Evgeny Kuznetsov’s tiebreaking goal with two minutes remaining off an assist from ex-Kings player Justin Williams, a score that withstood a coach’s challenge for goalie interference, lifted the NHL-leading Washington Capitals to a 3-1 comeback victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Kuznetsov’s 16th goal, but first in a month, gave him 20 points in his past 14 games. Andre Burakovsky got a secondary assist on that score, after tying the game with 48.1 seconds left in the second period. Jason Chimera added an empty-netter with 8.6 seconds left.
Anze Kopitar put Los Angeles ahead in the first period on a short-handed goal.
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
Washington goalie Philipp Grubauer, getting a rare start in place of Braden Holtby, made 39 saves.
SHARKS 4, LIGHTNING 2
In Tampa, Florida, Matt Nieto and Joel Ward both had a goal and an assist as the Sharks beat the Lightning.
Joe Pavelski and Melker Karlsson also scored for the Sharks, who are 7-2-2 over their past 11 games. Martin Jones improved to 11-2-1 in his past 14 decisions after making 28 saves.
The Lightning, losers in four of their past five games, got goals from Ryan Callahan and Cedric Paquette.
Steven Stamkos was pointless in the Lightning’s first game since general manager Steve Yzerman announced Monday that the team captain won’t be moved before this month’s trade deadline. Stamkos, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, is in the final year of a deal that pays him about US$5.5 million this season. He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
FLYERS 6, DEVILS 3
In Newark, New Jersey, Wayne Simmonds and Nick Cousins scored 50 seconds apart in a four-goal third period and the Philadelphia Flyers got a big game from its special teams in posting a victory over New Jersey, snapping the Devils’ three-game winning streak.
Rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere extended his point scoring streak to 13 games with a goal, Brayden Schenn had a goal and two assists and Claude Giroux added three assists as the Flyers won for the second time in seven games (2-3-2). Jakub Voracek and Ryan White also scored in the third period and Michal Neuvirth made 21 saves.
Tyler Kennedy, Jordin Tootoo and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils.
Special teams were the difference. The Flyers killed six of seven power plays and converted on two of four extra-man chances.
BRUINS 2, BLUE JACKETS 1, OT
In Columbus, Ohio, Loui Eriksson scored 33 seconds into overtime to lift the Bruins over the Blue Jackets.
Torey Krug and David Krejci assisted on the goal, which helped the Bruins earned their seventh win in their past eight road games.
Patrice Bergeron also scored for Boston and Tuukka Rask made 28 saves.
Alexander Wennberg scored on a first-period penalty shot for the Blue Jackets.
Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves for Columbus.
HURRICANES 2, JETS 1
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Jordan Staal and Riley Nash scored power-play goals as the Hurricanes earned a victory over the Jets.
The Hurricanes swept the season series. Carolina won 5-3 at Winnipeg on Feb. 5.
The win snapped Winnipeg’s four-game road winning streak. The Jets had not lost on the road since Jan. 7 against Dallas. Winnipeg had won in their previous five trips to Raleigh.
Eddie Lack made 20 saves for Carolina, facing eight shots through the first 44.5 minutes. Carolina outshot Winnipeg 29-21, including 25-8 at one point early in the third period. Ondrej Pavelec made 27 saves for Winnipeg.
Carolina, 8-1-3 in their past 12 home games, killed off three first-period penalties and four overall to help Lack improve to 5-2 lifetime against Winnipeg.
SENATORS 2, SABRES 1, SO
In Ottawa, Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris scored in the shootout as the Senators topped the Sabres, snapping Ottawa’s three-game losing streak. Ryan Dzingel scored in the first period for the Senators, and Craig Anderson made 38 saves.
Matt Moulson scored for the Sabres as Robin Lehner stopped 25 shots.
Anderson made a huge save on Sabres rookie Jack Eichel with 15 seconds remaining in overtime to force the shootout.
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Ducks 5, Oilers 3
‧ Blues 2, Stars 1
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