Teemu Selanne scored the only shootout goal as the Anaheim Ducks beat Nashville 2-1 on Tuesday to move into a tie with the Predators for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.
After the first three players for both teams were denied on their shootout attempts, Selanne skated in on goaltender Pekka Rinne and lifted a backhand just under the crossbar.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere then stopped Nashville’s Radek Bonk to seal the win for the Ducks.
PHOTO: AP
RED WINGS 3, OILERS 2
At Edmonton, Alberta, Valtteri Filppula scored with 1:26 left in the game as Detroit beat Edmonton to move back into first place overall in the NHL.
Jonathan Ericsson and Marian Hossa also scored for the Red Wings (49-16-9), who won for the fifth time in six games and moved a point ahead of idle San Jose for top spot in the Western Conference.
Denis Grebeshkov and Ales Kotalik scored for the Oilers (35-29-9), who lost their second in a row but remained in seventh in the tight Western race, one point ahead of Nashville and Anaheim.
RANGERS 2, WILD 1
At New York, Nikolai Zherdev had a goal and an assist, as New York moved into a sixth-place tie in the Eastern Conference by defeating Minnesota.
Zherdev gave New York its seventh straight 1-0 lead when he beat the first-period clock and then helped set up Scott Gomez’s second-period tally that snapped a tie and sent the Rangers (39-27-8) to their eighth win in 11 games. They are tied with Pittsburgh, five points ahead of ninth-place Florida, with eight games remaining.
Marian Gaborik, who scored five goals against the Rangers in the teams’ last meeting on Dec. 20, 2007, lifted the Wild into a 1-1 tie. It was Gaborik’s first goal since returning on Sunday from a 38-game absence following hip surgery.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, CAPITALS 2, SO
At Toronto, Curtis Joseph stopped eight shots in overtime and Washington’s three shootout chances after entering the game late in the third period, leading Toronto to the win.
Joseph replaced Martin Gerber with 56 seconds left in the third period after the Toronto goalie was ejected for pushing referee Mike Leggo and shooting a puck in his direction. Gerber was upset after Brooks Laich stuffed the puck under him to tie it at 2.
Alex Ovechkin scored his league-leading 51st goal but was stopped by Joseph on Washington’s final shootout attempt.
Phil Oreskovic and Pavel Kubina scored in regulation for Toronto.
CANUCKS 5, STARS 2
At Dallas, Daniel Sedin scored the go-ahead goal moments after taking a stick in the mouth, and Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin each had two goals as Vancouver beat Dallas.
Vancouver is 17-4-1 over its past 22 games and has 87 points to surge into a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with Chicago.
Roberto Luongo stopped 35 shots to help the Canucks snap a four-game road losing streak.
Dallas lost its fourth straight and has slipped four points behind Nashville and Anaheim for the final playoff spot in the West.
Brendan Morrison and James Neal scored for the Stars.
CANADIENS 6, THRASHERS 3
At Montreal, Alex Tanguay had two goals and three assists as Montreal beat Atlanta to snap a five-game losing streak.
Alex Kovalev had two goals and an assist and Saku Koivu had a goal and two assists as they teamed up with Tanguay — who enjoyed the third five-point game of his career — on a newly formed line that produced 11 points.
Glen Metropolit also scored for Montreal, which won for just the second time in seven games since general manager Bob Gainey took over behind the bench after firing head coach Guy Carbonneau on March 9.
LIGHTNING 2, BLUE JACKETS 1
At Tampa, Florida, Martin St. Louis scored with 1:56 left in overtime to give Tampa Bay a victory over Columbus.
St. Louis got a pass from rookie Steven Stamkos, broke to his right, and wristed a shot past Steve Mason. St. Louis fell and slid into the boards after the goal, and was mobbed by his teammates. St. Louis has six goals and eight assists in a nine-game point streak for Tampa Bay, which ended a six-game home skid.
BLUES 2, KINGS 0
At St. Louis, rookie Patrik Berglund scored twice in the third period and Chris Mason made 22 saves for his fifth shutout of the season as St. Louis beat Los Angeles.
David Perron assisted on both goals for the Blues, four games above .500 for the first time while attempting to end the franchise’s three-year playoff drought. St. Louis has 77 points, one point behind Nashville and Anaheim for the final spot in the Western Conference, with nine games to go.
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
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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