The Boston Bruins won for the fifth time in seven NHL games by beating the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Saturday, before heading off to play three games in California.
Defenseman Torey Krug had two goals and an assist, while Tuukka Rask made 36 saves and Daniel Paille also scored for Boston.
Dustin Byfuglien scored and Ondrej Pavelec stopped 25 shots for Winnipeg. The Jets have lost two in a row since bringing a three-game winning streak into the new year.
AVALANCHE 4, SHARKS 3
In Denver, the Colorado Avalanche held off the San Jose Sharks for their third straight win.
Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots. Jamie McGinn and Erik Johnson also scored for the Avalanche, who have 56 points halfway through the season, the second-most in team history after the 2000-2001 squad.
Johnson’s shot from the blue line 5 minutes, 45 seconds into the second bounced past Antti Niemi and ended the goaltender’s day.
Niemi was pulled after allowing three goals and Alex Stalock took over, allowing MacKinnon’s second goal 14 seconds later to make it 4-0.
BLUES 6, BLUE JACKETS 2
Center Patrik Berglund scored two goals as the St Louis Blues rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets for their fifth consecutive victory.
The Blues (29-7-5), who have won only five times this season when they gave up the first goal in a game, started the rally 7:03 into the second period when Berglund deflected a shot by defenseman Barret Jackman past goalie Curtis McElhinney.
It was Berglund’s first two-goal effort this season, having scored only four in 37 games before Saturday.
St Louis goalie Brian Elliott won his 13th consecutive home game, extending his own franchise record.
KINGS 3, CANUCKS 1
In Los Angeles, winger Jeff Carter scored two goals and goaltender Jonathan Quick made 27 saves as the Kings beat the Canucks.
The Kings (26-13-4) snapped a five-game losing streak to open a five-game home stand and gain ground on the San Jose Sharks.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped 45 shots and center Ryan Kesler scored the lone goal for Vancouver (23-13-7), which dropped its third straight game.
SENATORS 4, CANADIENS 3 (OVERTIME)
Ottawa left-winger Clarke MacArthur scored a power-play goal 58 seconds into overtime as the Senators extended their season-high winning streak to four games with a win over the Montreal Canadiens.
MacArthur took his time to position himself before shooting past Montreal goalie Carey Price.
Center Daniel Briere scored Montreal’s first two goals and got his third point of the game with an assist on right-winger Brian Gionta’s tally 4:46 into the third that drew the Canadiens even at 3-3.
HURRICANES 3, ISLANDERS 2
In Uniondale, New York, centers Manny Malhotra, Jordan Staal and Brett Sutter scored in the second period as the Carolina Hurricanes hung on to beat the New York Islanders.
Staal and Sutter scored within a minute of each other late in the second as the Hurricanes won in regulation for the first time since Dec. 14, extended their winning streak to three and keeping the heat on Philadelphia for the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
John Tavares and Thomas Vanek scored for the Islanders.
Also on Saturday it was:
‧ Sabres 2, Devils 1
‧ Rangers 7, Maple Leafs 1
‧ Panthers 5, Predators 4 (OT)
‧ Flyers 5, Coyotes 3
‧ Wild 5, Capitals 3
‧ Red Wings 5, Stars 1
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