The New York Rangers clawed back a much-needed 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals, while the Detroit Red Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime to draw even in their first-round playoff series on Monday.
The Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 to lead their series 2-1, while the Los Angeles Kings edged the St Louis Blues 4-3 to draw level at 2-2.
New York’s Derek Stepan and Arron Asham both scored tiebreaking goals in the third period of Game 3. The Rangers still trail 2-1 in the Eastern Conference series ahead of Game 4 in New York today.
Photo: Reuters
Stepan gave the Rangers the lead for good with 6 minutes, 25 seconds remaining when he deftly tipped in a pass in front from Rick Nash. Asham had put New York in front 3-2 at 2:53, but Jay Beagle got the Capitals even again 4:26 later.
Derick Brassard had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who managed only one goal in their first two losses in Washington and had not scored since the first period of Game 1 — a scoreless stretch of 124 minutes, 6 seconds. That streak was broken by Brian Boyle’s first-period goal that made it 1-1.
Damien Brunner scored with 4:50 left in overtime to lift Detroit to their series-evening win over Anaheim.
Detroit defenseman Jakub Kindl started the winning sequence, passing the puck from behind Detroit’s net up the ice to Joakim Andersson. He tried to connect with teammate Gustav Nyquist, only to have Hiller poke the puck away. Brunner, playing in his first NHL season, was in perfect position in front of the net and swatted in the puck to end the game.
Game 5 is today in Anaheim and Game 6 is back in Detroit on Friday.
Pavel Datsyuk scored a second tying goal for the Red Wings with 6:33 left in regulation. Brendan Smith made it 1-1 early in the third.
Matt Beleskey gave the Ducks their first lead 5:07 into the game and David Steckel put them ahead midway through the third period.
Boston spoiled the return of playoff hockey to Toronto, scoring two quick goals in the second period to beat the Maple Leafs.
Adam McQuaid, Rich Peverley, Nathan Horton, Daniel Paille and David Krejci, with an empty-net goal with 1:17 remaining, scored for Boston.
The win came before 19,746 fans inside the Air Canada Centre. Outside, a blue-and-white throng watched on a big screen in Maple Leaf Square as playoff hockey returned to Toronto for the first time since 2004.
After being beaten 4-2 in Boston on Saturday night, the Bruins upped their game. The Leafs, meanwhile, made mistakes and were punished, although they tried to close the gap with a busy third period in which they outshot the visitors 18-6. The Leafs finished with a 47-38 edge in shots.
Game 4 is today in Toronto, with Boston leading 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Jake Gardiner and Phil Kessel replied for Toronto in a physical game.
In Los Angeles, Anze Kopitar equalized with 12:46 to play and Justin Williams tipped home the go-ahead goal 76 seconds later in Los Angeles’ win over St Louis.
Jeff Carter and Dustin Penner also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions. They erased an early two-goal deficit and a third-period deficit to earn their ninth consecutive home win since March 23. Jonathan Quick made 19 saves.
T.J. Oshie scored his first two playoff goals for the Blues, who had the champions on the brink of serious trouble, before Kopitar and Williams beat Brian Elliott, who stopped 25 shots.
Game 5 is today in St Louis, with Game 6 back at the Staples Center on Friday.
Mike Richards had two assists for Los Angeles, who dropped the first two games of the series in St Louis and barely survived for a 1-0 victory in Game 3.
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,
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