Justin Williams forced the tiebreaking goal underneath Alex Stalock with 8 minutes, 4 seconds to play as the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Monday to come back from an 0-3 series deficit and force a decisive Game 7.
Williams and Anze Kopitar each had two goals and an assist, while Jonathan Quick made 25 saves as the Kings became just the ninth team in NHL history to force a seventh game after losing the first three.
Stalock stopped 26 shots in his first NHL playoff start and James Sheppard scored for the spiraling Sharks.
Photo: Greg Bartram-USA Today
Just three teams in NHL history have rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a series. Los Angeles could join them in Game 7 in San Jose today.
The winner of the California rivals’ third playoff meeting in four years will face the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks in the second round.
Williams, a two-time Stanley Cup champion known for clutch playoff goals, also scored in the first period. He reached his stick between Stalock’s pads and knocked home Robyn Regehr’s shot for the go-ahead score, breaking open a tense game.
Minnesota’s Zach Parise scored early and late on tipped shots as the Wild added two empty-net goals for a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche that also sent their first-round playoff series to a decisive Game 7.
Parise and Mikko Koivu each had two assists. The teams meet again in Denver, Colorado, today, with the winner taking on defending Stanley Cup champions the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference semi-finals.
Parise scored just 49 seconds into the game and Mikael Granlund made it 2-0 later in the first period, but a costly turnover by Ryan Suter at the end of a failed five-on-three situation led to a short-handed goal for the Avalanche when Paul Stastny scored for the fourth time in the series.
Nick Holden got the tying goal in the second period for the Avalanche, but Parise stole the show for the hosts.
In Columbus, Ohio, Evgeni Malkin scored a hat-trick as the Pittsburgh Penguins almost conceded a four-goal lead before holding on for a series clinching 4-3 victory in Game 6 of their playoff series.
The Blue Jackets scored three times in a 4:52 span in the third period to turn up the pressure on the Penguins.
Pittsburgh await the winner of the New York-Philadelphia series, with the Rangers leading the Flyers 3-2 going into yesterday’s Game 6.
Brandon Sutter also scored and Matt Niskanen had two assists as the Penguins became the first team in the series to score first and win — but barely. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves.
Fedor Tyutin, Artem Anisimov and Nick Foligno scored late to thrill a crowd of 19,189, who stood and roared for the final four minutes.
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
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