Jeff Halpern and Troy Brouwer scored 1:09 apart in the second period, and the Washington Capitals pulled away to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Friday night.
Cody Eakin had a goal and an assist for his first NHL points, Nicklas Backstrom added a goal and an assist, John Carlson scored on a late power play and Michal Neuvirth made 24 saves.
Alex Ovechkin added two assists for Southeast Division-leading Washington, which improved to 7-0-1 in their last eight meetings with Carolina.
Photo: Reuters
Anthony Stewart scored on a deflection and Cam Ward stopped 27 shots for the Hurricanes. They have lost five of seven.
Blues 3, Canucks 2
In St Louis, T.J. Oshie had two goals and an assist and David Backes scored the winning goal early in the third period for St Louis.
The Blues have beaten the Canucks twice in nine days, both times with backup goalie Brian Elliott in the nets ahead of the slumping Jaroslav Halak.
Alexandre Burrows and Ryan Kesler scored for the Canucks, who lost 5-1 at Minnesota on Thursday night.
The Blues paid tribute to the Cardinals’ World Series championship throughout the game, only their second at home in the last 10. Tony La Russa, Game 7 winner Chris Carpenter and MVP David Freese participated in a ceremonial puck drop, with Carpenter’s son, Sam doing the honors.
Lightning 5, Blackhawks 4, OT
In Tampa, Florida, Lightning star Steven Stamkos posted his fourth career hat-trick and Vincent Lecavalier scored in the fifth minute of overtime to give Tampa Bay the victory.
Stamkos had three goals during a wild second period that featured each team scoring four times.
Lecavalier scored the game-winner from the low slot off a pass from Martin St Louis, who finished with three assists.
Tampa Bay also got a goal from Brett Connolly.
Patrick Sharp scored twice for the Blackhawks, who had won three straight. Marian Hossa and Daniel Carcillo also scored.
Canadiens 2, Senators 1
In Ottawa, Erik Cole and Andrei Kostitsyn scored in the second period as Montreal recorded their fourth consecutive victory.
Carey Price made 33 saves for the rested Canadiens, who had a six-day layoff before evening their record at 5-5-2 in the wake of the franchise’s worst start in 70 years.
Cole scored his third goal of the season 13:55 into the second. Kostitsyn made it 2-0 with his fourth three minutes later.
The Canadiens’ streak, which includes back-to-back wins over Stanley Cup champion Boston, began after assistant coach Perry Pearn was fired before a 5-1 win over Philadelphia on Oct. 26. Montreal’s 1-5-2 start was their worst since the 1941-1942 season.
Zack Smith spoiled Price’s shutout bid with a short-handed goal early in third.
Sabres 2, Flames 1
In Buffalo, New York, Jhonas Enroth made 29 saves to lift the Sabres to a narrow victory over Calgary.
Enroth, making his third start of the season, was steady throughout to improve to 12-3-2 in his career. He had his scoreless string of 107:39 ended when Alex Tanguay scored early in the third period.
Making his second straight appearance after relieving ineffective starter Ryan Miller in Wednesday’s loss to Philadelphia, Enroth’s best saves came on consecutive chances from in tight by forwards Matt Stajan and Tom Kostopoulos with five minutes to go in the first period.
Drew Stafford and Nathan Gerbe scored for the Sabres (7-5-0), who won for just the second time in their last six games.
Backup Henrik Karlsson, making his third start of the season, finished with 42 saves for Calgary (5-6-1).
In Friday’s other game, it was:
‧ Stars 7, Avalanche 6, OT
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS