In brief: Marleau’s goal helps Sharks oust Detroit
Hockey: Patrick Marleau scored the tiebreaking goal 6:59 into the third period and the San Jose Sharks eliminated the two-time defending Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings with a 2-1 victory Saturday night in San Jose, Calif., in Game 5 of their second-round series.
Joe Thornton scored the first goal for San Jose and then set up Marleau’s tally with a pass from behind the net to help the Sharks advance to the conference final for the second time in franchise history.
•Penguins grab series lead: Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves, Kris Letang scored on a power play after accidentally setting up Montreal’s decisive goal in the previous game and the Pittsburgh Penguins moved to within a victory of eliminating the Canadiens by winning 2-1 in Pittsburgh.
Sergei Gonchar also scored as the reigning Stanley Cup champions seized a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 6 set for Montreal on Monday night.
•Canada wins opener: Chris Mason made 23 saves, and Steve Stamkos, Rene Bourque and Matt Duchene each had a goal and an assist to help 24-time champion Canada beat Italy 5-1 in Mannheim, Germany, in its world hockey championship opener.
Lakers rally to take 3-0 series lead
NBA: Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher hit back-to-back 3-pointers during an 8-2 run in the final minute and the visiting Lakers held on for a 111-110 victory over the Utah Jazz that put Los Angeles on the verge of clinching the Western Conference playoff series.
Bryant finished with 35 points and Fisher scored 20 for the Lakers, who can close out the four-game sweep with a win Monday night in Game 4 in Salt Lake City.
•Magic whip Hawks again: Rashard Lewis scored 22 points and the backups helped Orlando pull away early with Dwight Howard on the bench in foul trouble as the Magic romped to another playoff blowout, moving to the brink of their second straight sweep with a 105-75 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta.
Howard had 21 points and 16 rebounds but was hardly dominating. No problem for the Magic, who went up 3-0 in the best-of-7 series and can wrap it up in Game 4 on Monday night.
Unseeded Spaniard wins Italian Open
Tennis: Jelena Jankovic lost the Italian Open final in Rome to unseeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, falling 7-6 (5), 7-5 to the Spaniard’s array of touch volleys and drop shots.
The seventh-ranked Serb beat hard-hitting Venus and Serena Williams in her previous two matches, but struggled against Martinez Sanchez’s clay-court shotmaking in this warmup for the French Open in two weeks.
•Federer falls in semifinal: Roger Federer faltered in his tuneup for the French Open, losing to defending champion Albert Montanes of Spain 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the Estoril Open semifinals in Oeiras, Portugal.
Montanes, seeded fourth, will play for the title today against Frederico Gil, who became the first Portuguese to reach the final after he upset fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
Stanford wins men’s NCAA volleyball title
Miscellany: Brad Lawson carried Stanford to the NCAA volleyball championship, finishing with 23 kills as the Cardinal (24-6) beat Penn State (24-8) in three sets in Stanford, Calif.
Spencer McLachlin added 12 kills and Evan Romero had 11 as the Cardinal won their first title since 1997 with the 30-25, 30-20, 30-18 victory.
•Williams wins decision: Boxer Paul Williams earned a bizarre victory in Carson, Calif., when Kermit Cintron wasn’t allowed to continue after tumbling through the ropes and landing on a ringside table early in the fourth round.
The 154-pound bout ended with Cintron strapped to a stretcher and wearing a neck brace, though he wanted to get up and keep fighting.
Williams was awarded a technical victory by split decision because he led on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
•Ching back in uniform: Former Gonzaga Bulldog and U.S. national team forward Brian Ching is back in uniform for the Houston Dynamo for the first time since straining his left hamstring on April 1.
•Payton deflects questions: New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton says this weekend’s rookie camp is the wrong time to address accusations that the club covered up prescription drug thefts and abuse at team headquarters.
Payton says he cannot discuss the matter while a civil lawsuit filed by former team security director Geoffrey Santini is pending.
The suit claims linebackers coach Joe Vitt was caught on video stealing Vicodin from the team’s drug locker and that the Saints tried to keep it quiet.
It also claims Payton was allowed to take excessive amounts of Vicodin from team supplies.
•Webber leads qualifying: Mark Webber claimed his second pole position of the Formula One season, leading Red Bull’s 1-2 qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Spain.
Webber secured Red Bull’s fifth straight start from first place on the grid with a lap time of 1 minute, 19.995 seconds at the Circuit de Catalunya. Sebastian Vettel trailed for the Austrian team’s third 1-2 start of the season.
•Rua victorious: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua avenged his a loss and knocked out Lyoto Machida in the first round of their rematch at UFC 113 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.