Rookie Jeremy Morin scored and set up Patrick Sharp’s go-ahead goal in the second period as the injury-depleted Chicago Blackhawks held on to beat the St Louis Blues 4-2 on Sunday for their third straight win.
The Blackhawks ground out the victory, despite skating without injured star forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane for the third game, as well as without forward Brandon Saada after he was scratched at the last minute.
Marcus Kruger and Ben Smith added goals for Chicago, who are two points behind Colorado for second place in the Central Division and home ice in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka had goals for St Louis, who lost their second straight and remained two points behind idle Boston for the league’s overall points lead.
In Philadelphia, the Flyers broke a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the lowly Buffalo Sabres.
Brayden Schenn scored two goals for the home side, who held on to third place in the Metropolitan Division — two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets — with only their second win in eight games. With four games remaining, the Flyers trail the second-placed New York Rangers by two points, but have a game in hand.
On Sunday, Columbus matched a season high with three power-play goals as they blanked the New York Islanders 4-0.
Boone Jenner and Mark Letestu each had a goal and an assist, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots for the Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Also fighting for a playoff spot are the Dallas Stars, who fell to the Florida Panthers 3-2 in their Sunday clash.
Sean Bergenheim scored with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left to break a third-period tie as Florida broke a five-game losing streak and beat Dallas for the first time in five starts.
Despite the loss, the Stars still hold a one-point lead over the Phoenix Coyotes for the second Western Conference wild-card spot.
In other NHL action on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins — locked into the No. 2 seed in the East — sat several of their regulars, including Sidney Crosby, but still managed to beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout.
Jussi Jokinen got the game-winner for the Penguins in the shootout and Marc-Andre Fleury made a pad save on Gabriel Landeskog’s shot to end Colorado’s six-game winning streak.
In the day’s other game, the Anaheim Ducks fell to the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 in a second straight loss that kept the Pacific-leading Ducks just one point ahead of idle San Jose in the division.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite