Leafs chase Lundqvist, rout Rangers
NHL: Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk and the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs broke out of their scoring slumber with five goals in the second period against Henrik Lundqvist and wrecked the New York Rangers’ home opener with a 6-3 victory on Sunday night.
Toronto mustered only five goals total in its first two games of the season, but busted out against the Rangers, fueled by Kessel and van Riemsdyk, who both notched their first goal and first point of the season. Kessel chipped in two assists, and van Riemsdyk had one as Toronto earned its first win (1-2).
Defenseman Cody Franson staked the Maple Leafs to a 1-0 lead in the first during a power play, and Kessel, Nazem Kadri, van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and David Clarkson connected in the second – driving Lundqvist from the net after he stopped only 18 of 24 shots.
• Balanced attack lifts Kings: Los Angeles linemates Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson each had a goal and an assist in the Kings’ first victory of the season, 4-1 over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
Anze Kopitar also scored and Drew Doughty had two assists for the Stanley Cup champions, who had lost the first two games of their title defense.
Los Angeles got a dominant game from That 70s Line – the jersey number-inspired nickname for Carter’s line with youngsters Toffoli and Pearson, formed during last spring’s title run.
• Wild extend Brodin: The Minnesota Wild signed defenseman Jonas Brodin to a six-year contract extension. Brodin just started his third season with the Wild, who drafted him out of Sweden with the 10th overall pick in 2011.
Tennis: Roger Federer defeated France’s Gilles Simon 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2) to capture his fourth title of the year at the Shanghai Masters.
The Swiss star nearly exited the tournament in his opening match when he had to save five match points against Leonardo Mayer. But he rebounded from that poor start to beat No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and then Simon for his first title in Shanghai.
It’s been a banner year for Federer despite the fact he’s fallen just short at the majors. He leads the tour in match wins (61), top-10 wins (13) and final appearances (nine). On Monday, Federer will leap past Rafael Nadal to No. 2 in the rankings for the first time in more than a year.
• Stosur defends crown: Defending champion Sam Stosur recovered from a tough first set to win her third Japan Women’s Open title, defeating Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 in Osaka, Japan. Stosur, seeded first, didn’t drop a set all week in capturing her first WTA title of the season.
• Pliskova captures Generali Ladies: Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic saved a match point before defeating Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the final of the Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria.
Pliskova led 5-1 in the final set but failed to serve out the match twice. She dropped 6-5 behind but Giorgi sent a backhand into the net on match point. Pliskova converted her first chance in the tiebreaker as a volley by the Italian landed behind the baseline.
• Riske rewarded with first title: Alison Riske held on to defeat Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Tianjin Open in Tianjin, China, for her first WTA Tour title.
U.S. wins first major volleyball title
Volleyball: Kimberly Hill led the United States to its first major women’s volleyball title, scoring 20 points in a 3-1 victory over China in the world championships in Milan.
Hill had the final kill, and captain Christa Dietzen added 15 points in the Americans’ 27-25, 25-20, 16-25, 26-24 victory before 12,600 fans at the Mediolanum Forum.
The U.S. women had never won the world championships, World Cup or Olympics. The Americans finished second in the world championships in 1967 and 2002.
Nets edge Kings in exhibition in China
Miscellany: Mirza Teletovic sank a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to lift the Brooklyn Nets to a 97-95 preseason win over the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai in the first of two NBA exhibition games to be played in China this year.
The Kings had a chance to tie the score with 20 seconds remaining, but Sergey Karasev blocked a jumper by Ben McLemore beneath the rim as time expired.
The game marked the 10th anniversary of the NBA’s first preseason exhibitions in China, played by the Kings and Yao Ming’s Houston Rockets in Shanghai and Beijing in 2004.
The Kings and Nets play again in Beijing on Wednesday.
• Kenyans sweep Chicago Marathon: Kenyan runners dominated the Chicago Marathon, with Eliud Kipchoge leading a 1-2-3 finish for his country for the men, while Rita Jeptoo again took the prize for the women.
Kipchoge pulled away over the last 2 miles for his first major marathon victory, finishing in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 11 seconds.
He was followed by Sammy Kitwara in 2:04:28 and Dickson Chumba in 2:04:32.
Jeptoo was timed in 2:24:35 in winning her fourth straight major marathon. She also won the Boston Marathon in April and captured the 2013-14 World Marathon Majors points championship.
Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia (2:25:37) was second and Florence Kiplagat of Kenya (2:25:57) was third.
• Marquez keeps MotoGP title: Honda rider Marc Marquez of Spain defended his MotoGP championship when he finished second in the Grand Prix of Japan in Motegi behind compatriot Jorge Lorenzo.
Marquez crossed the line 1.638 seconds behind Lorenzo to collect the crucial points for the world championship win. Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi of Italy completed the podium in third place.