Aleksander Barkov had a pair of goals as the Florida Panthers took over top spot in the Atlantic Division with a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.
Aaron Ekblad also scored a goal for the Panthers. Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists.
Brandon Saad and Cam Atkinson scored for Columbus.
Photo: AP
Roberto Luongo made 15 saves for Florida. Columbus’s Curtis McElhinney had 29 saves.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, ISLANDERS 1
In New York, Tyler Bozak and Michael Grabner scored 1 minute, 40 seconds apart in the second period to lead the Maple Leafs to a victory over the Islanders.
After going 1-7-2 in October, the Leafs are 12-7-5 last month and this month. Toronto have recorded at least one point in seven of their past eight games (5-1-2). Overall, the Leafs are 13-14-7.
Jonathan Bernier stopped 25 shots and James van Riemsdyk added an empty-net goal.
Thomas Greiss made 35 saves for New York, who have lost four of five.
Nikolay Kulemin scored New York’s goal.
SENATORS 3, BRUINS 1
In Ottawa, Mark Stone scored twice and Craig Anderson stopped 38 shots as the Senators defeated the Boston Bruins.
Mika Zibanejad had the other goal, as the Senators snapped a two-game losing streak.
Boston dropped their third straight. David Krejci had the Bruins’ goal, and Tuukka Rask made 19 saves.
STARS 3, BLUES 0
In Dallas, Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves in his 33rd career shutout and Jamie Benn scored his NHL-leading 23rd goal as the Stars beat the Blues.
Benn and Patrick Sharp each had a power-play goal and an assist. Cody Eakin scored into an empty net with 1 minute, 32 seconds remaining.
Lehtonen improved his season record to 12-2-0. He is 13-6-2 in his career against the Blues.
FLAMES 5, OILERS 3
In Calgary, Alberta, red-hot Johnny Gaudreau scored twice as Calgary beat Edmonton for their franchise-record 11th straight home win.
Since last losing at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Oct. 30, the Flames have dominated at home with Gaudreau leading the way. The 22-year-old has scored in eight of the 11 wins, with 15 goals and 22 points over that span, including a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Winnipeg on Tuesday last week.
Mark Giordano also scored twice and Matt Stajan had a goal for the Flames. Karri Ramo stopped 28 shots.
Benoit Pouliot scored twice and Teddy Purcell added the other for Edmonton. The Oilers are 1-4-1 since a six-game winning streak ended.
HURRICANES 2, BLACKHAWKS 1
In Chicago, Justin Faulk and Victor Rask scored, while backup Eddie Lack stopped 35 shots as the Hurricanes beat the Blackhawks.
Chicago’s Brent Seabrook spoiled Lack’s shutout bid with 3 seconds left and Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford on the bench for an extra attacker.
Lack was not consistently tested until the Blackhawks outshot Carolina 19-9 in the third period.
The Hurricanes’ Jeff Skinner had two assists.
In other results, it was:
‧ Ducks 4, Flyers 2
‧ Coyotes 2, Avalanche 1, OT
‧ Jets 1, Penguins 0
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but