Eric Fehr upstaged stars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin by scoring twice as the Washington Capitals waded through rain drops to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in a wet NHL Winter Classic on Saturday.
It was the NHL’s first nighttime Winter Classic and the first of the annual outdoor contests played in occasional rain, but the Capitals handled the elements — and a scoreless Crosby — just fine.
Fehr gave Washington their first lead at 2-1 in the second period after Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury abandoned the net, then sealed it with a breakaway goal in the third to give Washington their fifth win in six games.
PHOTO: AFP
Evgeni Malkin scored Pittsburgh’s sole goal.
LIGHTNING 2, RANGERS 1, OT
In Tampa, Florida, Nate Thompson scored 19 seconds into overtime to help Tampa Bay beat New York.
Thompson scored from in-close off a pass from the left wing boards by Dana Tyrell.
The Rangers forced extra-time when Marian Gaborik tied it with 46 seconds left in regulation.
SHARKS 1, KINGS 0
In Los Angeles, Antti Niemi posted his ninth NHL shutout with 29 saves to help San Jose beat Los Angeles.
Devin Setoguchi scored the lone goal on his 24th birthday.
The Sharks had only 10 shots before Setoguchi scored his seventh goal at 18:54 of the second period. He beat Quick to the stick side with a screened wrist shot after patiently waiting for three players to converge in front of him.
SABRES 7, BRUINS 6, SO
In Buffalo, New York, Drew Stafford scored a hat trick as Buffalo edged Boston in a shootout.
Jason Pominville had two goals and two assists, while Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist as the Sabres came back from a 4-2 deficit in a game that featured three lead changes. Stafford capped his fourth career hat-trick by forcing overtime with 28 seconds left.
Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin had a goal and assist each for the Bruins. Steven Kampfer, Dennis Seidenberg, Brad Marchand and Andrew Fereence also scored for Boston.
After Tyler Ennis gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead in the shootout, Chara shot wide on the Bruins’ final chance.
FLAMES 2, OILERS 1
In Edmonton, Alberta, Calgary extended its winning streak to a season-best four games with a victory over Edmonton.
Mark Giordano’s second-period goal stood up as the winner, while Tim Jackman also scored for the Flames, who lost three straight before their spurt.
Ryan Jones had the only goal for the Oilers, who have lost six in a row.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, SENATORS 1
In Ottawa, Tyler Bozak scored two goals as Toronto routed Ottawa.
Rookie James Reimer made 32 saves in his first NHL start, Darryl Boyce scored his first NHL goal, while Clarke MacArthur and Luke Schenn also tallied for Toronto, who led 5-0 just over 5 minutes into the second.
Sergei Gonchar scored a power-play goal later in the second for Ottawa, who lost their third in a row.
HURRICANES 6, DEVILS 3
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Sergei Samsonov and rookie Jeff Skinner scored two goals apiece as Carolina beat struggling New Jersey for their third straight win.
Tuomo Ruutu added a goal and three assists and rookie Zac Dalpe scored his first NHL goal for the Hurricanes.
Carolina chased goalie Martin Brodeur with three goals in the first eight minutes, stretched the lead to 4-0, and matched a season-high with three power-play goals. Patrik Elias had a goal and an assist, while Rod Pelley and Travis Zajac and scored for the Devils, who have an NHL-worst 22 points and lost 10 straight on the road.
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
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,