Braden Holtby made 38 saves, while Jay Beagle and Nicklas Backstrom scored second-period goals as the Washington Capitals extended their point streak to nine games with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
Washington have won three in a row and are 7-0-2 in their past nine games. Holtby has been in net for all of them.
Backstrom broke a 1-1 tie with 35 seconds left in the second period during a power play. He has 11 goals this season, including six in his past five games. Beagle made it 1-0 at 13 minutes, 59 seconds.
Erik Condra scored his third goal of the season to tie it 1-1 in the second period, and Craig Anderson stopped 21 shots for Ottawa. The Senators are 3-3-1 since Dave Cameron replaced Paul MacLean as head coach.
PREDATORS 5, BLUE JACKETS 1
In Columbus, Ohio, Craig Smith scored two goals, while Pekka Rinne made 30 saves to earn his NHL-leading 22nd win as Nashville routed Columbus.
Colin Wilson had a goal and an assist, and Seth Jones and Mike Fisher also scored for Nashville, who have won five of six. Victor Bartley added two assists.
Rookie Alexander Wennberg scored his first NHL goal late in the third period to spoil Rinne’s shutout bid. Columbus had their nine-game point streak (8-0-1) snapped, losing for the first time this month.
The Blue Jackets rode goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who seemed to tire in the third period. He was pulled after the fourth goal and finished with 26 saves on 30 shots.
PANTHERS 4, PENGUINS 3, SO
In Sunrise, Florida, Aleksander Barkov scored the lone goal in the shootout, and Florida edged Pittsburgh.
Barkov skated in on Marc-Andre Fleury in the seventh round of the tiebreaker, moved left, and lifted in a one-handed shot to win it.
Florida’s Roberto Luongo made a sprawling glove save, among his seven, on Chris Kunitz in the fourth round.
Jimmy Hayes scored twice in the third period to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead.
Nick Spaling deflected in a shot for a power-play goal with 4:52 remaining to bring the Penguins within 3-2, and Evgeni Malkin jammed a puck past Luongo to tie it with 3:10 left.
Patric Hornqvist had given Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead in the first period. Jussi Jokinen tied it in the final minute of the second.
DUCKS 3, SHARKS 2, OT
In Anaheim, California, Ryan Kesler scored 58 seconds into overtime, and Rickard Rakell netted his first regular-season NHL goal, leading Anaheim over San Jose.
Cam Fowler got the tying goal with 4:16 left in regulation, and Frederik Andersen made 30 saves for the Ducks, who have won nine of 11 and own a league-best 51 points.
Fourteen of Anaheim’s past 16 victories have been decided by one goal. Two ended in overtime and three went to shootouts.
Melker Karlsson scored his first NHL goal, Joe Pavelski connected on a power play, and Niemi made 29 saves for the Sharks, who lost for the second time in 11 games.
Karlsson, playing in his sixth NHL game, put the Sharks ahead 2-1 with 12:04 remaining.
CANUCKS 7, COYOTES 1
In Vancouver, British Columbia, Alex Burrows scored twice and Ryan Miller made 38 saves as Vancouver hammered Arizona.
Daniel Sedin, Kevin Bieksa, Brad Richardson, Chris Higgins and Shawn Matthias also scored for Vancouver (20-11-2), who won their second straight. Miller improved to 18-7.
Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored the lone goal for the reeling Coyotes (11-18-4), who have one win in eight games.
Coyotes starter Mike Smith, who entered with one win in his past 12 starts, struggled and was replaced early in the second after giving up four goals on 11 shots.
Devan Dubnyk came on in relief and made 26 saves for Arizona.
FLAMES 4, KINGS 3, OT
In Los Angeles, Mark Giordano scored 4:07 into overtime after Johnny Gaudreau had three goals in regulation — including two in a 1:13 span late in the third period — as Calgary rallied to beat Los Angeles.
The Flames snapped an eight-game losing streak, dating to Dec. 6, and Calgary earned their first road win in nearly a month.
The Kings were in control before Gaudreau struck. He put a shot under goalie Jonathan Quick’s left leg with 2:12 remaining in regulation and then sent another puck in off defenseman Drew Doughty with 59 seconds left for his 10th goal.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was