Anaheim and Montreal both won on Friday to take 2-0 leads in their NHL first-round playoff series, while Detroit took first blood at Boston in the opening game of their clash.
Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf — wearing a facemask over his lacerated jaw — had a goal and an assist, while Corey Perry scored his first playoff goal in three years as the Ducks beat Dallas 3-2.
Rookie goaltender Frederik Andersen made 34 saves in his second post-season start, and Andrew Cogliano scored a short-handed goal in the third period as the Ducks moved halfway to their first series victory since 2009. Anaheim has won just one post-season round since their only Stanley Cup title in 2007.
Kari Lehtonen stopped 16 shots, while Alex Chiasson and Ryan Garbutt scored for the wild-card Stars, who took two one-goal losses to open their first playoff series since 2008.
Game 3 is tomorrow in Dallas.
CANADIENS 4, LIGHTNING 1
In Tampa, Florida, Rene Bourque had two goals and David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher also scored, leading the Canadiens to the victory.
Carey Price stopped 26 shots for Montreal, redeeming himself following a less than stellar performance during a 5-4 overtime win in Game 1.
A second-road victory in three nights sends the Canadiens home with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 3 is today.
Bourque and Desharnais scored in the second period after defensive breakdowns left Tampa Bay goaltender Anders Lindback in tough situations. Gallagher made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal in the third period.
Price lost his bid for a shutout when Teddy Purcell scored a consolation goal for Tampa Bay with less than two minutes remaining.
RED WINGS 1, BRUINS 0
In Boston, Pavel Datsyuk scored at 16 minutes 59 seconds of the third period, moments after Jimmy Howard’s best save of the game, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the top-seeded Boston Bruins 1-0 in the opener of their Eastern Conference playoff series on Friday night.
The Bruins won the Presidents’ Trophy for the best record in the regular season, but were locked in a tight game in which neither team had many solid scoring opportunities.
The winning goal came when Datsyuk carried the puck from the right side to the left in Boston’s zone and put a 30-footer from near the left circle past goalie Tuukka Rask’s left glove.
Right before Datsyuk’s 37th career playoff goal, Howard made a brilliant save when Jarome Iginla’s shot from the right point was deflected by Milan Lucic in front of the net. Howard knocked the puck aside with his glove.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series, the first playoff matchup between the Original Six teams in 57 years, is set for tonight in Boston.
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