San Jose’s Joe Pavelski scored with just less than 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and set the stage for the Sharks to ultimately prevail in a shootout and beat Colorado 5-4 in an NHL thriller on Monday.
San Jose’s win over Colorado built to an epic climax, with Erik Johnson and Jamie McGinn scoring 12 seconds apart in the final two minutes to put the Avalanche up 4-3.
Yet there was still time for Pavelski to tie the score after taking a pass from Joe Thornton, before Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau scored in the shootout to secure two points for the Sharks.
Jason Demers, Brent Burns and Matthew Irwin also scored for San Jose, while Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog tallied for Colorado.
Anaheim also won a close game, edging Washington 3-2 to open the Ducks’ lead in the Pacific Division to five points over rivals Los Angeles.
Hampus Lindholm scored the winner at 14:24 of the third period, while Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist, and Saku Koivu also netted for the Ducks, who have won a franchise-best nine straight.
Elsewhere in the league, Dallas’ Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn scored on the Stars’ first shots, laying the foundation for a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
It was a horror start for previously unbeaten Kings rookie goaltender Martin Jones, who conceded further goals to Valeri Nichushkin in the second period and Cody Eakin with 4:48 remaining.
There was another 5-2 scoreline in Chicago, where Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected as the Blackhawks beat New Jersey.
Elsewhere in the NHL, Craig Anderson made 27 saves for his second shutout this season as the Senators cruised to a 5-0 win over Pittsburgh, while Carl Soderberg scored on a power play and had two assists to help the Bruins beat Nashville 6-2.
Meanwhile, Joe Colborne scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Flames a come-from-behind 4-3 win over St Louis, while Wayne Simmonds had two goals and an assist as the Flyers downed Minnesota 4-1.
Also on Monday, Buffalo scored in bizarre circumstances to take a 2-1 win over Phoenix when the puck became lodged in the goalie’s jersey and he unwittingly took it across the line to end the game.
In the day’s other games, Martin St Louis’ goal and two assists helped the Lightning beat state rivals Florida 6-1 to make it five straight wins, while the Rangers defeated Toronto 2-1 win and the Blue Jackets rallied to a 4-3 win over Carolina.
Evgeni Nabokov made his 56th shutout as the Islanders routed Detroit 3-0, while the Oilers claimed a 6-2 victory over Winnipeg and the Rangers beat the Maple Leafs 2-1.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
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