In brief: Alexander Steen’s 3OT goal lifts Blues over Chicago
NHL: Alexander Steen scored at 26 seconds of the third overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 victory over the defending Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
Steen beat Corey Crawford off a pair of short passes from Steve Ott and David Backes to cap the longest overtime game in franchise history.
Ryan Miller blanked the Blackhawks after Patrick Kane scored on a breakaway to put Chicago up 3-2 late in the first period.
Both teams face a short turnaround with Game 2 Saturday afternoon.
• Stastny saves Avs in win over Wild : Paul Stastny scored 7:27 into overtime after tying the game with 13.4 seconds remaining in regulation, lifting the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Wild in the opener of the Western Conference quarterfinals in Denver.
Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn also added goals for Colorado in Patrick Roy’s postseason debut behind the bench.
Erik Haula, Charlie Coyle, Ryan Suter and Kyle Brodziak scored for the Wild.
Stastny beat Ilya Bryzgalov with a close-in wrist shot in overtime, the same type of play Stastny used to tie the game in regulation.
• Rangers put away Flyers in 3rd: Brad Richards and Derek Stepan scored power-play goals 47 seconds apart in the third period, and the New York Rangers beat visiting Philadelphia 4-1 in the playoff opener to stretch their home-winning streak over the rival Flyers to nine games.
The teams were locked in a 1-1 tie when Jason Akeson – playing in just his third career NHL game – was given a double high-sticking penalty for clipping Rangers forward Carl Hagelin with 7:35 remaining.
New York quickly took advantage.
Richards gave the Rangers their first lead of the night when a rebound of Martin St. Louis’ shot came to him, and he fired it in from the right circle.
Richards and St. Louis hooked up again to help set up Stepan’s insurance goal. New York worked the puck around the Philadelphia end, and Richards faked a drive. He instead sent a hard pass to Stepan for a shot into the open left side.
• Sharks ease past Kings: Tomas Hertl and Raffi Torres both scored in their first game together as teammates and the San Jose Sharks jumped on top of Jonathan Quick and the rival visiting Los Angeles Kings with a 6-3 victory in their playoff opener.
Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic also scored for the Sharks, who managed just 10 goals against Quick in losing a seven-game series to Los Angeles in the second round last year. Antti Niemi made 31 saves.
Quick allowed three goals in the first period for the first time in his playoff career, including two in the final minute as the Kings were completely outclassed.
Quick was replaced by Martin Jones after allowing five goals on 28 shots in two periods and only watched as the Kings showed life in the third period with goals from Jake Muzzin, Slava Voynov and Trevor Lewis.
Chad Johnson signs with CFL team
FOOTBALL: Former NFL star Chad Johnson is heading to the Canadian Football League.
The 36-year-old receiver has signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes.
Johnson attended the Alouettes’ mini-camp this week in Florida.
The former Pro Bowler last appeared in an NFL game during the 2011 season with New England.
• Vikings sign Coleman: The Minnesota Vikings have signed former Philadelphia Eagles safety Kurt Coleman.
The seventh-round draft pick in 2010 out of Ohio State played the last four seasons for the Eagles, starting 29 of the 59 games he played in, though none of those starts came last year. Coleman’s best season was 2011, when he had four interceptions, five passes defended and one forced fumble. In 2012, he was second on the team with a career-best 105 tackles despite missing two games.
• Jaguars release four players: The Jacksonville Jaguars have released veteran linebacker Russell Allen after he failed a physical.
Allen started 29 games the last two seasons. He missed the final two games last year because of a concussion.
The team also released third-year defensive end D’Aundre Reed, second-year defensive end Will Pericak and first-year receiver Jabin Sambrano.
Kuchar builds on Masters momentum
GOLF: Matt Kuchar continued his stellar play from the Masters by putting together a strong start at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, S.C., shooting a 5-under 66 to share the first-round lead with Scott Langley and William McGirt.
There also was no major letdown for 20-year-old Masters runner-up Jordan Spieth, who opened with a 69, part of a large group tied for fifth at Harbour Town Golf Links.
Kuchar had a bogey-free round while Spieth played strongly in his second RBC Heritage in a group with U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson.
• Stanford takes lead in Honolulu: Angela Stanford shot an 8-under 64 on a wind-swept course to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship in Honolulu.
Stanford took the lead early with five birdies in a row on the front nine and finished the day with eight birdies. The best round of the tournament so far left the five-time LPGA Tour winner at 8-under 136.
Hawaii favorite Michelle Wie was one stroke back after a 67 that included five birdies.
Christie Kerr, a 16-time tour winner, shot a 66 and was tied for third with three others at 138. Former WSU golfer Kim Welch shot a 76, missing the cut.