ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 SPORTS 14 Tatar scores twice, Habs cool off Leafs Hagel lifts Blackhawks over Jackets in OT

MONTREAL, April 13, (AP): on March 19. Blackhawks 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT Tomas Tatar scored two goals - In Columbus, Ohio, Brandon Hagel scored including an empty-netter - and 1:25 into , and Chicago beat Columbus the Montreal Canadiens defeated for the fi fth consecutive time. Duncan Keith, Philipp Kurashev and Brett Toronto 4-2 to end the Maple Connolly also scored and Patrick Kane had two Leafs’ six-game winning streak. assists as the Blackhawks won for the third time Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson also in four games to move within two points of idle Nashville for the fourth playoff spot in the Cen- scored for the Canadiens, who won for the tral Division. fi rst time in four games. Auston Matthews It was Connolly’s fi rst game since he was and John Tavares replied for the visiting acquired in a trade with Florida last week. He Maple Leafs. had two goals and two assists in 21 games with It was the fi rst loss of the year for Toronto the Panthers. goalie Jack Campbell, who set an NHL record Kevin Lankinen stopped 30 shots for his fi fth with 11 straight wins to start a season. win over Columbus this season. It was Toronto’s fi rst regulation defeat since Patrick Laine scored twice for the Blue Jack- dropping a 4-3 decision to the ets, and Stefan Matteau also scored. Avalanche 4, Coyotes 2 In Denver, Mikko Rantanen had two goals and Colorado won for the eighth time in nine games. Brandon Saad and Nathan MacKinnon also scored as the Avalanche improved to 12-0-1 in their last 13 games at Ball Arena, the fourth longest home streak in franchise history. Philipp Grubauer, (right), uses his stick to knock the puck away from Arizona Coyotes left wing Michael Philipp Grubauer made 35 saves for his career- Bunting as Colorado defenseman Devon Toews defends in the third period of an NHL hockey game, on April 12, in Denver. (AP) high 25th win. Arizona pulled within one with third-period goals by Michael Bunting and Johann Larsson Sassuolo win 1-0 at Benevento in Serie A but Rantanen had an empty-netter with just un- Hoffenheim hold Leverkusen in Bundesliga der two minutes remaining to seal the victory. SINSHEIM, Germany, April 13, (AP): Hoffen- Golden Knights 4, Kings 2 heim held Bayer Leverkusen to a 0-0 draw as In Los Angeles, Max Pacioretty scored his the Bundesliga’s experiment in playing came to 300th career , Mark Stone had a goal and Xavi Hernandez leads Al-Sadd an end. an assist, and Vegas rallied to beat Los Angeles. There were few scoring chances for either Nicolas Roy and Alex Tuch also scored team and Hoffenheim didn’t record a single shot for the Golden Knights, who won their third into Asian Champions League on target. Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby shot over straight game. Robin Lehner stopped 26 shots. the bar from a tight angle in the 57th minute and Austin Wagner and Anze Kopitar scored for Anaheim Ducks left wing Andrew Agozzino SEOUL, South Korea, April 13, (AP): Xavi even with former Arsenal star Santi Cazor- his teammate Nadiem Amiri had a shot saved the Kings, who have lost fi ve of seven. Cal Pe- seven minutes later. (26) and left wing Marcus tersen had 37 saves. Hernandez was touted as a future coach of la in strong form, the 2021 tournament will Sorensen (20) vie for the puck during the sec- Barcelona even before leading Al-Sadd to be a bigger challenge than usual. Leverkusen stayed sixth, nine points off the Los Angeles led 2-0 midway through the sec- Champions League places. Hoffenheim re- ond period of an NHL hockey game, on April ond period before Vegas rallied. the Qatar league title undefeated earlier this The number of teams has been expanded 12, in San Jose, California. (AP) month. His chances will only improve if he from 32 to 40 which means that only the 10 mained 12th. Both teams have had a disappoint- Red Wings 3, Hurricanes 1 ing start to 2021. In Raleigh, N.C., Adam Erne and Filip Za- can add the Asian Champions League title group winners and six best runners-up will Leverkusen led the league briefl y in Decem- to his accomplishments this year. progress to the knockout stage. NHL Results/Standings dina scored two quick third-period goals while ber but imploded with three wins from 13 league Jonathan Bernier fi nished with 37 saves to help The group stage of the continental com- In order to reduce travel in the global games from January through March. The club Detroit beat Carolina. petition kicks off on Wednesday in the pandemic, the Asian Football Confed- fi red coach Peter Bosz last month and hired in- Sam Gagner added a clinching empty-net western zone which includes Al-Sadd. The eration (AFC) decided in March that each terim replacement Hannes Wolf, who has four side plays Iranian side Foolad in its open- group will be staged in one city with each WASHINGTON, April 13, (AP): Results and score late for the Red Wings, who continue to points from his fi rst two games. Hoffenheim as- standings from the NHL games on Monday. frustrate the Hurricanes. Carolina came in tied ing Group D match. team playing six games in just 15 days. pired to fi ghting for European places but failed Ottawa 4 Winnipeg 2 for the Central Division lead yet have lost four Al-Sadd was dominant this year under Al-Sadd will play all its games in Ri- to fulfi l the early promise of a 4-1 win over Bay- Montreal 4 Toronto 2 the 41-year-old Xavi, who won the World yadh, home of Al-Nassr. Chicago 4 Columbus OT 3 of seven against the division’s last-place team. ern Munich in September. Detroit 3 Carolina 1 Detroit also spoiled a milestone night for Cup with Spain in 2010. Al-Sadd fi nished Elsewhere, 2019 champion Al-Hilal is Colorado 4 Arizona 2 Carolina captain Jordan Staal, who was hon- fi rst in Qatar’s 12-team league, winning 19 hosting Group A in Riyadh with two teams SOCCER Vegas 4 Los Angeles 2 ored before the puck dropped for playing his out of 22 games and scoring 77 goals while from Central Asia – AGMK of Uzbekistan Anaheim 4 San Jose 0 conceding just 14. and Tajikistan powerhouse Istiklol – mak- East Division 1,000th regular-season NHL game. GP W L OT Pts GF GA The Hurricanes unsuccessfully challenged “The toughest tournament awaits us,” ing their fi rst appearances. It was the last scheduled Monday game in Washington 42 27 11 4 58 146 126 the goal seeking a missed offside call on Erne. the former star midfi elder said. “We are in The eastern zone, which features teams the Bundesliga after four seasons and persistent NY Islanders 42 27 11 4 58 125 98 an excellent period and fully ready to com- from Japan, South Korea, China and Aus- protests from organized fan groups. No Monday Pittsburgh 42 27 13 2 56 146 118 That led to an delay of game , followed Boston 39 21 12 6 48 109 104 by another when Brady Skjei’s clear attempt pete.” tralia, is scheduled to start in June, although games are planned under the new TV deal start- NY Rangers 41 19 16 6 44 133 112 sailed over the glass - potentially glancing off Xavi took over Al-Sadd in May 2019 but the hosting venues have not been decided. ing 2021-22. Philadelphia 41 19 16 6 44 122 148 the stick of Detroit’s Evgeny Svechnikov - to Monday games made it easier for TV view- New Jersey 40 14 20 6 34 103 132 ers to see more of the Bundesliga schedule, Buffalo 41 10 25 6 26 98 144 give Detroit a two-man advantage. Central Division Senators 4, Jets 2 with fewer simultaneous games on Saturdays, GP W L OT Pts GF GA In Ottawa, , Brady Tkachuk scored and German soccer offi cials said it meant more Tampa Bay 41 28 11 2 58 141 101 twice, Connor Brown extended his franchise- rest for teams playing Europa League games on Carolina 41 27 10 4 58 133 102 preceding Thursdays. Fan groups argued it was Florida 42 26 12 4 56 133 115 record goal-scoring streak to eight games and Nashville 43 23 19 1 47 112 121 Ottawa beat Winnipeg. more diffi cult to travel to Monday games than Chicago 43 20 18 5 45 122 135 Evgenii Dadonov also scored and Thomas traditional weekend fi xtures and accused offi - Dallas 40 15 14 11 41 111 104 cials of prioritizing TV revenue over supporters Columbus 44 15 20 9 39 112 145 Chabot and Josh Norris each had two assists as Detroit 44 15 23 6 36 99 140 Ottawa rallied from two goals down and ended a in the stands. West Division four-game losing streak. Anton Forsberg was im- Eintracht Frankfurt fans disrupted a Monday GP W L OT Pts GF GA pressive in goal after a shaky start with 24 saves. game in 2018 by throwing tennis balls and toilet Colorado 42 29 9 4 62 150 98 paper from the stands. Thousands of Borussia Vegas 41 28 11 2 58 132 94 Kyle Connor and and Nikolaj Ehlers scored Minnesota 40 24 13 3 51 119 109 for Winnipeg, which snapped a three-game win Dortmund fans boycotted another game. St Louis 41 19 16 6 44 119 128 streak. Connor Hellebuyck, making his seventh ❑ ❑ ❑ Arizona 43 19 19 5 43 116 134 San Jose 41 18 19 4 40 113 137 straight start, stopped 20 shots. Sassuolo solidifi ed its status in the top half of Los Angeles 41 16 19 6 38 112 121 Ducks 4, Sharks 0 the Serie A standings with a 1-0 win at relega- Anaheim 43 13 23 7 33 97 137 In San Jose, California, Anthony Stolarz tion-threatened Benevento. North Division made a career-high 46 saves for his third career GP W L OT Pts GF GA Benevento defender Federico Barba de- Toronto 42 28 11 3 59 141 109 to lead Anaheim. fl ected the ball into his own net just before the Winnipeg 42 25 14 3 53 136 113 Alexander Volkov had two goals, Max Com- break as he was attempting to prevent a cross Edmonton 42 25 15 2 52 134 120 tois had a goal and an assist and Rickard Rakell Montreal 39 18 12 9 45 122 110 from Jeremie Boga from reaching Giacomo Calgary 41 17 21 3 37 108 124 also scored as the Ducks beat the Sharks hand- Raspadori. Vancouver 37 16 18 3 35 100 120 ily on their home ice for the second time in less Boga then hit the crossbar midway through Ottawa 43 14 25 4 32 116 161 than a week. the second half. Note: Two points for a win one point for over- Martin Jones fi nished with 15 saves for the Sassuolo moved up to eighth, two points ahead time loss. The top four teams in each division Sharks, who began the night four points out of of Hellas Verona. Benevento remained 16th, eight will qualify for under this season’s tem- the fourth and fi nal playoff spot in the West Di- Filip Djuricic of Sassuolo (top), and Federico Barba of Benevento in action during their Ital- porary realignment. points above the drop zone. Filippo Inzaghi’s vision and lost for the third time in four games. ian Serie A soccer match at Vigorito stadium, in Benevento, Italy, on April 12. (AP) squad has not won at home since December.