ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021 SPORTS 15 Mexican fi ghter to defend super middleweight title against Turkey’s Yildirim Alvarez headlines fi rst boxing card at Dolphins home stadium MIAMI GARDENS, Florida, Feb 23, (AP): With a growing reputation as NHL Results/Standings boxing’s most popular fi ghter, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is preparing to showcase his skills at the home of the Miami Dolphins. WASHINGTON, Feb 23, (AP): Results and stand- The Mexican fi ghter will defend ings from the NHL games on Monday. his super middleweight champion- NY Islanders 3 Buffalo 2 ship against Turkey’s Avni Yildirim at Calgary 3 Toronto 0 Florida 3 Dallas 1 Hard Rock Stadium. It’s the fi rst box- Tampa Bay 4 Carolina 2 ing event at the 34-year-old venue. Los Angeles 3 St Louis 0 Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s retirement Vegas 3 Colorado 0 and Manny Pacquiao’s 18-month in- Arizona 4 Anaheim 3 Minnesota 6 San Jose 2 activity helped Alvarez become one East Division of boxing’s top names. His ability to GP W L OT Pts GF GA draw crowds to football stadiums dem- Boston 16 11 3 2 24 51 36 Washington 17 9 5 3 21 58 60 onstrates his appeal. NY Islanders 18 9 6 3 21 44 43 “It is an honor for me fi ghting in Philadelphia 15 8 4 3 19 51 51 such an important stadium,” Alvarez Pittsburgh 16 9 6 1 19 51 53 NY Rangers 16 6 7 3 15 40 42 said in Spanish while visiting the ven- New Jersey 13 6 5 2 14 36 37 ue on Monday. “Without question, it is Buffalo 15 5 8 2 12 37 46 great motivation.” Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Without COVID-19 crowd restric- Florida 17 12 3 2 26 59 48 tions, Alvarez would have likely at- Carolina 17 12 4 1 25 64 47 tracted more than the 20% limit al- Tampa Bay 16 11 4 1 23 58 38 lowed at the 65,000-seat venue for Chicago 19 9 6 4 22 55 56 Columbus 19 8 7 4 20 55 64 Saturday’s bout. His fi ght against Liam Dallas 13 5 4 4 14 41 37 Smith in 2016 drew 51,000 to AT&T Nashville 17 7 10 0 14 40 57 Detroit 20 5 12 3 13 39 64 West Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA BOXING Vegas 16 11 4 1 23 48 34 St Louis 19 10 7 2 22 59 59 Colorado 15 9 5 1 19 44 32 Los Angeles 17 8 6 3 19 54 48 Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Arizona 18 8 7 3 19 48 52 “Our last fi ght, 12,000 were allowed Minnesota 15 9 6 0 18 44 38 and it sounded as if the stadium was San Jose 17 7 8 2 16 47 64 Anaheim 19 6 10 3 15 37 54 full,” Alvarez said of his win over Cal- North Division lum Smith at the Alamodome in San An- GP W L OT Pts GF GA tonio Dec. 19. “Hopefully, we can soon Toronto 20 14 4 2 30 72 54 Edmonton 20 12 8 0 24 72 62 return to normal times and fi ll out a stadi- Winnipeg 18 11 6 1 23 61 49 um like this one. But whether it’s 15,000 Montreal 17 9 5 3 21 57 47 fans or 100,000, I feel as if it will be at Calgary 19 9 9 1 19 50 54 capacity. The support from the people is Vancouver 22 8 12 2 18 65 78 Ottawa 20 5 14 1 11 47 80 incredible and I am very appreciative.” Note: Two points for a win one point for over- Alvarez previously fought in the time loss. The top four teams in each division will Miami area as a teenager 12 years qualify for playoffs under this season’s temporary ago. The 30-year-old returns with two realignment. Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews (34) gets tied up by Calgary Flames defenceman Mark Giordano (5) as Flames goaltender David Rittich sanctioning body belts and a resume (33) keeps a close eye on the loose puck during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Feb 22. (AP) that includes title reigns in the super “Every fi ghter that comes to fi ght welterweight, middleweight and light me brings additional incentive,” Alva- heavyweight classes. rez said. “Yildirim is a strong fi ghter, “I’m truly very fortunate of being always pressing and ready for battle. again here and opening a new boxing “Obviously, we all know I have bet- venue,” Alvarez said. “Most of the ter boxing skills but one never knows. Rittich notches SO as Flames preparation is already done. This week One punch can change and ruin every- is mainly about maintaining weight, thing. But we are ready.” light workouts and going over what we Alvarez vacated the light-heavy- did in the gym.” weight belt he won against Sergey While he covets becoming the un- Kovalev. His bout with Smith ended disputed super middleweight title- a 13-month absence and earned him top NHL-leading Maple Leafs holder, Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) said the World Boxing Association super he’s not overlooking Yildirim (21-2, middleweight belt. The Mexico-based 12 KOs), who is fi ghting for the fi rst World Boxing Council also recognizes time in two years. Alvarez as titleholder. Quick earns 54th career shutout, Kings down Blues TORONTO, Feb 23, (AP): third straight time this season after two as part of Vegas’ three-goal spree in victories in Buffalo last week. The Is- the second period, Marc-Andre Fleury David Rittich made 34 landers also moved to 5-0-1 at Nassau stopped 34 shots and the Golden saves for his fi rst shutout Coliseum. Matt Martin and Anders Lee Knights cruised past Colorado. of the season and fourth of scored for the Islanders. Sam Reinhart Fleury earned his 64th career shutout his career as the Calgary and Curtis Lazar scored for the Sabres. in the fi nale of the four-game series, Panthers 3, Stars 1 with the Knights and Avs each record- Flames beat NHL-leading ing two wins. Jonathan Marchessault In Sunrise, Florida, Aaron Ek- Toronto 3-0. blad and Keith Yandle scored, Chris also scored for Vegas in the pivotal Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Mo- Driedger made 24 saves and Florida middle period. nahan each had a goal and an assist, beat slumping Dallas. Coyotes 4, Ducks 3 and Sam Bennett added a goal for Aleksander Barkov scored an emp- In Glendale, Arizona, Christian Calgary. ty-net goal to seal the Panthers’ sixth Dvorak scored two goals and Arizona Rasmus Andersson added two as- win in eight games. rallied from a three-goal defi cit to beat sists for the Flames, who had lost four Blake Comeau scored for Dallas, Anaheim in a testy game. of fi ve in regulation and had been out- and Anton Khudobin stopped 49 of 51 The Ducks, the NHL’s lowest-scor- scored 14-3 in three straight losses, in- ing team, scored twice in the opening cluding a 7-1 decision to Edmonton on period and had a 3-0 lead early in the Saturday. ICE HOCKEY second. Boxers Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, (left), and Avni Yildirim pose for photos at Hard Rock Stadium, on Feb 22, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP) Michael Hutchinson stopped 30 Arizona stormed back to tie it in the shots in a surprise start for Toronto second period with three goals in less (14-4-2). St Louis Blues’ Austin Poganski shots. The Stars lost their sixth in a row than four minutes and went ahead in and eighth of nine overall while play- Kings 3, Blues 0 (53) handles the puck while under the third on Dvorak’s second goal. pressure from Los Angeles Kings’ ing their fi rst game since Feb. 13 due to His Highness the Crown Prince In St Louis, Dustin Brown scored Anze Kopitar (11), of Slovenia, dur- the weather conditions in Dallas. Wild 6, Sharks 2 two goals and veteran Jonathan Quick ing the second period of an NHL Lightning 4, Hurricanes 2 In San Jose, California, Mats Zucca- ‘patronizes’ horse racing event stopped 31 shots for his 54th career hockey game, on Feb 22, in St rello had a goal and three assists, and shutout, lifting Los Angeles past St Louis. (AP) In Raleigh, N.C., Ondrej Palat Minnesota beat San Jose for its third snapped a tie 8:04 into the third period, KUWAIT CITY, Feb 23, Jahra equestrian club. Louis. consecutive win. Islanders 3, Sabres 2 and Tampa Bay beat Carolina. (KUNA): His Highness the Crown His Highness the Crown It was the second shutout this season Palat, Steven Stamkos and Victor It was the highest scoring game of Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Prince will be represented by for the 35-year-old Quick, who helped In Uniondale, New York, Jean- Hedman each had a goal and an assist the season for Minnesota. Al-Jaber Al-Sabah will patronize Governor of Jahra Nasser Falah the Kings win two Stanley Cup cham- Gabriel Pageau scored a tiebreaking for the Lightning, who were shut out in Victor Rask had a goal and two as- pionships in his career. sists for the Wild, who improved to 3-1 the Crown Prince horse racing Al-Hajraf who will attend the power-play goal in the third period each of their fi rst two matchups with Gabriel Vilardi added a goal for the and Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves, the Hurricanes this season.