sports SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2012
Boonen grabs 4th Tour of Qatar title DOHA: Tom Boonen of Belgium won his fourth Tour of Qatar title yesterday, having led the race since he won the opening stage last Sunday. Boonen and his Omega-Pharms Quick Step were careful to protect his lead on the sixth and last stage, 120 kilometers from Sealine Beach Resort into Doha Corniche. He finished the stage 15th, happy to track Tyler Farrar, who was sixth, and beat the American by 28 seconds overall to add to his tour victories in 2006, 2008 and 2009. “It is always nice to win here in Doha. Whether it is the first stage or last, I feel at ease in Qatar,” Boonen said. “We had a good lead going into the final stage and I wanted to ride safe without any mishap. “I am glad to start the season with a win and now I can look forward to the classics. My team did a great job this week.” Farrar, riding for Garmin-Barracuda, was followed in the overall by Spanish rider Juan Antonio Flecha of Sky Procycling, 33 seconds back, then Boonen’s teammate Gert Steegmans, 34 seconds down. The stage was won by Arnaud Demare, the under-23 road world champion, for his first pro win. Russia’s Denis Galimzyanov of Katsuha was second, and last year’s winner, Australian Mark Renshaw of Rabobank was third. British rider Mark Cavdenish of Sky Team, who won two stages this week, ended the tour on a sour note when he collided with another cyclist and crashed 200 meters from the end. Cavendish finished sixth overall. —AP
DOHA: Belgium’s Tom Boonen of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step celebrates after winning the Tour of Qatar cycling race yesterday. —AFP
Blues shootout win ends Devils streak Flyers back on track with win over Leafs NEWARK: St Louis’ TJ Oshie scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Blues a 4-3 win over New Jersey on Thursday, ending the Devils’ five-game winning streak. Oshie, the first shooter in the tiebreaker for the Blues, fooled the New Jersey goalie with an off-speed shot that trickled through his pads. Blues goalie Brian Elliott, who came on as a second-period substitute, stopped three Devils in the shootout, having also stopped all 15 shots he faced in regulation and overtime. Chris Stewart, David Perron and Patrik Berglund scored for St Louis, which is 11-0-2 against Eastern Conference teams. Adam Parise, Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias had New Jersey’s goals. SENATORS 4, PREDATORS 3 In Ottawa, Chris Phillips scored his first two goals of the season in his 1,000th NHL game as Ottawa edged Nashville and ended a sevengame skid. Jason Spezza also scored twice for the Senators. Phillips scored his first goal in 75 games in the second period, then added a power-play goal in the third to put Ottawa up by two. His most recent two-goal game also came in a milestone match, his 800th. FLYERS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3 In Philadelphia, Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn scored 1:14 apart in the second period to lift Philadelphia over Toronto. Scott Hartnell and Max Talbot also had goals for Philadelphia, which snapped a three-game losing hump and moved three points clear of New Jersey for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Tyler Bozak scored twice and Joffrey Lupul had one for the Maple Leafs. CANUCKS 5, WILD 2 In St Paul, Minnesota, Henrik and Daniel Sedin both scored against Minnesota for the first time in their careers, leading Vancouver over the Wild. Maxim Lapierre, Manny Malhotra and Ryan Kesler also scored for the Canucks. A scan earlier in the day on Henrik Sedin’s foot came back clean and the Canucks captain played in his 553rd consecutive game, the second-longest active streak in the NHL. Dany Heatley scored 13 seconds in for the Wild; the
fastest goal to start a game in team history. Devin Setoguchi got Minnesota within 4-2 in the third period. Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu returned after eight games out with a shoulder injury. RANGERS 4, LIGHTNING 3, SO In New York, Brad Richards scored in overtime to give New York victory over Tampa Bay. New York’s Brian Boyle had tied it in the third period. Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-best 36th goal of the season in the first period and added an assist for Tampa Bay, which also got goals from defenseman Bruno Gervais and Vincent Lecavalier. Derek Stepan had a goal and an assist, and captain Ryan Callahan added a goal for the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers. PANTHERS 3, KINGS 1 In Sunrise, Florida, Sean Bergenheim and Mike Santorelli scored in the second period, sending Florida past Los Angeles. Matt Bradley also scored for the Panthers, who beat the Kings for the first time in eight tries. Drew Doughty scored for Los Angeles, which is the lowest-scoring team in the league. JETS 3, CAPITALS 2, SO In Washington, Winnipeg overcame a twogoal deficit in the final 2:15 of regulation and then prevailed in a shootout for a victory over Washington. Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien awoke a pedestrian Jets attack with power-play goals to force overtime. Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little then scored in the shootout. Alex Ovechkin had the lone shootout goal for the Capitals. All of the game’s goals came in the final 101/2 minutes of the third period, and all were on power plays. Ovechkin opened the scoring with 10:14 to play, and Alexander Semin made it 2-0 with 7:30 remaining. COYOTES 2, FLAMES 1, OT In Glendale, Arizona, Shane Doan scored a power-play goal in overtime as Phoenix beat Calgary to extend its winning streak to a season-high four games. Phoenix moved into the eighth place in the Western Conference. Flames
defenseman Blair Jones was hit by a shot during the overtime power play and was left ineffective. With essentially two Calgary defenders on the ice, Doan ripped a one-timer past the Flames goalie. Taylor Pyatt had given the Coyotes a 1-0 lead in the first period. Olli Jokinen leveled for Calgary in the third. CANADIENS 4, ISLANDERS 2 In Uniondale, New York, Max Pacioretty’s hat trick drove Montreal to victory over New York and its third straight win. Pacioretty scored in each period, and Scott Gomez also netted his first in more than a year for the Canadiens, who moved above the Islanders in the standings.
Matt Moulson made it 3-1 with 2:41 remaining on a power play, with an assist from John Tavares, who earned the 100th helper of his NHL career. Islanders captain Mark Streit made it 3-2 just 48 seconds later before Gomez scored. STARS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2 In Columbus, Jamie Benn scored twice as Dallas defeated Columbus. Kari Lehtonen had 26 saves while Alex Goligoski and Stephane Robidas each had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who led 3-0 after 21 minutes. Vinny Prospal and Rick Nash scored for the Blue Jackets. —AP
NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Thursday. St. Louis 4, New Jersey 3 (SO); Montreal 4, NY Islanders 2; NY Rangers 4, Tampa Bay 3 (OT); Philadelphia 4, Toronto 3; Winnipeg 3, Washington 2 (SO); Dallas 4, Columbus 2; Ottawa 4, Nashville 3; Florida 3, Los Angeles 1; Vancouver 5, Minnesota 2; Phoenix 2, Calgary 1 (OT). Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF NY Rangers 34 13 5 145 Philadelphia 31 16 7 177 New Jersey 31 19 4 153 Pittsburgh 30 19 5 163 NY Islanders 22 23 8 128
GA PTS 106 73 160 69 152 66 141 65 154 52
Boston Ottawa Toronto Montreal Buffalo
Northeast Division 33 17 2 180 28 22 7 166 28 21 6 171 22 24 9 144 23 24 6 132
117 177 161 149 154
68 63 62 53 52
Florida Washington Winnipeg Tampa Bay Carolina
Southeast Division 25 17 11 134 28 21 5 151 26 24 6 134 23 24 6 151 20 25 10 139
150 152 153 180 168
61 61 58 52 50
Detroit St. Louis Nashville Chicago Columbus
Western Conference Central Division 36 17 2 176 131 32 14 7 133 109 32 18 5 155 144 29 18 7 171 163 15 33 6 125 179
74 71 69 65 36
Vancouver Minnesota Calgary Colorado Edmonton
Northwest Division 34 15 5 176 25 21 8 124 25 22 8 131 27 25 3 140 21 28 5 143
73 58 58 57 47
135 141 149 153 162
Pacific Division San Jose 29 16 6 148 121 64 Los Angeles 26 19 10 119 120 62 Phoenix 26 21 8 145 144 60 Dallas 28 23 2 141 150 58 Anaheim 21 24 8 138 158 50 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)