Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar was left with an unspecified injury on Friday when he was felled by a hit by Washington’s Alex Ovechkin in a National Hockey League playoff game.
The Penguins gave no details about the injury to one of their key players, but several Pittsburgh players weren’t shy about saying that Ovechkin purposely tried to hurt his onetime Russian Olympic teammate.
“It’s kind of the same thing he [Ovechkin] did with me last game,” Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “I mean, you can run guys, guys are fair game, but the guy takes strides every time and leaves his feet a lot of times, too. To us, we got the feeling he’s really trying to hurt guys at times.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ovechkin insisted that wasn’t the case, but admitted he didn’t know if he might be suspended over the incident, which occurred in the first period of game four of their Eastern Conference semi-final playoff series.
Gonchar was skating out from behind the Pittsburgh net during a Washington power play when Ovechkin appeared to poke his right knee out just before they collided.
Gonchar tried in vain to rise from the ice before play was stopped and he was helped off, unable to put weight on his right leg.
Ovechkin received a minor minute penalty for kneeing.
Ten minutes earlier, Gonchar scored the first of the three straight goals that gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead en route to their 5-3 victory that knotted the series at two games apiece.
“I just tried to move him and I hit him, he turned to move to his left and, I don’t know, I don’t have time to realize what’s going on and he hit my knee,” Ovechkin said. “I think it was an accident. I’m not the kind of player who wants to injure guys, especially ones I know like Gonch.”
The Penguins have a chance to do what they did against the Capitals in 1992 and 1996, when they trailed 2-0 in both series only to rally to win. Washington trailed the New York Rangers 3-1 in the first round before winning the next three games.
“We’re right back in it and we have momentum on our side and we’ll try to keep it going,” said Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 19 saves.
HURRICANES 4, BRUINS 1
At Raleigh, North Carolina, Eric Staal scored twice to break the club career playoff scoring record as the Carolina Hurricanes pushed top-seeded Boston to the brink of elimination.
Carolina leads their Eastern Conference semifinals 3-1. Game five is today in Boston.
Jussi Jokinen broke a 1-1 tie with his third game-winner of the playoffs at 2:52 of the third.
The Finn then set up Sergei Samsonov for a backhander with 5:29 left and had one of the assists on Staal’s second goal just 70 seconds later.
That was Staal’s 40th career point in the playoffs, breaking the record of 39 set by current associate head coach Ron Francis.
Marc Savard scored for the Bruins, who have lost three straight since sweeping Montreal in the first round and winning the opener against Carolina.
If history is any guide, the Hurricanes can start making travel plans for either Pittsburgh or Washington.
They’ve taken 3-1 series leads twice before in franchise history and have advanced both times. Meanwhile, the Bruins haven’t won any of the 21 series in which they’ve faced such a deficit.
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38