TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014 SPORTS Islanders dump Stars DALLAS: John Tavares scored with 1:24 to is tied in points with Washington for sec- go and Brock Nelson added an empty-net- ond place in the Metropolitan Division - ter, leading the streaking New York one ahead of Philadelphia. Islanders to a 4-2 victory over the slumping The Rangers have won seven straight Dallas Stars on Sunday. against the Flyers at home, outscoring Kyle Okposo had two goals in New them 28-8. Ray Emery rebounded after the York’s fourth consecutive victory. The rough first period and finished with 31 Islanders (18-22-7) also have won seven saves for the Flyers. Lundqvist lost his straight road games. shutout bid when Mark Streit scored a The Islanders rallied past the Stars after power-play goal 6:49 into the third. trailing 2-0 after one period for the second time in a week. This time, New York scored BLACKHAWKS 5, OILERS 3 three goals in the final 4:16. Dallas (20-18-7) Marian Hossa had a power-play goal has lost six in a row for the first time since and an assist as Chicago beat Edmonton to March 2011. Ray Whitney and Sergei end a three-game losing streak. Gonchar scored first-period goals for the Ben Smith, Andrew Shaw, Jonathan Stars against goalie Kevin Poulin, who fin- Toews and Brent Seabrook also scored for ished with 29 saves. Dallas goaltender Dan Chicago, which had 15 goals against Ellis stopped 27 shots. Edmonton in a three-game sweep of the season series. SABRES 2, CAPITALS 1 Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall scored for Cody Hodgson decided a lackluster Edmonton. The Oilers’ Boyd Gordon was game with the only goal in the shootout as credited with a fluke short-handed goal in Buffalo avoided matching the longest road the second period when Chicago’s Patrick losing streak in club history. Kane inadvertently bounced a pass off the MELBOURNE: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic plays a shot during his men’s singles match against Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko on day one of the 2014 Hodgson, returning after missing eight boards and into an empty net during a Australian Open tennis tournament. —AFP games with a hand injury, beat Philipp delayed penalty call. Grubauer in a skills contest that mirrored the rest of the game - not many quality MINNESOTA 4, NASHVILLE 0 Rusty Djokovic, slick Serena chances, hardly any pucks in the net. Tennessee, Dany Heatley had a goal and Tyler Ennis scored in the first period, and an assist and Darcy Kuemper made 23 Ryan Miller made 28 saves for the Sabres, saves for his first career shutout as whose 11-game road skid was the second- Minnesota beat Nashville. through to second round longest in club history, behind a 12-game Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also streak in the 2011-12 season. scored for Minnesota, which has won five MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic showed some Jason Chimera also scored in the open- of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, early season rustiness but Serena Williams ing period, and Grubauer made 30 saves nine in the second, and nine in the third. roared into the second round like a well-oiled for the Capitals, who have lost five of seven. The rookie’s best save came with 2:17 left in machine as the tournament favorites took centre the third period when he denied former stage on the first evening of the Australian Open MAPLE LEAFS 3, DEVILS 2 Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside yesterday. James van Riemsdyk scored in the of the crease on the right side. The Williams, looking for her sixth title, closed the shootout to lift the Toronto over New Predators have lost three in a row and six of evening on Rod Laver Arena with a 6-2 6-1 dem- Jersey. Bozak and van Riemsdyk scored in their last seven. olition of local hope Ashleigh Barty after four- regulation for Toronto, which had lost four times champion Djokovic had overcome Lukas straight since winning the Winter Classic on ANAHEIM 1, DETROIT 0 Lacko 6-3 7-6(2) 6-1. Jan. 1. Jonas Hiller made 22 saves in his 14th Earlier, there were shocks aplenty in the Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier consecutive victory as the steamrolling women’s draw with the biggest coming when stopped 36 of the 38 shots he faced Anaheim Ducks beat Detroit for their 17th sixth seed Petra Kvitova fell victim to Thai world through overtime. He then denied Jaromir victory in 18 games. number 88 Luksika Kumkhum in front of a rap- Jagr, Ryane Clowe and Reid Boucher in the Andrew Cogliano scored in the second turous crowd on Margaret Court Arena. shootout to get his 14th win. period for the NHL-leading Ducks, who There were upsets for two Italian seeds as Adam Henrique and Clowe had New improved to 19-0-2 at home this season well, Sara Errani beaten 6-3 6-2 by German Julia Jersey’s goals. Cory Schneider, who narrow- despite playing without injured scoring Goerges and her doubles partner Roberta Vinci ly missed out on making the US Olympic leader Ryan Getzlaf. going down 6-4 6-3 to China’s Zheng Jie. team as the third goalie, made 23 saves. Hiller was outstanding in the second Serena’s sister Venus Williams also bid an ear- game of back-to-back starts, earning his ly farewell to the tournament when she blew a RANGERS 4, FLYERS 1 third shutout of the year and the 19th of his 3-0 lead in the deciding set to lose 2-6 6-4 6-4 to Daniel Carcillo, Rick Nash and Derick career. The Swiss Olympic team selection Russian Ekaterina Makarova. Brassard scored less than 10 minutes into hasn’t lost since Dec. 3, matching four other Djokovic’s new co-coach Boris Becker will the game, and Henrik Lundqvist made 37 goalies for the second-longest winning have raised an eyebrow with the 30 unforced saves as New York routed Philadelphia. streak in a single season in NHL history. errors the second seed served up as he opened MELBOURNE: Serena Williams of the US serves during her women’s singles match against Chris Kreider netted his team-leading Petr Mrazek stopped 22 shots for the his quest for a fourth straight title in Melbourne. Australia’s Ashleigh Barty on Day One of the 2014 Australian Open tennis tournament. —AFP 12th goal in the second period to help the Red Wings in a rematch of last season’s The Serbian always looked like cantering to Rangers win their third straight and fourth first-round matchup in the Western victory in three sets, however, and 23 minutes “As long as I’m able to stay relaxed, I’ll be okay.” earlier raced into the second round with three in five (4-0-1). New York, 8-2-1 in its last 11, Conference playoffs. —AP after taking a tight second stanza by dominating Thai Luksika was far from relaxed as she set victories, eager to make the most of relative- the tiebreak, he was firing down his 10th ace for looked to close out her victory over Kvitova but ly mild conditions at Melbourne Park. the win. was soon bowing to all corners of the stadium Ferrer sprinted to a 5-0 lead in the first set “I know that I didn’t play my best, especially having sealed the biggest win of her career 6-2 before being drawn into a scrap with Colombian in the second set,” said Djokovic, who has now 1-6 6-4. “I was really excited to be here, feeling Alejandro Gonzalez but still ground out a 6-3 6-4 won his last 22 matches at Melbourne Park and good,” said former Wimbledon champion 6-4 victory. 25 contests in a row in all tournaments since his Kvitova. “I think that probably I wanted (it) too “The most important thing is to win. Today loss to Rafa Nadal in the US Open final. much, and then everything just fell down.” maybe I didn’t play my best tennis, but I won,” “I was a little bit too passive in some stages of Fourth seeded Chinese Li Na never came any- said Ferrer, the least favoured third seed at the match and was trying to find the proper set- hwere near being upset as she dispatched Melbourne Park for several years. ting and proper balance and footing in the teenager Ana Konjuh 6-2 6-0 to set up a meeting Swiss Wawrinka, Djokovic’s potential quarter- court.” With temperatures forecast to soar well with another 16-year-old, Swiss Belinda Bencic. final opponent, had the easiest passage when above 40 degrees Celsius from Tuesday onwards, Bencic beat 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm Kazakh Andrey Golubev retired while trailing 6-4 there was good reason for the players to keep 6-4 4-6 6-3 in a battle of generations - the 27- 4-1. German Tommy Haas, seeded 12th, also their time on court to a minimum and rest up for year age gap between the two the widest at a retired with a shoulder injury while losing to challenges to come. grand slam since a 47-year-old Martina Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his first round Even in the cool of the evening, Serena Navratilova was beaten by 19-year-old Gisela match. Berdych and Gasquet both went through Williams showed no signs of wanting to hang Dulko at Wimbledon in 2004.