Red Wings shut down Vancouver

NHL: Jimmy Howard made 25 saves for his sixth career shutout and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 on Thursday night in Detroit.

Justin Abdelkader and Valtteri Filppula scored for Detroit in the Red Wings’ second straight shutout. Ty Conklin was in goal for a 3-0 victory in Colorado on Saturday night.

Cory Schneider stopped 35 shots for Vancouver.

Howard made two spectacular saves on Daniel Sedin in the final 3 seconds of the first period. Howard came across the crease to smother a deflection from the bottom of the left circle, then denied the Vancouver star from in front of the net after a faceoff as time ran out.

• Capitals edge Penguins: Dennis Wideman scored on a power play 2:48 into overtime to give the visiting Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Not all was bad news for Pittsburgh, as Sidney Crosby traded in his white helmet, but there’s still no telling when the Penguins’ star will do the same with his practice jersey.

The former MVP’s comeback from concussion-like symptoms took a major step forward when he was cleared for contact by team doctors for the first time since being injured last January.

Simpson shares lead at McGladrey Classic

Golf: Webb Simpson signed up for the McGladrey Classic because it gave him a shot at winning the PGA Tour money title. He played as though he was intent on doing just that.

Simpson matched his best score of the year in the opening round at Sea Island in St. Simons Island, Ga., making eight birdies for a 7-under-par 63 that gave him a share of the lead with tour rookie Zack Miller.

Simpson has won twice in his last five tournaments, leaving him $68,971 behind Luke Donald on the money list with two tournaments remaining. Donald isn’t playing this week, and he has until today to decide whether to play Disney next week in the final event of the PGA Tour season.

Also at stake is the PGA Tour player of the year award, with no clear favorite. No player has more than two wins and, while Donald has only one win in the United States, he has been No. 1 in the world since May. For Donald and Simpson, the money title could go a long way in collecting votes.

Spokane native Alex Prugh shot a 76.

• Lang ties for first-round lead: American Brittany Lang and South Korean star Na Yeon Choi shot 5-under 66s for shares of the first-round lead in the LPGA Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sweden’s Maria Hjorth and the Netherlands’ Dewi Claire Schreefel also opened with 66s at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. American Paige Mackenzie and Spain’s Azahara Munoz were a stroke back.

Michelle Wie had a 68, and top-ranked Yani Tseng of Taiwan and defending champion Jimin Kang of South Korea shot 69s. England’s Melissa Reid had a hole-in-one on the par-3 fifth on her way to a 72.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 77.

Stewart wins pole at Charlotte track

Auto racing: Tony Stewart took the pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., outracing Matt Kenseth and points leader Carl Edwards.

Stewart covered the 11/2-mile layout with a speed of 191.959 to start up front for the Bank of America 500 on Saturday night. Kenseth was tick slower at 191.918 mph while Edwards was next at 191.870 mph.

It was Stewart’s first pole in more than year since Pocono in August of 2010 and his 13th overall. He also earned his first pole at Charlotte in 26 chances.

Stewart stands seventh in the Chase for a Championship, 19 points behind Edwards.

• Joe Gibbs Racing lands Dollar General: In the ongoing fight to secure sponsorship dollars, Joe Gibbs Racing emerged victorious with a new deal that puts Dollar General on several of its race cars.

The partnership with JGR puts Dollar General in all three of NASCAR’s national series. The general merchandise chain will sponsor Joey Logano for 12 Sprint Cup races, a full Nationwide schedule for Brian Scott and will be on 10 Nationwide races on a second JGR car. The deal also includes 10 races for JGR driver Kyle Busch in the Trucks Series.

Wieber nips Komova for all-around crown

Gymnastics: American Jordyn Wieber beat Russia’s Viktoria Komova for the all-around title at the world gymnastics championships in Tokyo.

Wieber, who led the Americans to the team title two days earlier, won despite making mistakes on uneven bars and floor exercise. She finished with 59.382 points, just 0.033 ahead of the Russian. China’s Yao Jinnan won the bronze, and Aly Raisman of the United States was fourth.

Wieber went into the final rotation a half-point behind Komova and seemed resigned to silver after going out of bounds on her third tumbling pass. But Komova’s routine was less difficult and didn’t have the same spark as Wieber’s.