The Montreal Canadiens started the year off right on Friday, dominating the Boston Bruins 5-1 in the NHL’s Winter Classic in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
With the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots transformed for the festive New Year’s Day outdoor game, the Canadiens showed that they are right at home anywhere in the Boston area.
It was just the third victory in 13 games for Montreal — but their eighth straight road win against the Bruins.
Photo: AP
Left winger Paul Byron scored twice, while right winger Brendan Gallagher — back after missing 17 games with two broken fingers on his left hand — and left winger Max Pacioretty scored a goal apiece — both with assists from center Tomas Plekanec.
David Desharnais added a goal for the Canadiens, who got 27 saves from rookie goaltender Mike Condon — who hails from nearby Holliston, Massachusetts.
Boston’s Matt Beleskey tipped one in to spoil Condon’s shutout bid 3 minutes, 56 seconds into the third period — fitting perhaps in a stadium where the Patriots have never been shut out in 128 NFL games.
Photo: AP
Both goaltenders wore masks that paid tribute to the reigning Super Bowl champion Patriots, and Bruins coach Claude Julien paid tribute to the Pats’ canny coach Bill Belichick by wearing one of Belichick’s favored hooded sweatshirts.
Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask wore a mask bearing the likenesses of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and teammates Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Stephen Gostkowski.
“We wanted to pay tribute to their success and some of their players,” said Rask, who made 25 saves and kept the Bruins in the game until the second period, but fell to 4-15-3 lifetime against Montreal in regular-season games.
The game was the eighth edition of the Winter Classic, the outdoor game originally devised by the NHL to celebrate the sport’s roots.
In Vancouver, Alexandre Burrows scored in the first round of the shootout, while Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves to help the Vancouver Canucks beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1.
Burrows whipped a shot past goaltender Frederik Anderson to start the shootout and then Markstrom stopped shots from Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg and Corey Perry to end Anaheim’s three-game win streak.
Christopher Tanev tied the scores with 9 minutes, 36 seconds remaining on a wrist shot from the blue line that slipped through traffic and past Anderson.
Kesler put Anaheim ahead in the second period on a power play. Kesler was checked down by Matt Bartkowski while taking in a feed from Chris Stewart atop the crease, but still tipped the puck in past Markstrom.
Additional reporting by AP
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care