San Jose’s Joe Pavelski scored with just less than 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and set the stage for the Sharks to ultimately prevail in a shootout and beat Colorado 5-4 in an NHL thriller on Monday.
San Jose’s win over Colorado built to an epic climax, with Erik Johnson and Jamie McGinn scoring 12 seconds apart in the final two minutes to put the Avalanche up 4-3.
Yet there was still time for Pavelski to tie the score after taking a pass from Joe Thornton, before Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau scored in the shootout to secure two points for the Sharks.
Jason Demers, Brent Burns and Matthew Irwin also scored for San Jose, while Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog tallied for Colorado.
Anaheim also won a close game, edging Washington 3-2 to open the Ducks’ lead in the Pacific Division to five points over rivals Los Angeles.
Hampus Lindholm scored the winner at 14:24 of the third period, while Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist, and Saku Koivu also netted for the Ducks, who have won a franchise-best nine straight.
Elsewhere in the league, Dallas’ Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn scored on the Stars’ first shots, laying the foundation for a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
It was a horror start for previously unbeaten Kings rookie goaltender Martin Jones, who conceded further goals to Valeri Nichushkin in the second period and Cody Eakin with 4:48 remaining.
There was another 5-2 scoreline in Chicago, where Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected as the Blackhawks beat New Jersey.
Elsewhere in the NHL, Craig Anderson made 27 saves for his second shutout this season as the Senators cruised to a 5-0 win over Pittsburgh, while Carl Soderberg scored on a power play and had two assists to help the Bruins beat Nashville 6-2.
Meanwhile, Joe Colborne scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Flames a come-from-behind 4-3 win over St Louis, while Wayne Simmonds had two goals and an assist as the Flyers downed Minnesota 4-1.
Also on Monday, Buffalo scored in bizarre circumstances to take a 2-1 win over Phoenix when the puck became lodged in the goalie’s jersey and he unwittingly took it across the line to end the game.
In the day’s other games, Martin St Louis’ goal and two assists helped the Lightning beat state rivals Florida 6-1 to make it five straight wins, while the Rangers defeated Toronto 2-1 win and the Blue Jackets rallied to a 4-3 win over Carolina.
Evgeni Nabokov made his 56th shutout as the Islanders routed Detroit 3-0, while the Oilers claimed a 6-2 victory over Winnipeg and the Rangers beat the Maple Leafs 2-1.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB