RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas had two goals and two assists as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Sunday.
Andrei Svechnikov and Eric Robinson also scored for the Hurricanes, who’ve won two straight following a 1-2 road trip. Robinson added two assists. Pyotr Kochetkov made 29 saves.
Necas has a 13-game points streak since he was kept off the scoresheet Oct. 19 at St. Louis.
Jake Neighbours opened the scoring for St. Louis, but the Blues lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1).
CAPITALS 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored three goals Sunday night to continue his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career record, and former Golden Knight Logan Thompson saved 40 shots in his first game back at T-Mobile Arena as Washington beat Vegas.
Jakob Chychrun and Jakub Vrana also scored goals for the Capitals, and Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas each had two assists.
Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar scored for the Golden Knights, and Ilya Samsonov stopped 20 shots.
Ovechkin now has 866 goals, 29 from surpassing The Great One as the NHL career leader. It was his 31st career hat trick and his 176th career multigoal game, behind only Gretzky’s 189. Ovechkin also extended his record to 315 power-play goals.
Both goals also were his first against former Capitals goalie Samsonov.
RANGERS 2, KRAKEN 0
SEATTLE (AP) — Alexis Lafreniere and Zac Jones scored as New York beat Seattle.
Jonathan Quick stopped 24 shots for his second straight shutout and 62nd of his career. Quick has won all five of his starts as the backup to Igor Shesterkin.
Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves for the Kraken, who snapped a four-game winning streak.
Lafreniere got the opening goal with 2:30 left in the second period. Artemi Panarin’s pass from the left boards found Lafreniere at the left side of the net behind Grubauer for an easy goal. The assist extended Panarin’s point-scoring streak to seven games.
Jones added a second goal about three minutes into the third period.
PREDATORS , CANUCKS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored two power-play goals to help Nashville beat Vancouver.
Nashville improved to 5-10-3, winning for the first time in four games and for only the second time on the road at this season.
Zachary L’Heureux scored his first NHL goal and Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist — into an empty net — also scored for Nashville. Juuse Saros made 24 saves.
Aatu Raty, Elias Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood scored Vancouver, and former Predator Kevin Lankinen stopped 16 shots. The Canucks dropped to 9-5-3.
The Predators opened the scoring at 5:28 of the first period when L’Heureux collected a loose puck in front of the net and fired it past Lankinen.
St. Louis Blues' Dylan Holloway (81) has his shot blocked by Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov with Sebastian Aho nearby during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
CHIBA, Japan (AP) — An Australian woman accused of smuggling amphetamines in a suitcase appeared in a Japanese court on Monday nearly two years after her arrest, saying she is innocent and that she was tricked into carrying them as part of an online romance scam.
Donna Nelson from Perth, Australia, was arrested at Japan’s Narita International Airport just outside Tokyo when customs officials found about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of stimulants, or phenylaminopropane, hidden in a double-bottom suitcase she was carrying.
Nelson, 58, said she received the suitcase from an acquaintance of a man she met on social media and brought it from Laos to Tokyo as instructed. She was supposed to meet up with the man in Japan but he never showed up, according to prosecutors.
She was arrested on the spot and later charged with violating the stimulants control and customs laws. She has been in custody for nearly two years.
Monday’s trial comes just weeks after the recent acquittal of an 88-year-old former boxer, Iwao Hakamada, who was on death row for about half a century on wrongful murder convictions. That case rekindled concerns about Japan’s closed-door investigation processes and lengthy trials.
Nelson, in a brief statement at the Chiba District Court near Tokyo, said she did not know the drugs were hidden in the suitcase and that she was carrying them for a man she thought she loved.
Prosecutors acknowledged the case is linked to a romance scam but accused Nelson of smuggling the drugs, claiming she knew the contents of the suitcase.
Nelson entered the courtroom escorted by a pair of uniformed guards who removed her handcuffs and a rope around her waist as she took a seat to stand trial. She repeatedly looked toward her daughters who were seated in the audience.
It was an emotional moment for her and her family to see each other for the first time since her trip two years ago. Her daughters said they believe their mother is innocent.
One of Nelson’s daughters, Kristal Hilaire, said she wants the court to know her mother is a good person.
“She thought she was coming to Japan for her love story. She didn’t have any other intentions other than that. And that’s what we need everyone to know and hear at the court this week,” Hilaire said.
The daughter added that the family is “just trying to be strong because when mum locks her eyes with us, I want her to feel our strength and that she will feed off that.”
During Monday’s session, Nelson’s lawyer Rie Nishida said her client is the victim of a romance scam and that she “had her trust and love taken advantage of."
Nishida said that customs officials' limited English-language ability led to mistranslations and the accusation that Nelson knew what she was carrying.
AP video journalist Mayuko Ono contributed.
Japanese lawyer Rie Nishida, center, enters to the Chiba District Court on the opening day of the trial over Indigenous community leader Donna Nelson for allegedly attempting to import drugs into Japan Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Prosecutors head to the Chiba District Court on the opening day of the trial over Australian citizen Donna Nelson for allegedly attempting to import drugs into Japan Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Chiba, east of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
The Chiba District Court is seen where the opening day of the trial over Australian citizen Donna Nelson for allegedly attempting to import drugs into Japan is taking place Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Chiba, near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Prosecutors with the evidence head to the Chiba District Court on the opening day of the trial over Australian citizen Donna Nelson for allegedly attempting to import drugs into Japan Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Chiba, east of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Family members of Australian citizen Donna Nelson speak to media before heading to the Chiba District Court on the opening day of the trial over Nelson for allegedly attempting to import drugs into Japan Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Chiba, east of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Family members of Australian citizen Donna Nelson head to the Chiba District Court on the opening day of the trial over Nelson for allegedly attempting to import drugs into Japan Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Chiba, east of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
