Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-0 on Friday. No. 1-ranked Nadal

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - For just the third time in franchise history, the New York Islanders are perfect through their first four games.John Tavares scored the decisive goal of the shootout and the Islanders beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Thursday night.San Joses Logan Couture and New Yorks Kyle Okposo traded goals earlier in the shootout before Tavares beat Alex Stalock in the fifth round. San Joses Joe Thornton missed on his turn and the Islanders improved to 4-0-0 before a raucous crowd at Nassau Coliseum.The Islanders were perfect through four games previously to start in 1976-77 and 2001-02.These are fun games to play because theres such great energy in the building, said Tavares, who added two assists and leads the NHL with nine points. We brought a good work ethic and a determination to win battles.San Joses Tomas Hertl tied the tense game at 11:16 of the third after goals by Okposo and Josh Bailey earlier in the period put the Islanders ahead 3-2.Stalock made a spectacular glove stop on Tavares in the last minute of overtime and finished with 42 saves.The pace of the game was great, it was a real test of our players, Sharks coach Todd McClellan said. But I thought they had more tenacity.The Islanders dominated the first two periods, outshooting the Sharks 28-11 but they trailed 2-1 entering the third.Okposo scored a power-play goal at 5:57 on a slick pass into the slot from Frans Nielsen. Josh Bailey put the home team ahead at 8:38 with his second of the season.The goal inspired one of many loud choruses of Lets Go Islanders! from the Nassau Coliseum crowd. The Islanders will leave the classic arena after this season for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.The fans are tremendous, they are passionate, Tavares added. They want us to be a playoff team and thats what we want too. We want to be a tough team at home.Okposos goal was the Islanders sixth on the power-play in 14 chances this season.Thats one of the premier teams in the West and I think we outplayed them, Okposo said. Thats the kind of game were capable of. And we still have room to grow.Brent Burns and Patrick Marleau scored second-period goals for the Sharks, who had opened with three wins.Burns opened the scoring for the Sharks at 1:39 of the second with assists to Joe Pavelski and Mirco Mueller.It was the first NHL point for the 19-year-old Mueller, a first-round draft pick by the Sharks in 2013. The goal was first of the season for Burns, who shrugged when asked if the wide shots differential between the teams was a true barometer of the game.Sometimes stats are weird, he said.Nick Leddy tied it for the Islanders at 4:05 of the second, pouncing on a loose puck in the high slot and sending it past Stalock for his second goal.Patrick Marleau put the Sharks back on top with a power-play goal at 9:14, scoring from the left point 7 seconds after Ryan Strome went off for cross-checking.Marleaus team-best third goal this season was the 440th of his career. The 35-year-old forward is playing his 18th season with the Sharks.The Islanders opened the season with two wins over the Carolina Hurricanes and a comeback 6-3 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. They next will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.Our puck management was good and we had good decision making, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. We did a lot of little things well.San Joses John Scott hammered Mikhail Grabovski midway through the first period with an apparently clean hit. Grabovski didnt return to the game. The Islanders said the forward sustained an upper body injury.Earlier Thursday, the Islanders sent rookie defenceman Griffin Reinhart to AHL Bridgeport and activated Calvin de Haan from injured reserve.NOTES: The Islanders wore the blue alternate jerseys they debuted for last Januarys outdoor game against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium ... The Islanders scratched Colin McDonald and Eric Boulton plus defenceman Matt Donovan. ... San Jose scratched Mike Brown and Mike Sheppard and defenceman Scott Hannan. Custom Indianapolis Colts Jerseys . Former two-time Olympic gold medallist Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine in both her "A" and "B" samples, the German Olympic Committee said. Marvin Harrison Jersey . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. http://www.officialindianapoliscoltspro....k-colts-jersey/. - Dominika Cibulkova erased three match points in the second set Wednesday and beat Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Sony Open. Indianapolis Colts Jerseys . The Los Angeles Clippers showed them just how ugly that life could be. Jared Dudley scored a season-high 21 points, Chris Paul added 16 points and 17 assists, and the Clippers jumped all over the Bulls in Roses absence for a 121-82 victory Sunday. Peyton Manning Jersey . Murakami gracefully executed a double triple toe jump and a triple flip jump that put her at the top of a tightly contested race with 64.73 points, just ahead of Li Zijun of China on 62. RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Top-seeded Rafael Nadal reached the semifinals of the Rio Open, showing no problems with a sore back in defeating Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-0 on Friday. No. 1-ranked Nadal, in his first tournament since losing the Australian Open final, played his best match in Brazil and will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the semifinals. Andjuar ripped through Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-1, 6-1. In the other semifinal, second-seeded David Ferrer will meet unseeded Alexandr Dolgopolov. Ferrer defeated Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Dolgopolov of Ukraine advanced against third-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-1. Ferrer has won 21 ATP singles title and will be the favourite to reach the final on Sunday against Nadal with 61 titles including 13 Grand Slams. "I think I have improved in everything," Nadal said. "I think I played a complete match. I had my best game of the tournament, and not just that but I played at a very high level. Really, I did things I wasnt able to do a few days ago. I moved better. I was more intense, more aggressive." Asked about the back, Nadal backed off. "Were not going to talk every day about the back," he said. "Im in the semifinals." Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the final in Melbourne, eventually losing to Stanislas Wawrinka in a match he was favoured to win. He took several weeks off and is using Rio to tune up for three months of clay-court play leading to the French Open. Ferrer and Bellucci had to wait for more than an hour with the Spaniard leading 2-1 in the third set when the lights went out at the outdoor stadium. "It was really tough," Ferrer said. &"When the match was stopped it was practically in my hands.dddddddddddd It was bad luck with what happened with the lights." Dolgopolov was asked if he planned to return to Ukraine, perhaps pulling out of the tournament to go to a country bordering on civil war. "I dont think its going to change a lot at this point if I just finished playing and come back to my country," said Dolgopolov, who lives in the wealthy European enclave of Monte Carlo. "Its still going to be the same situation. I will just be closer. But I am not considering that at this moment." In the combined ATP-WTA event, top-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic reached the semifinals, defeating Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-0. Zakopalova will face Brazilian Teliana Pereira, who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-4, 6-4. Pereira is a home favourite and the first Brazilian woman in 23 years to crack the WTA top 100. "She (Zakopalova) is the favourite, the top-seeded player," Pereira said. "I have to play like I did today and keep my good rhythm. But I have a lot of confidence and I will have the Brazilian fans behind me." Brazils most famous female player is still Maria Bueno, who won seven Grand Slam singles titles, the last in the 1966 US Open. Zakopalova will be looking for her third WTA singles title. None of the other semifinalists has won a WTA singles title. Japans Kurumi Nara also advanced. She won the first set 7-6 (5), and was leading the second 2-0 when Spains Lourdes Dominguez Lino withdrew with a left leg injury. She will face Nastassja Burnett of Italy, who defeated Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. 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