Longtime State Department spokesman, diplomat Richard Boucher, dies at 73

WASHINGTON (AP) — Richard Boucher, who served for more than a decade as the spokesman for the State Department and assistant secretary of state for public affairs, has died at age 73. He died Friday at his home in northern Virginia after a battle with spindle-cell sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer, according to his son.

Boucher had been the face of U.S. foreign policy at the State Department podium across administrations throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, beginning in the George H.W. Bush presidency and continuing through Bill Clinton’s and George W. Bush’s terms in office. Boucher served as the spokesman for secretaries of state James Baker, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.

In a career that took him from the Peace Corps though Africa and Asia as well as in Washington, Boucher also served as U.S. Consul General Hong Kong during the 1997 handover of the territory from Britain to China, and later used the skills he learned there to help orchestrate an end to the U.S.-China spy plane crisis in early 2001.

After leaving the spokesman’s job, Boucher became assistant secretary of state for state for South and Central Asia and was then ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Retired veteran CBS journalist Charles Wolfson, who worked with Boucher for years, lauded him as an effective State Department spokesman but also a valued professional colleague and friend.

“He was a superb diplomat, an excellent spokesman and an even better human being,” Wolfson said.

FILE - From left, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson and U.S. Central Command General David Petraeus speak with Pakistan's Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, right, during their meeting in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Nov. 3, 2008. AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, File)

FILE - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher speaks during a press conference in Mumbai, India, Jan. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File)

FILE - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher gestures has he talks to journalists during a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Berkly Catton scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Seattle Kraken rallied from two goals down and beat the New York Rangers 4-2 on Monday night.

Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann also scored for the Kraken, and Philipp Grubauer had 19 saves. Seattle won for the ninth time in 12 games (9-1-2).

Mika Zibanejad and Sam Carrick scored for the Rangers, and Jonathan Quick finished with 25 saves. New York lost for the seventh time in eight games (1-5-2) and fell to 5-12-4 at Madison Square Garden this season.

Catton gave the Kraken a 3-2 lead with 7:58 left in the third, knocking in a loose puck after his initial attempt was stopped by the right pad of a sprawled Quick down on the ice.

McCann added an empty-netter with 10 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Kraken tied it with two goals in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second period.

Frederick Gaudreau sent a backhand pass from the left side near the boards to Tolvanen in front, and settled the puck and beat Quick at the 1-minute mark.

Eberle tied it at 4:27 as he fired it past Quick from the high slot for his 16th of the season

Zibanejad scored for the Rangers 3:08 into the game. Grubauer deflected Zibanejad's initial shot wide and off the end board, and Zibanejad followed it and sent the rebound from behind the goal line back off the goalie and in for his 18th.

Carrick made it 2-0 less than 2 1/2 minutes later. After a turnover by the Kraken in the neutral zone back across the blue line, Carrick got the puck, skated into the left circle and beat Grubauer low on the blocker side.

Kraken: At New Jersey on Wednesday night in the third of a five-game trip.

Rangers: Host Ottawa on Wednesday night to finish a two-game homestand.

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Seattle Kraken's Cale Fleury (8) celebrates after his goal against the Vancouver Canucks with teammate Shane Wright (51) during the first period of an NHL game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)