ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 SPORTS 15 Gourde lifts Lightning over Hurricanes in OT

Golden Knights top Sharks 3-2 in shootout on historic night

TAMPA, Florida, April 20, (AP): Yanni Gourde scored 2:50 into to give the Tampa Bay Light- ning a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup between Central Division contenders. Alex Killorn and Brayden also scored for the Lightning. An- drei Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves. Andrei Svechnikov and Brady Skjei scored for Carolina, which has only one regulation loss in the past eight games. Petr Mrazek stopped 33 shots. Carolina and Florida are tied for the Central Division lead with 63 points, though the Hurricanes have two games in hand. The defending champion Lightning are one point behind the co-leaders. Golden Knights 3, Sharks 2, SO In Las Vegas, Alex Tuch scored the winner in a shootout and streak- ing Vegas beat San Jose as Sharks forward Patrick Marleau passed Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history. Robin Lehner stopped 29 shots and the Golden Knights won their seventh in a row, overcoming a two- deficit behind a pair of power-play goals from captain Mark Stone.

The 41-year-old Marleau played in his 1,768th career game to break Howe’s record in front of a sold- out crowd of 3,950 that included his wife, Christina, and four sons. That wouldn’t have been possible in San Jose, where fans still aren’t allowed in the arena during the pandemic. Martin Jones made 38 saves for San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau (12) attempts a on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) during the first period of an NHL hockey game on April 19, in Las the Sharks, including fi ve spectacu- Vegas. (AP) lar game-saving stops in overtime. Lehner, who denied all three San Jose attempts in the shootout, im- NHL Results/Standings Belgian Olympians get priority vaccines proved to 8-0-1 since returning from a concussion on March 19. IOC reluctantly accepts plan Predators 5, Blackhawks 2 WASHINGTON, April 20, (AP): Results and standings from the NHL games on Monday. In Nashville, Tennessee, Luke Kunin and Calle Jarnkrok each Florida 4 Columbus 2 Edmonton 4 Montreal 1 Tampa Bay 3 Carolina OT 2 Minnesota 5 Arizona 2 for ’26 Cortina bobsled track scored a goal and added an assist to Dallas 3 Detroit SO 2 Ottawa 4 2 Nashville 5 Chicago 2 Vegas 3 San Jose SO 2 lead Nashville over Chicago. MILAN, April 20, (AP): The In- had made a number of proposals for Matt Duchene, Mattias Ekholm East Division West Division ternational Olympic Committee alternative tracks, none of which and Tanner Jeannot also scored and GP W L OT Pts GF GA GP W L OT Pts GF GA Washington 46 29 13 4 62 163 141 reluctantly accepted plans to spend were accepted,” the IOC said in a Mikael Granlund had two assists NY Islanders 45 28 13 4 60 127 105 Vegas 45 32 11 2 66 150 100 50 million euros ($60 million) to statement. for Nashville, which snapped a two- Pittsburgh 45 28 14 3 59 152 126 Colorado 43 30 9 4 64 154 101 game skid. Boston 43 25 12 6 56 125 110 Minnesota 44 28 13 3 59 137 117 rebuild an abandoned bobsled track “On the other hand, the com- NY Rangers 45 23 16 6 52 151 118 Arizona 46 20 21 5 45 123 146 in Cortina d’Ampezzo for the 2026 mission took note that the final Alex DeBrincat and David Kampf Philadelphia 45 20 18 7 47 128 162 St Louis 43 19 18 6 44 124 135 scored for Chicago, which has lost New Jersey 44 14 24 6 34 109 150 San Jose 45 18 22 5 41 120 152 Winter Games – as long as the funds plans for the venue are not an Buffalo 45 12 26 7 31 111 154 Los Angeles 42 16 20 6 38 114 127 stay out of the offi cial games’ bud- investment in a sliding track for two of three. Central Division Anaheim 46 14 25 7 35 103 147 Nashville has won all six meetings get. the Olympic and Paralympic Win- GP W L OT Pts GF GA North Division After the IOC periodic coordina- ter Games but are part of a wider between the teams so far this season Carolina 44 29 10 5 63 142 107 GP W L OT Pts GF GA as they battle for fourth place in the Florida 46 29 12 5 63 147 125 Toronto 45 28 12 5 61 147 120 tion commission’s visit on Monday, entertainment park project that Tampa Bay 45 30 13 2 62 152 117 Winnipeg 45 27 15 3 57 144 120 which was held virtually, the Olym- is completely unrelated to the Central Division. Dallas, which de- Nashville 47 25 21 1 51 126 132 Edmonton 44 27 15 2 56 141 121 feated Detroit in a shootout Monday, Dallas 44 18 14 12 48 125 111 Montreal 43 19 15 9 47 126 123 pic body said it “again expressed its games. The IOC is therefore not in Chicago 46 21 20 5 47 129 144 Calgary 45 19 23 3 41 118 133 concerns with regard to the legacy a position to go any further in this also is involved in a tight three-way Detroit 47 16 24 7 39 105 148 Vancouver 38 17 18 3 37 103 122 race for the division’s fi nal playoff Columbus 47 15 23 9 39 116 158 of the track.” discussion, as this is a sovereign Ottawa 46 16 26 4 36 126 166 The century-old venue in Cortina decision of the Veneto region.” spot. Note: Two points for a win one point for overtime loss. The top four teams in each division will qualify for playoffs under this season’s temporary realignment. was closed 13 years ago for fi nan- The IOC added the hefty expense Stars 3, Red Wings 2, SO cial reasons but is still a source of “will not form part of the investment In Dallas, Denis Gurianov pride in the Dolomites resort. budget for the Olympic and Para- scored in the fifth round of a for Detroit in the second period. The Oilers stretched their home three games in four days against the The IOC had suggested that in- lympic Games” and “the track will shootout to give Dallas a win over The Stars have earned points in a winning streak to eight games, and visiting Habs starting Friday will stead of spending heavily to rebuild therefore only be (lent) out to the or- Detroit, and a vital extra point for season-best seven games in a row (5- improved to 2-3-1 against Montreal likely determine if Calgary sees the the Cortina track, that sliding events ganizing committee for the duration the defending Western Conference 0-2). They moved into fi fth place in in 2021. postseason. for the Milan-Cortina Games could of the games.” champions in their push to get the Central Division with 48 points, The Canadiens, meanwhile, fell instead be contested at a venue in As for the organizing commit- back in the playoffs. Wild 5, Coyotes 2 one ahead of Chicago, with 12 reg- to 2-6-0 over their past eight games In Glendale, Arizona, Kevin Fiala neighboring Switzerland (St Mori- tee’s risky proposition of holding Roope Hintz and rookie Jason ular-season games left. Nashville is without injured winger Brendan Gal- tz) or Austria (Igls). speed skating at an outdoor oval in Robertson both scored in regulation had a goal and an assist, Cam Tal- fourth with 51 points, but only nine lagher (broken thumb). bot stopped 22 shots and Minnesota Ever since Russia’s overall spend- Baselga di Piné, no decisions were for the Stars, with Miro Heiskanen games remaining. assisting on both goals. Robertson Senators 4, Flames 2 stretched its winning streak to four ing linked to the 2014 Sochi Olym- made. also converted the fi rst shootout at- Oilers 4, Canadiens 1 In Calgary, Alberta, Connor games. pics topped $50 billion, the IOC has There were recent tests to stage tempt for Dallas. In Edmonton, Alberta, Connor Brown scored a short-handed goal Kirill Kaprizov, Jordan Greenway been anxious to curb all infrastruc- speed skating at Milan’s outdoor Anton Khudobin stopped 20 McDavid scored the winner late in and added an empty-netter for Ot- and Marcus Johansson also scored ture spending by local organizers. Arena Civica, as well as calls to use shots before the shootout, including the third period and Edmonton de- tawa in a win over Calgary. to help the Wild strengthen their That policy allows for taking events the indoor oval in Turin that was a glove save reaching around a de- feated Montreal. Josh Norris had a goal and an as- playoff position. Minnesota has 59 to another country to cut costs. built for the 2006 Games. fender with less than three minutes Jesse Puljujarvi, with a goal and sist and Brady Tkachuk also scored points, 14 ahead of fourth-place Ari- “It was pointed out that the IOC left in regulation. an assist, Ethan Bear and Devin for Ottawa. Senators goaltender Matt zona in the West Division. OLYMPICS After Red Wings captain Dylan Shore also scored for Edmonton, Murray made 26 saves for the win. Jonas Brodin added an empty-net Larkin got a puck through Khudo- while Mike Smith made 22 saves. Elias Lindholm and Michael goal for Minnesota. bin’s legs in the fi rst round of the McDavid also had two assists for a Stone scored for the Flames. Jacob Christian Fischer scored his fi rst “Discussions are continuing on tiebreaker, the Stars goalie stopped three-point game for the Oilers, who Markstrom stopped 16 of 19 shots in goal in 48 regular-season games and the speed skating oval,” the IOC the next four attempts, including Fil- trailed 1-0 with less than 10 minutes the loss. Alex Goligoski also scored for the said. ip Hronek’s try after Gurianov had to play in regulation. The hold Coyotes, who had numerous defen- The last time speed skating was beaten Thomas Greiss at the other Eric Staal scored for Montreal, down the fourth and fi nal playoff sive breakdowns in losing for the held outdoors at the Olympics was end. which got 25 saves from Jake Al- berth in the North Division. Mon- sixth time in seven games. Darcy for the 1992 Albertville Games, Greiss fi nished with 34 saves, and len after he replaced Carey Price to treal lost 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers Kuemper stopped 19 shots. with the IOC having since preferred both goalies had three in overtime. start the second period. Price, who on Monday, but remained six points the controlled environment of in- Panthers 4, Blue Jackets 2 door venues. Luke Glendening, with only three stopped seven shots in the opening ahead of Calgary. In Sunrise, Florida, Frank Vatrano goals in his fi rst 44 games and none 20 minutes, didn’t come out after the The Flames have 11 games re- High temperatures in Albertville scored two goals, Anthony Duclair made the track slushy. since March 11, scored two tying goals intermission. maining in the regular season, but had a pair of assists and Florida de- feated Columbus. Also: Sam Bennett and Radko Gudas BRUSSELS: Belgian Olympians also scored for the Panthers, who traveling to Japan for the Tokyo have won fi ve straight games against Games were promised priority the Blue Jackets and gone 6-0-1 in treatment for COVID-19 vaccines their past seven meetings. on Monday. Tokyo 2020 Organizing Commit- Vatrano’s second goal was an tee President Seiko Hashimoto The Belgian Olympic Committee empty-netter at 18:38 of the third af- delivers an opening remarks dur- said its 177 Olympic and 55 Para- ter he was stopped on a shot ing Tokyo 2020 Organizing Com- lympic athletes will get vaccine earlier in the period. mittee, the Japanese Olympic shots while most of the adult popu- Florida netminder Sergei Bo- Committee (JOC) and the Japa- lation of their age must still wait. brovsky made 34 saves. Elvis Mer- nese Paralympic Committee (JPC) The Olympics are set to open on zlikins turned back 35 shots for the three-party joint athletes’ commit- July 23. tee meeting, on April 20, in Tokyo. “Because of the small group of Blue Jackets. The committee meeting was held Oliver Bjorkstrand got his team- with the aim of expanding the op- athletes, the decision will have as leading 15th goal and Zac Dalpe also portunities for athletes’ voices to good as no impact on the overall scored for Columbus, which has lost be conveyed during preparations vaccination campaign,” the commit- three straight. for the Games. (AP) tee said in a statement. Bencic, Sakkari win opening matches in Stuttgart STUTTGART, Germany, April With a ranking of 928, the young the second round. It was the Swiss 20, (AP): Eighth-seeded Belinda German is more used to playing player’s fi rst win on clay since the Bencic had to face down a stub- junior events and came through 2019 French Open. born performance by a 17 year old qualifying in Stuttgart for her fi rst Maria Sakkari beat German wild on tour debut to reach the second WTA main draw. card Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-2. round of the Porsche Grand Prix. Sakkari broke Petkovic four times Bencic was broken once in the TENNIS in a chaotic opening set. Sakkari fi rst set and needed six match next plays seventh-seeded Petra ’s Brayden Point (21) avoids the check from Carolina Hurricanes’ Brady Skjei during the first points against Nastasja Schunk to Bencic will play Ekaterina Al- Kvitova or Australian Open fi nal- period of an NHL hockey game on April 19, in Tampa, Florida. (AP) fi nish a 6-4, 6-2 win. exandrova or Karolina Muchova in ist Jennifer Brady.