Duncan Keith scored with 3 minutes, 48 seconds left as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Saturday night to win the first-round playoff series 4-2.
Keith beat a screened Pekka Rinne with a laser from the left point. The defenseman, who had the winning goal in a 4-3 double-overtime victory in Game 1, also had two assists.
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp also scored for Chicago, and Corey Crawford stopped 13 shots after replacing Scott Darling in the first period after the rookie gave up three goals.
Photo: AFP
Chicago will face St Louis or Minnesota in the Western Conference semi-finals.
FLAMES 7, CANUCKS 4
In Calgary, Alberta, Matt Stajan broke a tie with 4:17 left as Calgary beat Vancouver to win the Western Conference playoff series 4-2.
The Flames are to face the Anaheim Ducks in the second round.
Michael Ferland and Jiri Hudler each scored twice, while Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau added goals for Calgary. Hudler tied it at 4 with a power-play goal at 6:14 of the third period.
Luca Sbisa, Brandon McMillan, Jannik Hansen and Radim Vrbata scored for Vancouver. The Canucks had a 3-0 lead midway through the first period.
ISLANDERS 3, CAPITALS 1
In Uniondale, New York, Nikolay Kulemin scored the go-ahead goal with 9:27 left and New York beat Washington to force Game 7 in the Eastern Conference series.
Islanders captain John Tavares had a goal and assist, and Nick Leddy had two assists in what could still be the franchise’s final game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Cal Clutterbuck then got the loud crowd on its feet to seal the win with an empty-net goal with 53 seconds remaining.
John Carlson scored for the Capitals, who will host the deciding game Monday night. The series winner advances to face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers.
Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves to bounce back from a 5-1 loss in Game 5 on Thursday night.
RED WINGS 4, LIGHTNING 0
In Tampa, Florida, Petr Mrazek stopped 28 shots and Detroit rebounded from a disappointing loss to shut down Tampa Bay and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference series.
Riley Sheahan, Drew Miller, Pavel Datsyuk and Danny DeKeyser scored for the Red Wings. They can close out the Eastern Conference matchup by winning Game 6 at home Monday night.
The shutout was the second of the series for the young Mrazek, who had no previous NHL playoff experience before being named Detroit’s starter over veteran Jimmy Howard. The 23-year-old goalie blanked the Lightning 3-0 in Game 3 at home and also had the only shutout against the league’s highest-scoring team during the regular season.
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
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