Tomas Vokoun stopped 36 shots in his third shutout of the season as the Florida Panthers ended a six-game losing streak against the Washington Capitals with a 3-0 victory on Thursday.
Michael Frolik, Steve Bernier and Mike Santorelli scored for the Panthers, who have won a season-high three straight. Florida went 0-6 against Washington last season.
Vokoun has 19 shutouts with the Panthers and 41 overall in 13 NHL seasons.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BRUINS 5, ISLANDERS 2
In Boston, Milan Lucic scored two goals and Tuukka Rask made 33 saves to lift the Boston Bruins over the New York Islanders.
Boston extended the Islanders’ futility to 1-15-3 in their past 19 games. New York, which has lost 11 straight road games, hasn’t won since beating New Jersey at home on Nov. 26.
FLYERS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1
In Toronto, Danny Briere scored twice as the Philadelphia Flyers cruised over Toronto after building a three-goal lead.
Briere scored Philadelphia’s final two goals to give him a team-leading 16 this season. Ville Leino and Chris Pronger put the Flyers ahead 2-0 in the first period. Brian Boucher made 31 saves.
Mikhail Grabovski scored his third goal in three games.
RANGERS 5, SENATORS 3
In Ottawa, Michael Sauer scored his first NHL goal on a power play with 5:19 left to break a tie as the New York Rangers beat Ottawa.
The defenseman took a cross-ice pass from Brandon Prust and drove a slap shot past goalie Brian Elliott to give New York its first lead. Erik Christensen drew the Rangers even for the third time earlier in the period. Brandon Dubinsky scored into an empty net with 51.9 seconds remaining.
Derek Stepan and Ruslan Fedotenko also scored for New York, which replied quickly after each of Ottawa’s first two goals.
Mike Fisher scored twice, Jason Spezza added a goal for the Senators, who have lost 10 of 13.
SABRES 6, SHARKS 3
In Buffalo, New York, Paul Gaustad had two goals and an assist, Thomas Vanek scored twice, and Ryan Miller made 26 saves to help lead Buffalo over San Jose.
Cody McCormick had a goal and two assists, and Jason Pominville also scored for Buffalo, which has won four of six.
The Sabres are 14-1 at home against the Sharks.
Rookie center Logan Couture had a goal and assist, and Marc--Edouard Vlasic and Douglas -Murray also scored for San Jose.
BLUES 4, BLUE JACKETS 1
In St Louis, Missouri, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves as St Louis broke out of a deep power-play slump with a season-high three man-advantage goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blues, who entered the game in an 0-for-22 drought, dating to Nov. 20, got advantage goals from Alex Steen, Jay McClement and Vladimir Sobotka.
David Backes had a goal and two assists, and Erik Johnson had two assists as the Blues won their second straight after a five-game skid.
WILD 3, COYOTES 2
In Glendale, Arizona, Andrew Brunette scored his second goal on a rare power-play conversion as Minnesota ended a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.
Brunette scored on a one-timer in the first period and added a redirect midway through the third period for Minnesota’s second power-play goal in 32 chances. Niklas Backstrom stopped 33 shots to end a four-start losing streak, and Brent Burns added a goal to help the Wild to their first win at Phoenix since 2008.
Phoenix got a goal from Taylor Pyatt with a two-man advantage with just under a minute left, but couldn’t generate any more good chances. Pyatt also scored in the first period for the Coyotes, who have lost four of six.
KINGS 2, FLAMES 1
In Los Angeles, Kyle Clifford scored his first NHL goal and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves as the Los Angeles Kings hung on late for a victory over Calgary.
Anze Kopitar scored a power-play goal for the Kings, who have won three straight after losing seven of eight in a skid that sent them cascading down from the top of the Western Conference standings.
Olli Jokinen broke up Quick’s shutout bid on a power-play goal with 3:21 to play, also ending Los Angeles’ streak of 45 straight penalty-kills at home from the start of the season.
Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 30 shots for the struggling Flames, who have alternated wins and losses in the past nine games.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS