Alexei Kovalev,
acquired from Pittsburgh in an eight-player deal last Monday, struck the only goal in the third period as the New York Rangers edged the Penguins 1-0 Friday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Kovalev, who began his career in New York, tallied at 1:38 of the final frame on assists from defensemen Tom Poti and Brian Leetch. He also scored on his Rangers debut on Wednesday.
Mike Dunham turned aside all 26 Pittsburgh shots to earn his third shutout as Glen Sather won for only the second time in six games behind the Rangers bench.
As a result, New York took sole possession of 10th place in the Eastern Conference with the victory.
Hurricanes 3 Capitals 1
In Raleigh, North Carolina, the Hurricanes snapped a seven-game losing streak by edging the Washington Capitals 3-1.
It was only the third win in 23 games for Carolina, which reached the Stanley Cup final last year.
Craig Adams netted early for the Hurricanes, with Jan Hlavac and Jeff O'Neill adding third-period goals.
Thrashers 2 Lightning 2
In Atlanta, the Tampa Bay Lightning overcame an early 2-0 deficit to forge a 2-2 tie with the Thrashers.
All-Star Game MVP Dany Heatley and Slava Kozlov struck first-period goals for Atlanta, Marc
Savard assisting on both.
Vaclav Prospal pulled one back for Tampa late in the second frame. Nikita Alexeev made it 2-2 with a goal at 6:16 of the third period.
Tampa had the better of the play in overtime, with four shots against Atlanta's two.
Bruins 6 Panthers 5 (OT)
In Sunrise, Florida, Brian Rolston grabbed his 20th goal of the season 27 seconds into overtime as the Boston Bruins rallied to down the Panthers 6-5.
After Mike Knuble set an NHL record by tallying twice in the first 27 seconds, Florida came roaring back with four unanswered goals.
Joe Thornton brought Boston level with two goals in the second period. The teams traded third
period goals, Glen Murray scoring at 10:48 on assists from Knuble and Thornton to force overtime.
Coyotes 3 Wild 2
In St Paul, Minnesota, Phoenix's Daymond Langkow scored early in the second period to tie the game at 2-2 before counting again at 17:38 of the final frame to give the Coyotes a 3-2 triumph over the Wild.
Ladislav Nagy assisted on both Langkow's goals. Daniel Briere also tallied for Phoenix, with Richard Park and Cliff Ronning finding the mark for Minnesota.
The Coyotes seemed to benefit from their team meeting after the 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils Wednesday.
Sharks 4 Blackhawks 2
In Chicago, Vincent Damphousse and Scott Thornton netted powerplay goals less than a minute apart in the closing stages to give the San Jose Sharks a 4-2 victory over the Blackhawks.
It snapped a four-game losing streak for the Sharks. Adam Graves and Owen Nolan had given San Jose a 2-0 lead, Damphousse assisting on both goals.
Chris Simon and rookie Tyler Arnason replied for Chicago, a shaky 2-9-2 in its last 13 outings.
Mighty Ducks 4 Stars 2
In Dallas, the Stars lost for only the third time in 28 home games, falling 4-2 to the surging Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
Alexei Smirnov and Steve Rucchin both scored early in the third period to clinch victory.
Adam Oates and Petr Sykora had second-period goals for Anaheim, which had won its previous 10 games by one-goal margins, an NHL record. Mike Modano and Ulf Dahlen tallied for the Stars, who are now 20-3-4-1 at home.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
RSS