Finnish goaltender Antti Niemi made 41 saves, including 20 in the first period, to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 1-0 win over the New York Rangers.
San Jose improved to 45-17-7 this season. Logan Couture’s short-handed goal in the first period was all San Jose needed as the Sharks swept the season series from New York (36-29-4).
The Sharks have won six in a row and nine of their past 11.
Photo: AFP
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves for the Rangers.
FLYERS 4, PENGUINS 3
Philadelphia scored the first three goals of the game and held on for a victory to sweep Pittsburgh in the home-and-home series between the teams.
The Flyers (35-25-7) shut out the Penguins 4-0 on Saturday, and quickly followed it up with a three-goal first period that included two scores from Wayne Simmonds.
Matt Read gave Philadelphia a 4-2 advantage in the second, when Pittsburgh’s (44-19-4) Jayson Megna pulled the team within one, but could get no closer.
AVALANCHE 3, SENATORS 1
Backed by 38 saves from goaltender Semyon Varlamov, the Colorado Avalanche jumped back on the winning track with a victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Colorado (44-19-5) were coming off a 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, while the Senators (28-26-13) were unable to regroup from blowing a 4-1 lead in the final three-and-a-half minutes of Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Andre Benoit, Nick Holden and John Mitchell had the Colorado goals.
BLACKHAWKS 4, RED WINGS 1
After being sidelined for the last two weeks because of an upper-body injury, forward Marian Hossa returned to the Chicago Blackhawks lineup in a big way, scoring the clinching goal in a victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Hossa logged his 25th goal of the season at 6 minutes, 33 seconds of the third period, putting Chicago ahead 3-1. It was his first game since being injured on March 1 during the Stadium Series game at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Blackhawks (39-15-14).
Detroit (30-24-13) lost their third game in the past four and watched their faint playoff hopes fade further.
CAPITALS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2
Washington rolled out to an early lead on first-period goals by Troy Brouwer, Jason Chimera and Joel Ward, then leaned heavily on goaltender Jaroslav Halak to secure a hard-fought win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The win was the second straight for the Capitals (32-27-10) and moved them within one point of the New York Rangers for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Halak turned aside 27 of 29 shots to post his third victory in five games since coming to Washington from Buffalo in a trade deadline deal for goaltender Michal Neuvirth, while Brouwer sealed the game on an empty-netter with 3.9 seconds left.
With 80 points, the second-place Leafs (36-25-8) remain one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division.
JETS 7, STARS 2
The Winnipeg Jets halted a six-game winless slide with a 7-2 triumph over the Dallas Stars.
Dustin Byfuglien scored twice and Blake Wheeler had four assists for the Jets (31-29-9), who got a win for the first time since March 1.
Byfuglien went to the dressing room with about 10 minutes left in the final period, and the Jets later said he suffered a lower-body injury.
Winnipeg moved to within four points of the Stars (32-24-11) and the Phoenix Coyotes for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
CANUCKS 4, PANTHERS 3 SO
Eddie Lack got the better of former goaltender teammate Roberto Luongo, as he made 26 saves to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a shootout win.
Luongo was traded to the Panthers (25-35-8) on March 4 after he spent parts of eight seasons in Vancouver (31-29-10).
He made 29 saves against his former team, but surrendered the lone shootout goal by Nicklas Jensen that proved the difference in the game.
OILERS 2, HURRICANES 1
Defenseman Justin Schultz scored a power-play goal midway through the third period as the Edmonton Oilers capped a successful four-game road trip with a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Edmonton (24-36-9), with the worst road record in the Western Conference entering the game, went 2-1-1 on the trip.
The Hurricanes (29-30-9) had 20 points in January, but have gone 4-10 since to fall out of the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
CANADIENS 2, SABRES 0
Goalie Dustin Tokarski made 29 saves for his first career shutout, leading the Montreal Canadiens to a victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Tokarski made his seventh career NHL start. The Canadiens’ regular goaltender, Carey Price, got the night off due to a lower-body injury.
Dale Weise and Brad Gallagher scored for Montreal (37-25-7), who won back-to-back games for the first time in more than two weeks.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and