SNAPSHOTS
Kahun lifts Sabres past Capitals 3-2 in shootout
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Dominik Kahun scored the decisive goal in the seventh round of a shootout, and the Buffalo Sabres stopped a sixgame slide by topping the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Monday night.
Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark blocked 33 shots through overtime and six of seven shootout attempts in his first game in six weeks. He had been sidelined by a right leg injury. Jack Eichel snapped a career-worst sevengame point drought and rookie Victor Olofsson also scored for Buffalo.
Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist, and Dmitry Orlov also scored as Washington erased a 2-0 deficit in the third period. It was Ovechkin’s 48th goal of the season, tying him with Boston’s David Pastrnak for the NHL lead.
Despite the loss, the Capitals earned a point to move ahead of idle Philadelphia atop the Metropolitan Division.
WINNIPEG — Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists to lead Winnipeg over Arizona in a matchup with Western Conference playoff implications.
Cody Eakin broke a 2-all tie at 11:33 of the third period when he picked up the puck and backhanded a shot past Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper. It was Eakin’s first goal since he was acquired in a trade with Vegas on Feb. 21.
Mark Scheifele added an empty-netter, and defenceman Tucker Poolman had a goal and an assist for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves as the Jets moved into the top wildcard spot in the West with 78 points, four more than the Coyotes.
Nick Schmaltz scored both goals for Arizona, which squandered a 2-0 lead. Kuemper stopped 30 shots.
ST. LOUIS — Brett Connolly scored early in the third period and Chris Driedger stopped 26 shots, leading Florida to the win.
Mike Hoffman also scored for Florida, and Aleksi Saarela picked up the first two assists of his career. He has played in nine regular-season games for the Panthers.
Driedger made his third consecutive start after being held out of the lineup for almost two months with a lower-body injury. He is 2-0-1.
Colton Parayko scored for St. Louis. Jordan Binnington recorded 32 saves.
Florida moved within one point of idle Carolina for the final playoff spot in the East.
MIAMI — The NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer are closing access to locker rooms and clubhouses to all nonessential personnel, including media, in response to the coronavirus crisis, the leagues announced in a joint statement Monday night.
They said they made the decision “after consultation with infectious disease and public health experts.”
The changes, which the leagues say are temporary, will begin Tuesday — though some NHL teams began putting them into use this past weekend and the Buffalo Sabres did the same on Monday night. The NBA said interviews with players would continue in different settings, stressing a gap of 6-to-8 feet between reporters and interview subjects.
The NBA held a call with team medical staffs later Monday and scheduled a Wednesday call between league officials and team owners to discuss next steps. The NBA told teams last week to prepare for the possibility of playing games in empty arenas.
It could happen in at least one NHL arena. Late Monday, California’s Santa Clara County announced a ban of all large gatherings of at least 1,000 people for the rest of the month. The policy would affect three San Jose Sharks home games, and the Sharks said in a statement they are reviewing their options. The team could play the games without fans, find a neutral site or play the games on the road.
MLB officials, like the NBA, held a conference call with all 30 of their franchises on Monday to discuss the new policies. All four leagues are collecting information from health officials.
More than 113,000 people worldwide have tested positive for the disease and over 3,900 people with the virus have died, most of them in China.