Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ovechkin hits 28th goal in Caps’ victory

Washington’s Alex Ovechkin celebrates league-leading 28th goal. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NHL: Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 28th goal, and the Washington Capitals enjoyed a rare feeling of dominance outside their division Tuesday night, winning their eighth straight with a 5-1 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

Jack Hillen, Martin Erat, Troy Brouwer and Marcus Johansson also scored, and Braden Holtby made 29 saves for the Southeast Division-leading Capitals.

The Capitals have moved into playoff position by feasting on the weak Southeast, going 14-3 within the division, but they entered Tuesday’s game just 9-14-2 against the rest of the Eastern Conference. All but two of those nine wins were by one goal.

Blues win shootout: Jay Bouwmeester tied the score midway through the third period, and Andy McDonald and Alex Steen scored in the shootout to lead the Blues to a 2-1 win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Brian Elliott made 21 saves in regulation and stopped Derek Roy and Alexandre Burrows in the shootout, solidifying the Blues’ chances in a tight Western Conference race.

Grabner scores twice: Former Spokane Chief Michael Grabner scored twice and Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves as the New York Islanders moved closer to a playoff berth with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Florida Panthers.

Playing before a boisterous crowd at Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders earned their ninth win in 12 games while playing their final regular-season home game.

With a 14-5-3 mark since March 1, the Islanders hold seventh place in the Eastern Conference. New York, seeing its first postseason appearance since 2007, has allowed two goals or fewer in nine straight games.

Oilers skid continues: Kyle Brodziak scored a pair of goals, and the Minnesota Wild earned another late-season win by topping the host Edmonton Oilers 5-3.

Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise also scored for the Wild (24-16-3), who are 2-0-1 in their last three games after losing five of six. Nail Yakupov, Magnus Paajarvi and Shawn Horcoff had goals for the Oilers (16-19-7), whose slim playoff hopes took another hit. Edmonton has lost six in a row.

Ladd leads Winnipeg: Andrew Ladd scored twice in regulation and added the decisive goal in a shootout as the Winnipeg Jets stayed in the thick of the playoff hunt with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.

Ottawa wins third straight: Craig Anderson made 32 saves to help the Ottawa Senators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 for their third straight win.

Mika Zibanejad, Cory Conacher and Chris Neil all scored as Ottawa remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the New York Islanders.

Flyers stay alive: Brayden Schenn, Erik Gustafsson and Kimmo Timonen scored to give Philadelphia’s faint playoff hopes a boost, and the Flyers beat the visiting New York Rangers 4-2.

Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored for the Rangers, who have a tenuous hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have 46 points, five more than the Flyers.

Clippers rip Blazers for sixth straight win

NBA: Caron Butler scored 18 of his 22 points in the third quarter, and the Los Angeles Clippers routed the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 93-77 for their sixth straight victory.

Blake Griffin added 16 points, DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Chris Paul had 11 assists for the Pacific Division champions, who finished their home schedule with a 32-9 record. They end the regular season on Wednesday at Sacramento, and another win would ensure the Clippers have home-court advantage to start the playoffs.

Will Barton scored 17 points and Joel Freeland added 13 points for the Blazers, who never led while losing their 12th in a row.

DeRozan scores 30 for Raptors: DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points, Rudy Gay added 22 and the Toronto Raptors ran all over playoff-bound Atlanta, routing the Hawks 113-96 Tuesday night.

The Raptors made two-thirds of their shots in the first half, sprinting to a 68-51 lead as DeRozan scored 19 points and Gay chipped in with 17. Atlanta went mostly with backups, showing no sense of urgency to claim the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Tsonga, Gasquet advance at Monaco

Tennis: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet advanced to the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters at Monaco. Tsonga beat Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (3), 6-2, while Gasquet had trouble overcoming Benoit Paire 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. Janko Tipsarevic lost to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Philipp Kohlschreiber also advanced to the third round, while Stanislas Wawrinka, Marinko Matosevic and qualifier Albert Ramos advanced to the second round.