Nashville Predators even series with OT win over Vancouver

NHL: Ryan Suter tied the game with 67 seconds left and Matt Halischuk won it 14:51 into double overtime as the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday night and tied the Western Conference semifinal series 1-1.

After Pekka Rinne made several acrobatic game-saving stops in extra time, Halischuk took a cross-ice pass from Nick Spaling and fired a shot over a diving defender and past the glove of goalie Roberto Luongo.

Alex Burrows scored a short-handed goal two minutes into the second period and it appeared Luongo would make it stand up for his second straight shutout in the series. But Suter tied it on a harmless- looking centering pass from below the goal line that went between Luongo’s legs and bounced in off his left skate.

• Bruins pound Flyers in Game 1: David Krejci and Brad Marchand each scored two goals, and the Boston Bruins skated to a 7-3 win over the host Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Bruins chased goalie Brian Boucher by taking a 5-1 lead in the second period. New round, same problem for the Flyers. They used two goalies in three of its seven first-round games against Buffalo.

U.S. breaks through with gold in ice dance

Figure skating: Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the first gold medal for their country in the ice dance, outscoring 2010 champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada by 3.48 points in the world figure skating championships in Moscow.

The American sister-brother team of Maia and Alex Shibutani won bronze.

In the ladies competition, Japan’s Miki Ando outpointed Olympic champion Kim Yu-Na of South Korea in the free skate to win the gold medal.

Carolina Kostner of Italy took the bronze. For the U.S., Alissa Czisny finished fifth and Rachael Flatt was 12th.

U.S. handles Austria at ice hockey worlds

Miscellany: Chris Kreider started the scoring and the United States cruised to a 5-1 victory over Austria in its opening game at the world ice hockey championship in Kosice, Slovakia.

Blake Wheeler, Yan Stastny, Kevin Shattenkirk and Craig Smith also scored for the American team, which outshot Austria 32-13.

• St-Pierre beats Shields at UFC 129; Couture KOd: Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre won a unanimous decision over Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto.

The mixed martial arts victory was the ninth straight for the 29-year-old St-Pierre (22-2). Shields (26-5-1) had his 15-fight winning streak snapped.

In other action, Lyoto Machida knocked out 47-year-old Randy Couture with a devastating front kick, ending the UFC’s Hall of Famer’s farewell fight at 1:05 of the second round.

• Power wins pole for IndyCar’s Sao Paulo 300: Will Power of Australia improved to four for four in IndyCar poles this season after earning the 200th for Team Penske at the Sao Paulo 300.

Power clocked 1 minute, 21.896 seconds on the 2.5-mile, 11-turn Anhembi temporary street circuit.

American Ryan Hunter-Reay will start second. Scott Dixon of New Zealand will start third, and he will be followed by Ryan Briscoe, Graham Rahal and series leader Dario Franchitti.

• Ex-Ga. Tech coach Hewitt takes job at George Mason: George Mason hired former Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt to replace Jim Larranaga, who left the school earlier this month for the University of Miami.

Hewitt was fired by Georgia Tech last month. He took the Yellow Jackets to the Final Four in 2004 and went 190-162 over 11 years at the school.

• Puerto Rico baseball great Navarro dies: Emilio “Millito” Navarro, believed to be the oldest living professional baseball player, died in his Caribbean homeland of Puerto Rico. He was 105.

The former Negro Leagues star was hospitalized Thursday in the coastal city of Ponce after having a small heart attack.

Watson, Simpson share Zurich lead

Golf: Bubba Watson made a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 2-under-par 70 and a share of third-round lead with Webb Simpson in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Simpson had five straight birdies in a round of 67 to match Watson, who has had at least a share of the lead after all three rounds, at 12-under 204 at TPC Louisiana.

John Rollins (69) was third at 11 under.

• Teenager surges to share of LPGA lead: Sixteen- year-old Alexis Thompson shot a 5-under 67 to share the lead with Song-Hee Kim (70) heading into the final round of the Avnet LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala.

Both are at 7-under 209 through three rounds.

Wendy Ward (Edwall, Wash.) shot a 1-over 73 for a three-day total of 220.