiri Hudler also scored for the Flames, who are long out of the postseason hunt, but have won six of their last eight games.
Zach Parise got his team-high 17th goal for the Wild, who will likely at least need to win two of their three remaining games to make the playoffs without help from others. They are in seventh place in the Western Conference with 51 points, while Columbus, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix remain in a tight pack still alive behind them.
HURRICANES 3, LIGHTNING 2
In Tampa, Florida, Jiri Tlusty scored two first-period goals and Dan Ellis stopped 34 shots to lead Carolina to a victory over Tampa Bay.
Alexander Semin scored 16 seconds into the game for the Hurricanes, who jumped ahead 3-0 and held on for their first victory against the Lightning this season. Semin took a feed in the slot from Eric Staal and whipped it over the shoulder of Andres Lindback. Semin also had two assists.
Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis scored for the Lightning, who lost their sixth straight.
Ellis turned away 15 of 16 shots in the third period, including point-blank opportunities by Eric Brewer, Ryan Malone and B.J. Crombeen.
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