Sidney Crosby had a hand in both early goals, while Chris Kunitz scored twice as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Alex Ovechkin’s struggling Washington Capitals 3-2 on Monday.
Crosby finished with his 30th goal and two assists to raise his NHL-leading point total to 87, matching his uniform number. The Penguins beat Washington for the seventh consecutive time and overtook idle Boston for the Eastern Conference’s best record.
The Capitals, who began the day outside of the playoff picture in 10th place in the East, have lost four of their past five games.
Photo:USA TODAY
The teams were to play each other again yesterday in Pittsburgh.
Monday’s game featured the largely uneventful NHL debut of a player Capitals general manager George McPhee likened to the Loch Ness Monster — “We’ve heard of you, but we haven’t seen you” — Russian forward Evgeny Kuznetsov.
The 1.9m, 91kg winger was a first-round draft pick in 2010, but has been playing in Russia until now.
KINGS 3, FLAMES 2
In Calgary, Alberta, Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist to lead Los Angeles to their eighth straight win.
Justin Williams and Trevor Lewis also scored for the Kings.
Mike Cammalleri and Brian McGrattan scored for the Flames, who lost for just the second time in their past nine games at the Saddledome.
Playing in his fourth straight game, rookie Calgary goalie Joni Ortio made 20 saves.
Martin Jones stopped 24 of 26 shots he faced to improve his record in his rookie season with the Kings to 10-4.
ISLANDERS 7, CANUCKS 4
In Vancouver, Matt Martin scored the winner in the Islanders’ seven-goal third period as New York erased a three-goal deficit in the final frame to beat Vancouver.
Martin made it 5-4 at 10 minutes, 4 seconds into the third period for the Islanders, who reversed a recent trend and rallied late instead of squandering a lead.
Josh Bailey, Ryan Strome, Calvin de Haan, Frans Nielsen, Anders Lee and Cal Clutterbuck also scored for the Islanders, who scored four times in the first 6:22 of the third.
The Islanders tied their team record for goals in a period, matching the mark set in the second period of a 9-4 win over the New York Rangers on Dec. 23, 1978.
Chris Higgins, Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Chris Tanev scored for the Canucks, who lost for the 12th time in 14 games.
Evgeni Nabokov made 20 saves in the win. Eddie Lack stopped 21 shots for the Canucks.
AVALANCHE 3, JETS 2, OT
In Denver, Matt Duchene scored 2:33 into overtime, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 33 shots to lift Colorado over Winnipeg.
John Mitchell and Andre Benoit also scored for the Avalanche, who have won five of six.
Dustin Byfuglien scored both goals for the Jets.
Duchene knocked in the winner on a scramble in front of the net. Defenseman Tobias Enstrom tried to punch the puck into the corner, but it hit Duchene in the shin and dropped down to his stick. From there, Duchene lifted it over backup goalie Al Montoya.
Duchene has a career-best eight-game point streak.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, DUCKS 1
In Anaheim, California, Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak each had a goal and two assists as Toronto celebrated coach Randy Carlyle’s return to Anaheim with a victory.
Paul Ranger scored and Jonathan Bernier made 43 saves as the Maple Leafs opened a five-game trip with their third consecutive victory, leapfrogging Montreal into second place in the Atlantic Division.
Carlyle was back at Honda Center for the first time since the Ducks fired the only coach to lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup title. He got a standing ovation in the first period during a video tribute on the scoreboard.
Corey Perry scored his 35th goal and Frederik Andersen stopped 20 shots in the Ducks’ third straight loss to playoff-bound Eastern Conference teams.
PREDATORS 4, SENATORS 3, OT
In Ottawa, Seth Jones scored at 3:49 of overtime as Nashville defeated Ottawa.
Ryan Ellis broke in alone on goaltender Robin Lehner and Jones was there to bang home the loose puck.
The win allowed the Predators to snap a four-game losing streak.
Nick Spaling, Craig Smith and Eric Nystrom also scored for Nashville.
Jared Cowen, Marc Methot and Jason Spezza scored for the Senators.
Craig Anderson allowed three goals on 29 shots before leaving the game early in the third. Lehner faced 13 shots in relief.
COYOTES 4, LIGHTNING 3, SO
In Tampa, Florida, Radim Vrbata scored the lone shootout goal to lead Phoenix past Tampa Bay.
Vrbata beat Ben Bishop with a backhand. Mike Smith stopped all three Lightning shootout shots.
Ondrej Palat got the Lightning even at 3-all on his second goal of the game, coming from the low slot with the Tampa Bay net empty and 37.2 seconds left in regulation. Palat also had an assist.
Brandon McMillan, Martin Erat and Mikkel Boedker scored for the Coyotes, who trailed eighth-place Dallas by one point in the Western Conference.
Tampa Bay, 1-4-2 since the Olympic break ended, also got a goal from Tyler Johnson.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care