The Minnesota Wild spoiled Henrik Lundqvist’s party. The Wild edged the New York Rangers 3-2 following a pre-game ceremony that saw the franchise retired Lundqvist’s Number 30 at Madison Square Garden. The Swedish netminder played 15 seasons with the Rangers and is only the 11th player to receive the honour.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are dealing with consecutive losses after winning 17 of their previous 19 games. Lucas Raymond scored the only goal of the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings beat Pittsburgh 3-2. Detroit secured its first win in four contests.
No Nathan MacKinnon, no problem for the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado was minus the injured forward but still beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 for its ninth straight win. MacKinnon is out until after the all-star break with a concussion and facial fracture suffered in Colorado’s 4-3 overtime victory over Boston on Wednesday.
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists as the Washington Capitals defeated former teammate Braden Holtby and the Dallas Stars 5-0. Vitek Vanecek stopped 30 shots for his second shutout of the season. The Capitals won in regulation for the first time since January 15th.
Brian Daboll is the new head coach of the New York Giants. Daboll, who was born in Welland, Ontario, before moving to New York state, spent the last four seasons as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive co-ordinator. The Giants just completed a fifth straight double-digit losing season.
Devin Booker scored 29 points as the league-leading Phoenix Suns defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 134-124. Chris Paul added 21 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. The Suns earned their ninth straight win to improve to 39-and-9 overall, their best start ever.
Friday’s Scores
NHL
Detroit 3 Pittsburgh 2 (SO)
Minnesota 3 NY Rangers 2
Colorado 6 Chicago 4
Washington 5 Dallas 0
Boston 2 Arizona 1
NBA
Orlando 119 Detroit 103
Atlanta 108 Boston 92
Charlotte 117 LA Lakers 114
Memphis 119 Utah 109
Denver 116 New Orleans 105
Portland 125 Houston 110
Miami 121 LA Clippers 114
Indiana 113 Oklahoma City 110 (OT)
San Antonio 131 Chicago 122
Phoenix 134 Minnesota 124
Milwaukee 123 New York 108
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Anaheim at Ottawa, 12:30 p.m.
Los Angeles at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Seattle at N.Y. Islanders, 2 p.m.
Winnipeg at St. Louis, 3 p.m.
San Jose at Florida, 6 p.m.
Edmonton at Montreal, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Vegas at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Arizona, 9 p.m.
Vancouver at Calgary, 10 p.m.
NBA
Boston at New Orleans, 7 p.m.
Indiana at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Sacramento at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Toronto at Miami, 8 p.m.
Washington at Memphis, 8 p.m.
Brooklyn at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.