In brief: Stewart leads Avalanche past Flames

NHL: Chris Stewart scored three goals for his second NHL hat trick, and Daniel Winnik broke a tie with 2:20 left in the Colorado Avalanche’s 6-5 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night in Calgary, Alberta.

Stewart has eight goals in 10 games this season. He also had three goals last March against St. Louis.

Brandon Yip and T.J. Galiardi also scored goals for Colorado.

Niklas Hagman, Tim Jackman, Matt Stajan, Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay scored for Calgary.

• Blue Jackets top Oilers in shootout: Nikita Filatov and Rick Nash scored in the shootout to overshadow Taylor Hall’s first NHL goal, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Columbus, Ohio.

Samuel Pahlsson and Kyle Wilson had goals in regulation for St. Louis, which has won three in a row and five of six.

• Halak, Blues shut out Predators: At Nashville, Tenn., Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the St. Louis Blues beat Nashville 3-0, handing the Predators their first regulation loss of the season.

Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund and Matt D’Agostini scored. Nashville has lost four straight at home.

• Rapid-fire goals send Kings past Stars: Alexei Ponikarovsky and Wayne Simmonds scored 9 seconds apart in the second period, Jonathan Quick made 29 saves, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 in Dallas.

Jack Johnson had three assists for the Kings. Brad Richards and Brandon Segal scored for Dallas.

• Blackhawks’ Hossa to miss time: Blackhawks wing Marian Hossa will miss the next few weeks with an upper body injury sustained in the second period of Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over Los Angeles. Coach Joel Quenneville said the injury is “not of serious nature” and he wasn’t sure when exactly it happened.

Colorado conquers Columbus in first leg

MLS playoffs: Pablo Mastroeni scored a goal in the 24th minute and the Colorado Rapids beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Commerce City, Colo.

Mastroeni, the only player remaining from the club’s last playoff appearance in 2006, finished a cross from Omar Cummings. It was Mastroeni’s 16th playoff game for Colorado, the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference

Colorado keeper Matt Pickens swatted away a shot in traffic in the 77th minute and blocked Andy Iro’s header in the 84th.

Notre Dame looks into football practice death

Miscellany: A day after a hydraulic lift toppled over in high winds and killed a film student taping Notre Dame’s football practice from the elevated perch in South Bend, Ind., athletic director Jack Swarbrick said he did not know how high the lift was when it fell over and that it was unclear who authorized Declan Sullivan to go up in the lift in the first place.

As a student worker, Sullivan reported to a video coordinator associated with the football team, and Swarbrick said the decision to practice outdoors is left up to individual athletic programs.

A workplace safety expert said the lift should never have been used in such blustery conditions.

The university pledged to review its policy for using the lifts.

A safety consultant with Workplace Group LLC, a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based consortium with expertise in occupational safety, said wind gusts of 50 mph are much too high for the safe outdoor use of any scissor lift.

• Boston’s Wakefield presented Clemente Award: Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield is the recipient of the 2010 Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a major league player who gives back through community service and also excels on the field.

Wakefield was presented the award by commissioner Bud Selig and Vera Clemente, Roberto’s widow, before Game 2 of the World Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Since 2004, Wakefield has been actively involved with the nonprofit “Pitching in for Kids,” which provides grants to improve the lives of children across the New England region and encourages kids to participate in events to learn important life skills and the spirit of helping others in a community.

• Wozniacki secures year-end No. 1 ranking with win: Caroline Wozniacki wrapped up the year-end No. 1 ranking after beating Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Wozniacki qualified for the semifinals in second place behind Vera Zvonareva in the Maroon Group. Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur have qualified from the White Group but will meet each other today to decide who finishes first and plays Wozniacki in the last four.

Clijsters beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, while Stosur, having won her opening two matches, lost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Russian Elena Dementieva.

• UFC absorbs WEC, adds 2 championships: The UFC absorbed its lower-weight World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, adding two championship belts and about 70 fighters to mixed martial arts’ dominant promotion.

UFC president Dana White is eager to showcase the WEC’s fighters at 155 pounds and under to a larger audience on the UFC’s higher-profile shows, putting every fighter under contract to the UFC’s parent company under a single banner.

• Iverson agrees to contract with Turkish teams: Allen Iverson has agreed in principle to a $4 million, two-year contract with the Turkish professional team Besiktas.

Iverson is expected to officially sign with the club this weekend and will begin his overseas career the week of Nov. 8.