Marian Gaborik scored his fourth goal in four games as the Minnesota Wild beat Phoenix 3-1 on Wednesday night, handing goalie Ilya Bryzgalov his first loss in five games with the Coyotes.
Gaborik, who leads the Wild with nine goals, took advantage of Steven Reinprecht's turnover at the blue line to beat Bryzgalov on a breakaway in the second period.
James Sheppard and Stephane Veilleux also scored for the Wild.
Radim Vrbata scored his team-leading ninth goal for Phoenix.
Bryzgalov finished with 25 saves.
Blues 4, Sabres 3
At Buffalo, New York, Brad Boyes broke a tie with 58 seconds left, and Manny Legace made 20 saves in St. Louis' victory over Buffalo.
Mike Johnson and Paul Kariya each had a goal and assist, Martin Rucinsky also scored, and Boyes added an assist for St. Louis. The Blues have won three straight and seven of their last eight games.
Jason Pominville, Ales Kotalik and Andrej Sekera scored for Buffalo. The loss snapped the Sabres' winning streak at five.
The Sabres are winless in their last 11 games against St. Louis.
Islanders 3, Senators 2, SO
At Uniondale, New York, Mike Sillinger scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and then added the winner in the shootout to help New York snap an eight-game losing streak against Ottawa.
New York led 2-1 after the teams traded goals early in the third, but the Senators appeared set to continue their dominance over the Islanders when defenseman Andrej Meszaros scored his second of the game with 1:55 left in regulation.
Rick DiPietro sealed New York's first shootout win of the season when he gloved Dean McAmmond's drive in the sixth round of the tiebreaker. The Islanders got even at 1 in the shootout when captain Bill Guerin scored on their last regulation attempt.
In other games, it was: Devils 4, Stars 2; Panthers 2, Capitals 1, SO; Flyers 3, Hurricanes 1; Blackhawks 5, Lightning 1; Kings 3, Sharks 2, SO.
A recent bench-clearing hockey brawl involving eight-year-old boys has provoked an uproar in Canada, and may lead to charges against a coach accused of fueling the melee, police said on Wednesday.
"We were called to a local rink [in Guelph, Ontario] last Friday after the players all started fighting on the ice," Guelph Police Service Sergeant Cate Welsh said.
"Now, we're considering charges against a coach of one of the teams who was involved ... for allegedly spitting on the opposing team's coach," she said.
One assistant coach has already resigned amid a public outcry over the rumble, and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association suspended the coaching staffs of both teams until it concludes its own investigation.
Newspapers nationwide meanwhile described the violence as "obscene," "shocking," "borderline child abuse" and "a low point in Canadian sports."
Last Friday, boys barely 137cm tall with their skates on and weighing an average 27kg jumped from their respective benches to fight each other at the end of a match.
According to reports, their coaches purportedly encouraged them, going as far as opening the gates at their respective benches when some players started pushing each other around on the ice.
The Niagara Falls Thunder Novice AAA had just been defeated 8-1 by the Toronto-area Duffield Devils in a tournament in Guelph.
By police accounts, based on interviews with parents and arena staff, the game had been rough from the start, with players taking cheap shots at each other.
Then, when the final buzzer sounded, a "donnybrook," the likes of which has not been seen in the National Hockey League since the heady 1970s and 1980s, erupted with dozens of young boys skating onto the ice to join the melee.
Given their diminutive size and strength at that age, and protective gear, however, no one was injured.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
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