The Chicago Blackhawks won their 11th consecutive game with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night to extend the best start in NHL history.
Daniel Carcillo scored the tiebreaking goal with 49.3 seconds left, and Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw also scored for Chicago, who reached the halfway point of a season shortened by a lockout without losing in regulation time. The remarkable Blackhawks have earned at least one point in their first 24 games, an NHL record.
Dating back to last year’s regular season, the streak is 30 games.
The Blackhawks broke the previous team record for consecutive wins with their 10th in a row on Tuesday night, when they beat Minnesota 5-3.
John Mitchell and Matt Duchene scored for Colorado, who have lost six of seven.
Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller faced only 18 shots in his first shutout of the season and Corey Perry scored in the first period as the Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 for their ninth consecutive victory at home.
The Ducks have the second-best record in the NHL with 16 wins and three losses, and still trail the Blackhawks by 10 points. Anaheim’s start is level with the best in club history after 22 games.
Jason LaBarbera made 22 saves for Phoenix, one of them on a penalty shot by Andrew Cogliano.
At Toronto, Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists to help the Maple Leafs hold off the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in a game highlighted by a knockout punch from Frazer McLaren.
Only 26 seconds into the game McLaren downed Dave Dziurzynski when he caught the Ottawa forward flush with a right to the chin, sending him face down to the ice. A woozy Dziurzynski was slow getting up and eventually needed help from two teammates to skate off.
Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who won their third straight.
Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves in his return from a knee injury to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Blake Comeau scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period. Jarome Iginla, Roman Cervenka and Curtis Glencross (into an empty net) also scored for the Flames.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said