Dylan Guenther puts Utah ahead to stay in 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres

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Dylan Guenther puts Utah ahead to stay in 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres

2025-03-21 12:20 Last Updated At：12:41

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Dylan Guenther scored on a rebound with 5:47 to play to put the Utah Hockey Club ahead to stay in a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

Guenther's team-leading 25th goal of the season gave Utah a 3-2 lead before the team added a pair of empty-netters.

Mikhail Sergachev had two goals, including one of the empty-netters, and Logan Cooley also scored a goal. Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots.

JJ Peterka scored a goal for the Sabres in his return to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. His power-play goal came with 11 seconds left in the first period.

Ryan McLeod also scored a short-handed goal for Buffalo and James Reimer had 27 saves.

Buffalo: The Sabres are in last place in the Eastern Conference but had won three of their previous four before Thursday's loss.

Utah: The Utah Hockey Club earned a critical two points in its quest for a playoff spot. The team is in 11th place in the Western Conference with 73 points, four points behind eighth-place St. Louis, which beat Vancouver 4-3 in overtime on Thursday night.

Beck Malenstyn's goal 11 seconds into the second period that would have given Buffalo a 2-1 lead was disallowed after a video review for goaltender interference.

McLeod has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last seven games, including one point in each of his last five contests. His current five-game point streak is tied for the longest of his career (Oct. 12 to 22, 2024).

On Saturday, the Sabres remain on the road at the Minnesota Wild while Utah plays host to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Convalescing Pope Francis opens Holy Week with in-person greeting in St. Peter's Square

2025-04-13 22:29 Last Updated At：22:31

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A convalescing Pope Francis greeted the crowd in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, wishing more than 20,000 faithful a “Happy Palm Sunday, Happy Holy Week," in yet another reassuring public sign of his recovery from a life-threatening battle with double pneumonia.

Many in the crowd reached out to touch Francis’ hand or garments as he was brought in a wheelchair down a ramp to the main altar, where he issued his brief greeting into a microphone. The 88-year-old pope was not wearing nasal tubes for supplemental oxygen, as he had during a similar appearance last Sunday.

On his way back to St. Peter’s Basilica from where he had emerged, Francis stopped to bless a rosary, and offered candy to a boy who greeted him.

The 88-year-old Francis is entering his fourth week of convalescence during which doctors have advised him to avoid crowds. While Francis is clearly eager to show he is feeling better, he has not spoken more than a few words in public as he recovers from a severe respiratory crisis that has labored his speech. The Vatican said it was waiting to advise on what role he may play in upcoming Holy Week events leading up to Easter Sunday.

It was his second time in St. Peter’s Square before a crowd since leaving the hospital, following last Sunday's unexpected appearance that thrilled the faithful. He also met privately with King Charles III and Queen Camilla this week, and made an impromptu tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, stopping to pray, and to thank a pair of restorers for their work on the basilica's masterpieces.

On Saturday, the eve of Holy Week, Francis went to the St. Mary Major Basilica in central Rome to pray privately before a favorite icon of the Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani. The basilica, which he typically visits before and after his foreign trips, was also his first stop after leaving the Gemelli hospital on March 23.

In the traditional Sunday blessing, the pontiff thanked the faithful for their prayers. “At this time of physical weakness, they help me to feel God’s closeness, compassion and tenderness even more.” For the ninth week, including his five-week hospitalization starting Feb. 14, the blessing was delivered as a text.

The pope offered prayers for those suffering in the conflict in Sudan, which marks its second anniversary on Tuesday, and for Lebanon, where civil war began 50 years ago, as well as for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, Congo, Myanmar and South Sudan.

In a prepared Palm Sunday homily read by a top Vatican cardinal, Francis urged the faithful to carry the cross “of those who suffer around us” to mark the start of the solemn Holy Week.

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals, led the celebrations, leading a procession of cardinals around the piazza’s central obelisk carrying an ornately braided palm that recalls Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, when crowds waved palm branches to honor him.

The initial welcome contrasts with the suffering that follows, leading up to his crucifixion, which Christians observe on Good Friday, followed by his resurrection, celebrated on Easter Sunday.

The faithful emerged from St. Peter's Square carrying blessed palm fronds or olive branches to mark the occasion. While the pope's appearance was widely expected, pilgrims acknowledged some concern that gusts of wind might keep him from entering the square.

“There was a bit of worry when a few drops fell and it was windy but then at the end he surprised us and it was a really great emotion,'' said Luigi Mighali. "I think his words, ‘Happy Holy Week and Happy Palm Sunday,' moved everyone.''

Yesica Andagua, a Peruvian nun, said she was gratified to see the pope doing so well.

"The truth is that it has given me a lot of joy, at least for me, to see that he is getting better and may he get better soon, God willing,” she said.

Video journalist Francesco Sportelli contributed.