In brief: Blues’ Elliott continues hot streak in goal
NHL: Alexander Steen scored twice and goaltender Brian Elliott made 32 saves to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 on Wednesday night in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Elliott, who signed a free-agent contract as a backup with St. Louis this summer, improved his record to 4-0-0. It was his first shutout of the season and 10th of his career.
The victory improved the Blues’ record to 5-4-0. St. Louis has won three consecutive games, all with Elliott starting.
Patrik Berglund scored the other St. Louis goal later in the third period. Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists.
Vancouver goaltender Cory Schneider faced 31 shots. The Stanley Cup finalist Canucks lost their second game in as many nights and saw their record drop to 4-5-1.
U.S. men edge Dominican Republic
Pan American Games: Hoping to win the gold medal at the Pan American Games for the first time since 1983, the United States men’s basketball team hung on for a 77-76 win over the Dominican Republic at Guadalajara, Mexico.
Also at the Games, American gymnast Bridgette Caquatto earned a gold medal in the all-around competition.
Caquatto scored 14.725 points on the uneven bars, the only competitor to break the 14-point barrier. That put her in the lead heading into her final event on the balance beam. Despite a miscue during that last routine, she stuck her dismount and held on to first place.
Players, owners talk into the evening
NBA: NBA owners and players were engaged in another marathon session in New York, meeting for more than 12 hours in talks aimed at ending the lockout.
The sides got back to the table with a small group meeting less than a week after three intense days of mediation didn’t produce a new labor deal.
Talks broke down last Thursday when players said owners insisted they agree to a 50-50 split of revenues as a condition to further discuss the salary cap system.
The first two weeks of the season have been canceled, and there’s little time left to save any basketball in November.
Louisville returns to Big 12 picture
College athletics: The Big 12 is still deciding: West Virginia or Louisville? Could be one or the other, or maybe neither.
One day after it appeared that the Big 12 had decided West Virginia would eventually replace Missouri as the conference’s 10th member, the Mountaineers’ Big East rival Lousiville re-entered the picture.
A person with knowledge of the Big 12’s discussions told The AP that no decision was made by the conference to add West Virginia, and that Louisville is still a candidate to be invited to join.
• Harris’ father disputes citation: The father of Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris is disputing traffic citations that the cornerback received this week, saying his son is licensed and the car he was driving is insured.
The elder Cliff Harris was interviewed by The Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene a day after the younger Harris was pulled over and cited for driving on a suspended license, failure to wear a seatbelt and driving without insurance.
Red Bulls advance in MLS playoffs
Soccer: Joel Lindpere scored in the 61st minute and the New York Red Bulls withstood a late charge to hold off FC Dallas 2-0 in an MLS Wild Card playoff match at Frisco, Texas.
New York advanced to the face Los Angeles in the semifinals.
Game 1 of the two-game, aggregate-goal series is Sunday in Carson, Calif.
Second-ranked Sharapova withdraws
Tennis: Maria Sharapova pulled out of the WTA Championships with a sore ankle after losing her second straight match at the season-ending tournament in Istanbul.
The second-ranked Russian’s withdrawal ensures that Caroline Wozniacki will finish the year with the No. 1 ranking, despite losing her group-stage match against Russia’s Vera Zvonareva.
Filly Havre de Grace enters Classic
Horse racing: Havre de Grace is going where Zenyatta once did, taking on the boys in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The 4-year-old filly is 5 for 6 this year and a victory could burnish her credentials for Horse of the Year, although Uncle Mo and Flat Out loom as major threats.
A record total of 193 horses, including 29 from overseas, were pre-entered for the $26 million, 15-race Breeders’ Cup world championships at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 4-5. That tops last year’s total of 184.