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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
AP
NEWARK, N.J. - The Carolina Hurricanes stole their first-round series from the New Jersey Devils with one of the greatest last-minute comebacks in NHL history.
Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal scored in a 48-second span late in the third period as the Hurricanes stunned the Devils 4-3 in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference series.
“This is as sweet as it comes,” said goaltender Cam Ward, who kept the Hurricanes in the game in the final 25 minutes with at least a half-dozen outstanding saves with his team trailing 3-2. “What a finish. It’s hard to believe right now just because we were down 3-2 with only 2 minutes to go. How quickly things can change. That’s why you never give up and play until the final buzzer.”
It was the second shocking loss for the Devils in the series. They lost Game 4 on a goal by Jokinen with 0.2 seconds to play.
This time they gave away the series in the final 1:20.
“They scored two goals in the final two minutes of a hockey game to win it,” Devils center John Madden said. “I will never forget it.”
Jokinen tied it after taking a great cross-ice setup by Joni Pitkanen. Staal then buried the Devils with a shot from the middle of the right circle after a rush up the ice with 31.7 seconds to play.
“It was pretty quiet when Jussi scored,” Staal said. “We were on the bench and we were obviously the only ones cheering and pretty excited. We went over the boards after that goal and we were like, ’Why not get another one?’ It happened and we’ll take the win.”
Carolina next plays the top-seeded Bruins in a series that starts on Friday in Boston.
Tuomo Ruutu and Ray Whitney also scored for Carolina and Ward was magnificent, making 32 saves.
Brian Rolston, Jay Pandolfo and Jamie Langenbrunner connected for New Jersey, while Martin Brodeur made 27 saves in a game that will be remembered as much for Carolina’s comeback as the Devils’ choke.
For the Devils, it was their second straight first-round exit, and this one had to be tougher than last year’s embarrassing loss in five games to the Rangers.
“I really don’t know what to say. I am shocked, stunned,” Devils coach Brent Sutter said.
Zach Parise sat in front of his locker with his hands in his face. Most players spoke in very low voices, and none could recall a more gut-wrenching loss.
New Jersey was 1:20 away from advancing when its world was shattered.
“These guys do a lot of those things against us,” Brodeur said. “They beat us with two-tenths of a second to play and now this, it’s stunning.”
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Staal won the game with a blast from the same circle that silenced the crowd of 17,625.
“It was a great shot,” Brodeur said. “All series long we didn’t let him skate with speed with the puck down the wing, but for whatever reason with no time on the clock we let him do it.
“He made the shot he wanted and beat me clean.”
At the end, the Hurricanes jumped into one another’s arms while the Devils stood in disbelief.
“I think a lot of them were in shock, as they should be,” Staal said. “I would be if it was the other way around. It was a great series. It was a battle all the way through. We fought hard, they fought hard, a couple of overtime games, a lot of one-goal games. It was a fight to the finish. Two great goalies. It was one of the best series I’ve ever been a part of.”
Until the late rally, Rolston’s second-period, power-play blast was the difference. It came after a giveaway by Carolina’s Patrick Eaves in the Devils’ zone.
Brodeur then made three saves on a two-man Carolina power-play advantage. All seemed set for New Jersey to advance — until the late collapse.
Whitney had tied the game 2-2 on a fluky goal. Staal made a pass from behind the net that Whitney took a swing at and missed. The puck hit his skate and went in the net.
Ruutu quieted the white-towel-waving Devils crowd — at least for a minute or so — when he fired home a shot from the right circle just 62 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Langenbrunner got the fans going again a little more than a minute later. Zach Parise skated around the net and sent a cross-ice pass for the captain to slam-dunk from the side of the net.
Linemates Brendan Shanahan and John Madden made excellent plays to set up Pandolfo’s go-ahead goal. Shanahan took a hit at the blue line while making the pass to set up Madden and Pandolfo on a 2-on-1. Madden centered from the left circle and Pandolfo redirected the puck past Ward.
Notes: The Devils scratched D Bryce Salvador for the third straight game with a knee injury. ... Carolina has beaten New Jersey in three of four playoff series, including the last three.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
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 | NHL All-Stars Take a look at the players who competed in Team Chara's 12-9 victory over Team Alfredsson. more photos |
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
