SPORTS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2015 Islanders cool Predators UNIONDALE: Nick Leddy had a goal and two assists, Jaroslav Halak tied the team record for wins in a season, and the New York Islanders cooled off the NHL-leading Nashville Predators with a 5-2 win on Thursday night. Brian Strait, John Tavares and Johnny Boychuk scored in the first for the Islanders, who snapped Nashville’s six-game winning streak with their sixth victory in seven games. Tavares has at least one goal in each of his last four games. Leddy and Josh Bailey scored 1:39 apart in the third period to break open a one-goal nail biter. Halak made 30 saves for his 32nd win. Filip Forsberg and James Neal scored for the Predators. Pekka Rinne had a rare off night, allow- ing five goals on 40 shots. The Islanders lost cen- ter Mikhail Grabovski for the game with 11:21 left in the first when he was leveled by a shoulder from Eric Nystrom. A stretcher was brought onto the ice, but Grabovski skated off on his own after being down for several minutes. He sustained an unspecified upper-body injury. BLUE JACKETS 2, PENGUINS 1 Brandon Dubinsky poked a pass from Matt Calvert past a sprawled Marc-Andre Fleury with 2:17 remaining, sending Columbus to the road win. Pittsburgh’s Blake Comeau turned it over and the Blue Jackets quickly pounced. Calvert fed Dubinsky as Pittsburgh’s Steve Downie ran over Fleury. Dubinsky had little trouble tapping in his seventh goal of the season. Scott Hartnell also scored for Columbus. Curtis McElhinney stopped 29 shots as the Blue Jackets won their second UNIONDALE: New York Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky No. 11 shoots against Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne No. 35 straight. Evgeni Malkin picked up his 22nd goal during their game at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. — AFP for Pittsburgh. Captain Sidney Crosby was held without a point, though he tussled with Dubinsky PANTHERS 3, CANADIENS 2 in the second period. It was the seventh fight of Dave Bolland scored in the sixth round of NHL results/standings Crosby’s 10-year career. the shootout, lifting Florida to the road victory. Tomas Fleischmann and Steven Kampfer scored SHARKS 5, STARS 2 in regulation for the Panthers (26-19-12), who NY Islanders 5, Nashville 2; Vancouver 5, NY Rangers 4 (So); Buffalo 3, Philadelphia 2 (SO); Andrew Desjardins scored two second-period won their second game in a row to start a five- Columbus 2, Pittsburgh 1; Washington 5, Winnipeg 1; Florida 3, Montreal 2 (SO). goals, and San Jose held on for the win. Antti game trip. Western Conference Tampa Bay 36 18 6 195 160 78 Niemi made 37 saves for the Sharks, who had lost Brendan Gallagher scored both of Montreal’s Pacific Division Detroit 32 14 10 163 143 74 two straight. The victory vaulted them into a tie goals in the second period. The Canadiens (37- W L OTLGF GA PTS 16-5) outshot the Panthers 39-21 and blew a 2-0 Boston 28 20 9 150 149 65 for seventh place in the Western Conference with Anaheim 35 16 7 170 164 77 Florida 26 19 12 141 157 64 Calgary, tied for third in the Pacific Division. lead. Vancouver 33 21 3 163 151 69 Ottawa 23 23 10 159 160 56 The Stars had won four of their previous five Calgary 32 22 4 168 150 68 games. They fell six points behind Calgary and SABRES 3, FLYERS 2 San Jose 30 22 8 170 172 68 Toronto 23 30 5 162 178 51 San Jose in the race for the final wild-card berth. Brian Flynn scored the clinching goal in the Los Angeles 27 18 12 159 151 66 Buffalo 17 37 4 108 197 38 Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored the Sharks’ first shootout, leading Buffalo to a rare win. Nicolas Arizona 20 31 7 131 194 47 Metropolitan Division goal. Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingels scored Deslauriers and Brian Gionta scored in regula- Edmonton 17 32 10 139 199 44 NY Islanders 39 19 1 193 165 79 into an empty net after Dallas cut a 3-0 deficit to tion for Buffalo, which won for just the fourth Central Division NY Rangers 34 16 6 178 141 74 3-2 on goals by Trevor Daley and Erik Cole. time in the last 27 games. The Sabres improved Nashville 39 13 6 177 137 84 Washington 32 17 10 176 147 74 to 7-2 in shootouts. Jakub Voracek and Ryan St. Louis 37 16 4 179 141 78 Pittsburgh 32 17 9 163 146 73 White scored for Philadelphia, which fell to 2-7 CAPITALS 5, JETS 1 Chicago 35 18 5 174 134 75 Philadelphia 24 23 11 155 170 59 Nicklas Backstrom scored two second-period in the tiebreaker. Winnipeg 30 20 10 166 162 70 Columbus 26 27 3 149 173 55 goals and had an assist, and Washington won for After Voracek tallied on Philadelphia’s first Minnesota 29 21 7 158 154 65 the fourth time in five games. Capitals star Alex shootout attempt, Claude Giroux, Wayne Dallas 27 23 8 181 185 62 New Jersey 22 26 9 126 155 53 Ovechkin added his league-leading 38th goal and Simmonds and Sean Couturier came up empty. Colorado 24 23 11 150 165 59 Carolina 20 29 7 127 154 47 an assist. Troy Brouwer had an empty-net goal Ray Emery stopped Zemgus Girgensons and Eastern Conference Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one and an assist, and John Carlson also scored. Tyler Ennis after Gionta scored in the tiebreaker. Atlantic Division point in the standings and are not included Backstrom, who has 16 assists in his past 16 But Flynn deked past Emery to win it for Montreal 37 16 5 154 130 79 in the loss column (L). games, moved into a tie with Chicago’s Patrick Buffalo. — AP Kane atop the NHL scoring list with 63 points. Ovechkin, celebrating his bobblehead night, extended his point streak to six games, and Tough at the top for Clermont, Toulon Braden Holtby stopped 19 shots. Toby Enstrom scored for Winnipeg, which had won four of five, PARIS: Clermont, locked in a three-way tussle with gent can overcome the disappointment of France’s in the league in action. But it is unlikely to be a and Ondrej Pavelec made 28 saves. Stade Francais and Toulon at the head of the Top latest performance and the absence of key players. closed game, Debaty believes. “We don’t play like 14 table, face arguably the toughest test of the “This isn’t anything new for us. It’s been like that that and Racing have been playing well lately. Both CANUCKS 5, RANGERS 4 weekend when they travel to Racing-Metro today. for years and we knew the calendar when it was defences will challenge, that’s a given. But it’s a crit- Alexandre Burrows and Radim Vrbata scored A victory for Clermont in Paris would see fourth- published,” he said. “As international players, we ical factor in modern rugby,” he said. in the shootout, and Vancouver stopped New placed Racing fall further behind the leading trio, know how to handle the situation. We clearly are Earlier today, Toulon take on Bordeaux-Begles, York’s four-game winning streak. who they already trail by six points. But Clermont focused on the Top 14. who are sixth and go into the game with no fewer Henrik Sedin scored twice for the Canucks, travel to the capital with a patched-up side, missing “This game is very important for us and we are than seven players sidelined. Defending champi- including a tying tally on a rebound with 2:00 left Damien Chouly, Camille Lopez and Wesley Fofana, focused on it. We are facing a direct opponent, we ons Toulon also have injury worries but the depth in regulation after Vancouver pulled goaltender who are all rested after French international duty need to apply ourselves and, if possible, maintain of Bernard Laporte’s star-studded squad more than Ryan Miller. Miller finished with 30 saves, and he stopped Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan in the against Scotland and Ireland in the past two weeks. the gap between us”. compensates. But coach Raphael Ibanez has done a shootout. Shawn Matthias and Bo Horvat also Jamie Cudmore (knee), Raphael Chaume (back), Clermont haven’t won any of their last five away sterling job at Bordeaux, making them a difficult scored as Vancouver snapped a five-game losing Viktor Kolelishvili (knee) and Aurelien Rougerie games and head into the showdown knowing they proposition on their own turf, and he is now widely streak against the Rangers dating to January 2011. (elbow) are also missing for a game sandwiched have beaten Racing at home just once since 2011. seen as the successor-in-waiting to national coach Stepan, Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis and Carl between Six Nations action. Before the international break, Racing were on a Philippe Saint-Andre. Stade Francais, meanwhile, Hagelin scored for the Rangers. Cam Talbot made But prop Vincent Debaty, who is available but run of consecutive wins against Lyon in the Top 14 face an easier challenge on paper as they head to 24 saves, but he was beaten on both shootout included in the France squad to play Wales in their and Northampton in the European Cup. And the Bayonne, who are 12th, just three points ahead of attempts.