Patrick Marleau on Monday scored four goals in the third period as the San Jose Sharks beat the last-placed Colorado Avalanche 5-2 for their fifth straight win.
Marleau scored in a variety of ways to break open a game tied at 1-1 heading into the third. He tipped a shot in off the post, scored on a wraparound, lined in a wrist shot and finally lifted a backhander over rookie goaltender Spencer Martin.
Brent Burns had a goal and two assists for the Sharks, while Jarome Iginla and Andreas Martinsen scored for Colorado.
Matt Duchene, the team’s leading goal scorer, was a late scratching due to an illness and left the Avalanche with only 19 players. Duchene’s absence raised some eyebrows, as the talented forward has been the subject of recent trade rumors.
CAPITALS 6, HURRICANES 1
In Washington, defenseman Dmitry Orlov scored twice as Washington kept the offense rolling to beat Carolina and extend their point streak to 14 games.
Orlov doubled his goal output for the season and Justin Williams, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie and Lars Eller also scored for the Capitals, who have won three in a row and have not lost in regulation since Dec. 27 last year.
Washington scored on six of their 25 shots on Cam Ward and handed Carolina their fourth consecutive loss.
Braden Holtby made 25 saves for his 23rd victory of the season. The only goal he allowed came from Jordan Staal on a power play in the first period.
RANGERS 3, KINGS 2
In New York, Henrik Lundqvist stopped 36 shots to lead New York over Los Angeles.
Brandon Pirri, Matt Puempel and Mats Zuccarello scored to help New York win their third straight since a three-game losing streak.
Jordan Nolan and Kyle Clifford scored, while Jeff Zatkoff finished with 14 saves for Los Angeles, who have lost four straight.
In other results, it was:
‧ Ducks 3, Jets 2
‧ Maple Leafs 4, Flames 0
‧ Coyotes 3, Panthers 2, OT
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
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