Goalie Cam Talbot and the New York Rangers moved atop the Metropolitan Division by beating the Washington Capitals 3-1 on Wednesday night, overcoming Alex Ovechkin’s league-leading 45th goal.
Martin St Louis, Carl Hagelin and J.T. Miller each scored a goal for the Rangers.
Talbot made 28 saves, including one particularly spectacular glove grab of a close-in shot from Nicklas Backstrom during a scoreless 5-on-3 chance for the Capitals that lasted 78 seconds.
Talbot snatched the puck right at the goal line. The play was reviewed and the original ruling of no-goal stood.
A night after a 2-1 victory at the New York Islanders, the Rangers moved a point ahead of their city rivals with exactly a month left in the regular season.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, SABRES 3, SO
Tyler Bozak tied the score late in regulation and then had the only goal in the shootout to lift Toronto past Buffalo.
Jonathan Bernier made 30 saves through overtime and then stopped all three shots he faced in the tiebreaker.
Brandon Kozun and Leo Komarov also scored in regulation for Toronto.
Rookie defenseman Andrew MacWilliam had an assist for his first point in his NHL debut.
Johan Larsson, Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson scored for the Sabres. Anders Lindback finished with 31 saves, including one highlight-reel glove stop in overtime on Komarov.
Bozak’s power-play goal with 3 minutes, 25 seconds remaining tied the score as he tipped in a shot by Phil Kessel.
Moulson had put the Sabres ahead with 8:10 to go in the second period.
FLAMES 6, DUCKS 3
Johnny Gaudreau and Matt Stajan each scored two goals, leading the Flames to a win over the Anaheim Ducks.
Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler also scored for the Flames (37-25-5), who returned to play at the Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time since a 6-3 loss to the Ducks on Feb. 20.
With the win, the Flames moved within one point of the Vancouver Canucks (38-24-4) for second place in the Pacific Division.
Kris Russell had three assists to give him eight points in his past three games, while his defense partner Dennis Wideman set up a pair of goals.
Ryan Getzlaf had two goals for the Ducks while Hampus Lindholm also scored.
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