Jaromir Jagr scored his NHL-leading 41st and 42nd goals and also had an assist to lead the New York Rangers to their seventh straight victory, 6-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Kevin Weekes made 36 saves for New York, first in its division this late in the season for the first time since 1995-1996.
The Rangers, 3-0-2 against Philadelphia this season, didn't need a lot of shots to beat the Flyers. They scored three goals -- two on the power play -- in a 1:58 span early in the second period and had four goals in a 6:46 span.
PHOTO: AFP
Jagr, the NHL leader with 91 points, scored two power-play goals to open the second period and give the Rangers a 3-0 lead. His second goal gave him 1,400 career points.
Michael Nylander, Blair Betts, Jason Ward and Martin Rucinsky also scored for New York. Fred Meyer scored for Philadelphia.
Islanders 3, Devils 2, SO
At Uniondale, New York, Trent Hunter smacked a shot between Martin Brodeur's pads in a shootout, denying the Canadian Olympian his 30th victory as the New York Islanders edged New Jersey.
Brodeur, who beat Philadelphia in a shootout on Wednesday night in the Devils' first game after the Olympic break, is trying to become the first player to have 30 wins in 10 straight seasons. He's the only goalie with more than eight in a row.
Miroslav Satan, who was with his wife in Buffalo earlier in the day when she gave birth to a boy, also scored against Brodeur in the shootout. Viktor Kozlov and John Madden were stopped by US Olympic goalie Rick DiPietro, who made 26 regular saves.
New York's Alexei Zhitnik assisted on power-play goals in the second period by Brent Sopel and Jason Blake. Scott Gomez and Jay Pandolfo scored for New Jersey, which lost to New York for the second time in three games.
Senators 7, Capitals 1
At Ottawa, rookie defenseman Andrej Meszaros had three assists, Ray Emery made 30 saves and Ottawa scored five special-teams goals to trounce Washington.
Washington rookie sensation Alex Ovechkin scored his 38th goal with 5:07 remaining in the third to spoil Emery's shutout bid. Emery won for the second straight night since taking over for the injured Dominik Hasek.
Wade Redden, Jason Spezza and Brian Pothier scored power-play goals and Antoine Vermette and Peter Schaefer had short-handed goals. Mike Fisher and Bryan Smolinski also scored for Ottawa.
Canadiens 1, Panthers 0
At Sunrise, Florida, Alexei Kovalev scored with 5:49 left in the third period and Cristobal Huet made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season for Montreal.
Montreal native Roberto Luongo stopped 26 shots for the Panthers.
The Canadiens, eighth in the Eastern Conference, improved to 6-3-2 in their last 11 games. They haven't lost in regulation in their last seven, going 5-0-2.
Bruins 3, Thrashers 2
At Boston, Marco Sturm scored a power-play goal with 2:41 left to help Boston snap a three-game losing streak with a win over Atlanta.
Tom Fitzgerald and Glen Murray also scored, and Andrew Raycroft made 20 saves for his first win since Jan. 7. Ilya Kovalchuk and Peter Bondra scored for Atlanta.
Predators 3, Canucks 1
At Nashville, Tennessee, Greg Johnson broke a tie with a short-handed goal 45 seconds into the third period, and Tomas Vokoun made 41 saves as Nashville downed Vancouver.
Yanic Perreault and Mike Sillinger added goals to help Nashville win for only the second time in its last six games. Markus Naslund scored for Vancouver.
Avalanche 1, Blue Jackets 0
At Denver, David Aebischer made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season and 13th overall, and Brett Clark scored the lone goal for Colorado.
Aebischer made several spectacular saves to improve to 7-0-0 against the Blue Jackets. He has allowed six goals in seven career starts against Columbus.
Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire stopped 39 shots.
Flames 3, Blues 1
At Calgary, Alberta, Flames captain Jarome Iginla scored twice and had a spirited fight with St. Louis defenseman Barret Jackman.
Shean Donovan also had a goal to help the Flames move into first place in the Northwest Division, a point ahead of Colorado. Lee Stempniak scored for St. Louis, which lost in regulation for the first time in seven games.
Coyotes 6, Stars 2
At Glendale, Arizona, Geoff Sanderson and Shane Doan each scored twice to help Phoenix beat Dallas and end a four-game losing streak.
Dennis Reinprecht and Paul Mara also scored. Bill Guerin and Jason Arnott scored for Dallas. The Stars have lost three straight.
Kings 3, Wild 2
At Los Angeles, Lubomir Visnovsky scored with 2:36 left in the third period to give Los Angeles a win over Minnesota for its third straight victory.
Michael Cammalleri scored during a two-man advantage, Luc Robitaille also scored and Craig Conroy had two assists. Marian Gaborik scored both goals for Minnesota.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
RSS