Milan Lucic scored his first goal of the playoffs to give the Boston Bruins another dramatic late win over the Philadelphia Flyers and take charge of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
On the heels of Saturday’s overtime triumph in the series opener, Lucic scored the Bruins game-winning slap shot with 2:57 remaining as Boston claimed a 3-2 win on Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
In the Western conference, the Chicago Blackhawks scored four unanswered goals to top the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 and tie their best-of-seven series at 1-1.
In the Eastern semi-final matchup between the sixth and seventh seeds, who both pulled off a first-round upsets to advance, it is Boston who have managed to continue the momentum.
The Bruins claimed a 5-4 overtime victory in Game One, where Marc Savard returned from a nearly two-month injury layoff to score the winner.
“We have a lot of character on this team and when we play our game and step up things like this happen,” Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask told reporters after finishing with 24 saves in Game Two. “Our crowd is giving us great support and it’s like an extra player [for us].”
The best-of-seven series will shift to Philadelphia for Game Three today when the Flyers will try to produce a better ending.
“Now we have to go into Philly and not think about being up so we’re not on our heels,” Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk said.
Thus far the Bruins have started quickly and surged to the finish in both home wins and they once again took the early lead as Boychuk made a slap shot at 5:12 in the first period to open the scoring.
After Mike Richards tied the game for the Flyers with under three minutes left in the first, Miroslav Satan put Boston back on top 2-1 before Danny Briere again evened the score with 25 seconds left in the second.
Then came the deciding score, Lucic’s turnaround slap from the right circle that was assisted by Satan and David Krejci.
The manner of the defeat will hurt Philadelphia, who needed to win on the last day of the regular season just to reach the postseason, and are suffering with injuries.
Top scorer Jeff Carter is out after a first-round injury required foot surgery and the team is also missing winger Simon Gagne (toe) and center Ian Laperriere (concussion).
In Western Conference action, the Chicago Blackhawks looked to be heading to a second consecutive loss to the Vancouver Canucks when they fell behind 2-0 in the first period.
Mason Raymond and Mikael Samuelsson had put the Canucks ahead but Brent Seabrook pulled one back for Chicago at 7:40 in the first.
Patrick Sharp tied the score at 2-2 in the third for Chicago, while Kris Versteeg notched the go-ahead goal with 90 seconds remaining in the game.
Patrick Kane put in the fourth in the final minute to ensure the Blackhawks were level in the series ahead of Game Three in Vancouver today.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS