John Tavares scored with 1 minute, 24 seconds remaining, while Brock Nelson added an empty-net goal to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-2 victory over the slumping Dallas Stars on Sunday.
Kyle Okposo had two goals in the fourth consecutive overall victory for the Islanders, who have also won seven straight road games.
The Islanders rallied past the Stars after trailing 2-0 after one period for the second time in a week. However, New York managed to pull it back by scoring three goals with four minutes, 16 seconds left.
It is the first time Dallas have lost six in a row for since March 2011.
Sergei Gonchar and Ray Whitney scored first-period goals for the Stars against goalie Kevin Poulin, who finished with 29 saves.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Buffalo’s Cody Hodgson decided a lackluster game with the only goal in the shootout, as the Sabres beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 to avoid matching the longest road losing streak in club history.
Hodgson, back after missing eight games with a hand injury, beat Philipp Grubauer in a skills contest that mirrored the rest of the game — not many quality chances, hardly any pucks in the net.
Tyler Ennis scored in the first period and Ryan Miller made 28 saves for the Sabres, whose 11-game road skid is the second-longest in franchise history, behind a 12-game losing streak in the 2011-2012 season.
Jason Chimera also scored in the opening period, while Grubauer made 30 saves for the Capitals, who have lost five of seven.
In Toronto, James van Riemsdyk scored in the shootout to lift the Maples Leafs over the New Jersey Devils 3-2.
Bozak and van Riemsdyk scored in regulation for Toronto, who have lost four straight since winning the Winter Classic on Jan. 1.
Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier stopped 36 of the 38 shots he faced through overtime. He then denied Jaromir Jagr, Ryane Clowe and Reid Boucher in the shootout to get his 14th win.
Adam Henrique and Clowe had New Jersey’s goals, as Cory Schneider, who narrowly missed out on making the US Olympic team as the third goalie, made 23 saves.
In other NHL play, the New York Rangers trounced the Flyers 4-1 after Daniel Carcillo, Rick Nash and Derick Brassard scored less than 10 minutes into the game, which saw Henrik Lundqvist save 37.
Chris Kreider netted his team-leading 12th goal in the second period to help the Rangers win their third straight and fourth in five (4-0-1).
New York, 8-2-1 in their last 11, are tied for points with Washington for second place in the Metropolitan Division — one ahead of Philadelphia.
The Rangers have won seven straight against the Flyers at home, outscoring them 28-8.
Ray Emery rebounded after the rough first period and finished with 31 saves for the Flyers.
Lundqvist lost his shutout bid when Mark Streit scored a power-play goal 6:49 into the third.
In other games, Marian Hossa had a power-play goal and an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 to end a three-game losing streak, the Minnesota Wild blanked the Nashville Predators 4-0 and the Anaheim Ducks downed the Detroit Red Wings 1-0.
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
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