Pascal Dupuis scored 41 seconds into the game and the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins used a big first period to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Friday night.
Also on Friday, Tomas Kopecky scored the winning goal in the 10th round of the shootout, lifting the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals, while the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 for their sixth straight victory.
In Pittsburgh, Chris Conner and Jayson Megna also scored in the first for Metropolitan-leading Pittsburgh, who have won seven of eight.
Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus scored 56 seconds apart early in the second period, but New Jersey could not find the net again to level the game.
After Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission, the Devils controlled the remainder of the game. However, Marc Andre-Fleury was sharp, making 37 saves, to deny the visitors.
Perhaps his best saves came on Steve Bernier — twice, with a pad and then his stick while sprawling — with 14 minutes, 40 seconds to play in regulation. Fleury then denied Damien Brunner on a partial breakaway.
Dupuis’ goal set the tone, coming off a misplay by Devils goaltender Cory Schneider.
Chris Kunitz carried the puck into the zone and flipped a fluttering puck on net as he crossed the blue line. Schneider had trouble covering it and Dupuis eventually poked it in for his fifth of the season.
Conner then made it 2-0 at 7:55 when Brandon Sutter sprung him alone in the slot and he used a wrist shot beat Schneider for his second goal of the season.
Megna, a rookie in the lineup only because of injuries and the suspension of winger James Neal, scored for the second time in four games — his fourth overall — with 5:20 to play in the first.
Elias scored 3:24 into the second after a failed New Jersey power play. Zubrus then pushed a fluttering puck that was sitting on the goal line into the net after a Jaromir Jagr shot deflected off Megna’s leg, making it difficult for Fleury to handle.
In Sunrise, Florida, Kopecky’s goal went high over Philipp Grubauer and into the net. It came after the Panthers missed five previous chances to win the game during the shootout.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Brad Boyes and Nick Bjugstad also scored in the tiebreaker for Florida. Aleksander Barkov and Dylan Olsen had the regulation goals, while Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves.
Eric Fehr, Nicklas Backstrom and Mikhail Grabovski scored shootout goals for Washington. Joel Ward and Backstrom scored in regulation, and Grubauer stopped 39 shots.
In Vancouver, Roberto Luongo made 19 saves for his 65th career shutout as the Canucks outclassed the Oilers, despite Devan Dubnyk’s 36 saves.
Daniel Sedin, Zack Kassian, Chris Higgins and Dale Weise scored for Vancouver, with Jason Garrison adding three assists and Ryan Kesler two.
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