Swedish winger Patric Hornqvist scored twice in the second period to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-2 win in Anaheim on Friday, preventing the Ducks from extending their lead atop the NHL standings.
The victory moved the Penguins to equal fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with Detroit, who also suffered a 5-2 defeat on home ice, beaten by Calgary.
Pittsburgh also got goals from Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Blake Comeau — the Penguins are 6-0 in games in which both Malkin and Crosby scored — while goaltender Thomas Greiss made 27 saves to help the team win for the fifth time in six games.
Tomas Fleischmann and Corey Perry scored third-period goals for the Ducks, who had won seven of their previous eight games.
Calgary came back from a two-goal deficit to win 5-2 in Detroit, with Jiri Hudler scoring twice against his former team.
Sean Monahan, Matt Stajan and Mason Raymond also scored for the Flames, who rallied after Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader scored the game’s first two goals.
Calgary moved into a tie with Vancouver for second place in the Pacific Division, in which four teams are scrambling for spots in the post-season behind Anaheim. The Flames have one game remaining on a seven-game road trip — they have won four already.
Detroit’s three-game winning streak was snapped, although the Red Wings outshot the Flames 35-24.
Minnesota extended their winning run to five games with a 3-1 victory against Carolina.
Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise scored in a two-minute span of the third period, while Charlie Coyle also scored for the Wild, who have won six straight road games.
Minnesota are the form team of the NHL since the All-Star break, with a 16-2-1 record.
Riley Nash broke a scoring slump by producing the tying goal in the second period for the Hurricanes.
Chicago’s new recruit Antoine Vermette scored the lone goal of the shootout in the third round to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 win against Edmonton.
An injury-riddled Columbus ended a seven-game losing skid with a 3-2 victory against New Jersey, with Brandon Dubinsky contributing a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup after a concussion.
Ottawa’s Mika Zibanejad and Mark Stone scored in quick succession early in the third period to lift the Senators to a 3-2 win against Buffalo.
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