FRIDAY SPORTS PAGE: DEVILS STUN JETS
Photo: New Jersey Devils
NHL
DEVILS 4, JETS 1
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes scored two of the Devils’ three power-play goals, brother Luke Hughes had a career-best three assists and New Jersey stunned red-hot Winnipeg 4-1 in one of their best performances in a disappointing season.
Nico Hischier scored the go-ahead goal on the power play and added two assists. Timo Meier had an empty net goal and two assists, and Jake Allen made 18 saves in winning for the third time in four starts for New Jersey. The Devils also killed off all four Winnipeg power-play chances in ending the Jets’ three-game winning streak and handing them their fourth loss in 11 games.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored a spectacular goal for the Jets, while Laurent Brossoit made 37 saves in seeing his five-game winning streak snapped.
Hischier snapped a 1-all tie at 5:59 of the third period, deflecting a Meier shot past Brossoit in the waning seconds of a penalty assessed to Dylan DeMelo for tripping Luke Hughes. Jack Hughes extended the lead to 3-1 at 11:52 with a shot from the high slot and Meier iced it with his empty net goal.
HURRICANES 3 FLYERS 2 OT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Seth Jarvis scored 1:28 into overtime to keep Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen unbeaten since returning to action in the Hurricanes’ 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia on Thursday night.
RANGERS 5, BRUINS 2
BOSTON (AP) — Artemi Panarin was credited with three goals — the second when Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk knocked the puck into the Boston net in the final minute of the second period — and the New York Rangers went on to beat Boston 5-2.
RED WINGS 6, ISLANDERS 3
DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin had two goals after an eight-game absence, Andrew Copp also scored twice to break a 20-game drought and Detroit beat the slumping New York Islanders.
PREDATORS 3, PANTHERS 0
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored twice and Nashville extended their franchise-record point streak to 16 games with a 3-0 win over Florida. With the win, Nashville eclipsed its 15-game point streak (14-0-1) set in 2017-18 spanning from Feb. 17 to March 19 while surging into the Western Conference’s top wild card spot in the process. Florida lost its third game in regulation for the first time all season and remains in second place in the Atlantic Division.
BLUES 5, SENATORS 2
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Joel Hofer made 37 saves, Jake Neighbours scored twice and St. Louis beat Ottawa for their fifth victory in six games as they fight for the second and final Western Conference wild-card spot.
OILERS 8, SABRES 3
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Zach Hyman scored his 47th and 48th goals, the second in Edmonton’s five-goal third period, and the Oilers overcame a two-goal deficit to rout Buffalo 8-3.
Mattias Ekholm had two goals and an assist, Leon Draisaitl added a goal and two assists, Darnell Nurse, Ryan McLeod and Connor Brown also scored and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves. Connor McDavid had four assists, two on Hyman’s goals.
DUCKS 4, BLACKHAWKS 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Rookie Lukas Dostal made 29 saves for his first NHL shutout, Alex Killorn had his second two-goal game of the season and Anaheim beat Chicago to snap a seven-game losing streak.
CANUCKS 4, CANADIENS 1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Defenseman Nikita Zadorov scored twice in the first period, Casey DeSmith made 16 saves and Western Conference-leading Vancouver beat struggling Montreal 4-1. Vancouver improved to 44-18-8, good for a three-point margin over Winnipeg, Colorado and Dallas.
LIGHTNING 4, SHARKS 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Brayden Point scored two goals, Nikita Kucherov had four assists and Tampa Bay beat San Jose 4-1 for their fifth straight win. The Lightning, in the midst of a five-game road trip, extended their lead for the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference to four points over the Red Wings.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2, KRAKEN 1
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Keegan Kolesar scored off a rebound with 1:20 left to put Vegas ahead for good in a 2-1 victory over Seattle, strengthening the defending champion Golden Knights’ hold on a playoff spot. Jack Eichel and Chandler Stephenson scored goals, and Logan Thompson made 20 saves.
WHL
BRANDON, Man. – Brett Hyland capped a run of four unanswered goals for Brandon and the Wheat Kings earned a 5-3 comeback win over the Moose Jaw Warriors on Thursday in Western Hockey League action.
Jayden Wiens, Rhett Ravndahl, Rylen Roersma and Luke Shipley also scored for Brandon (32-28-6-1), which earned its second straight win. Carson Bjarnason made 20 saves.
Jagger Firkus, with two goals, and Brayden Yager scored for Moose Jaw (43-21-0-3). Dimitri Fortin stopped 35 shots.
CURLING
Canada’s Rachel Homan will look to earn an automatic semifinal berth today at the world women’s curling championship in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Homan’s rink is first at 10-and-0 so far at worlds and faces Scotland and South Korea on the final day of round-robin action. A top-two finish in the round-robin standings secures a direct semifinal berth. The four other playoff teams will play qualification games Saturday morning, with medal games set for Sunday.
MARCH MADNESS
- Kentucky and coach John Calipari didn’t get through the first round of the NCAA Tournament again. For the second time in three years, the Wildcats were bounced by a double-digit seed. Oakland shocked Kentucky 80-76 in the opening round of the Midwest Region at Pittsburgh. Two years ago, Saint Peter’s knocked out the Wildcats. Calipari has lost four of his past five NCAA Tournament openers.
- Jack Gohlke made 10 3-pointers and 14th-seeded Oakland delivered the first true shock of this year’s March Madness, beating third-seeded Kentucky 80-76 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
MLB
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well over $1 million.
NBA
Canadian superstar Shai Gilgeous Alexander and his Oklahoma City Thunder are in Toronto to take on the Raptors tonight. Gilgeous-Alexander is the second-leading scorer in the NBA at 30.9 points per game and has the Thunder atop the Western Conference standings. The short-handed Raptors, on the other hand, have lost eight straight and are 12th in the East.
NFL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge says a federal lawsuit against the NFL’s disability plan can proceed to trial. The potential class action on behalf of retired players accuses the league of routinely denying valid injury claims so that it won’t have to make disability payments. The judge said the plan’s six-member board will remain as defendants but she’s removed individual board members and Commissioner Roger Goodell. The lawsuit says the disability board favors doctors who are more likely to deny claims. It says one neuropsychologist who was paid more than $800,000 examined 29 former players and found none were disabled. An NFL spokesman didn’t immediately comment on Thursday.
(Canadian Press)
