Devils clinch playoff berth with shutout

NHL: Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists, Martin Brodeur made 22 saves in his third shutout of the season and the New Jersey Devils clinched a playoff berth by routing the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Petr Sykora added a goal and an assist for the Devils. David Clarkson, Ryan Carter and Zach Parise also scored, and Patrik Elias had two assists.

• Blackhawks down Predators to clinch playoff slot: Brent Seabrook scored at 8:19 of the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks clinched a playoff berth by beating the Nashville Predators 5-4 at Nashville, Tenn., after blowing a 4-0 lead.

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland each scored power-play goals, and Viktor Stalberg had a goal. The Blackhawks had to work for their first win over Nashville this season.

• Stamkos scores 56th goal in Lightning win: Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 56th goal of the season 45 seconds into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Tampa, Fla.

Stamkos picked up his NHL-record fifth OT goal in one season, scoring from the left circle.

Lakers beat Hornets on Bryant’s late 3

NBA: Kobe Bryant hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, after starting the game with 18 straight misses, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat visiting New Orleans Hornets 88-85.

It was just the third field goal of the game for Bryant, who finished with 11 points on 3-of-21 shooting as the Lakers ended a two-game skid at home.

• Duncan leads Spurs past Pacers: Tim Duncan had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead San Antonio to a 112-103 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers.

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili added 18 points apiece for the Spurs, who are 8-1 since making a rare plunge into midseason moves by adding forwards Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw.

Oosthuizen leads Houston Open

Golf: Louis Oosthuizen shot 6-under-par 66 to reach 17 under and take a two-shot lead over Hunter Mahan after the third round of the Houston Open in Humble, Texas.

The 29-year-old South African, who shot 66 on Friday, shook off two early bogeys with four straight birdies on a sunny, yet windy afternoon at Redstone.

• Sjodin pulls even with Tseng: Sweden’s Karin Sjodin shot a steady 4-under 68 through heavy wind while chasing down top-ranked Yani Tseng, pulling even at 9-under 207 heading into the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 71 for a total of 218.

Sharapova loses Key Biscayne final

Tennis: Maria Sharapova lost her serve in the final game of each set and again fell short in a bid for her first Sony Ericsson Open title, losing to Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-4 in Key Biscayne, Fla.

Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam champion, fell to 0-4 in Key Biscayne finals. She was also the runner-up in 2005, 2006 and last year.

Radwanska, ranked a career-best No. 4, earned her ninth career title and fourth since last summer.

Monterosso wins $10M World Cup

Horse Racing: Monterosso won the $10 million Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race, in a victory for the ruler of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates after one of his horses was badly injured in another race and had to be put down.

Earlier, the $1 million Dubai Gold Cup was halted during the race after one of Sheik Mohammed’s horses tumbled to the track. Fox Hunt, the second choice at 3-1, went down 300 yards into the 2-mile race, throwing jockey Silvestre De Sousa. The horse attempted to get up but fell and later had to be put down. De Sousa was not hurt.

The race was rerun after the Dubai World Cup and won by Opinion Poll.

• Take Charge Indy pulls off Florida Derby upset: Going to the front out of the gate and staying there virtually every step of the way, Take Charge Indy took advantage of a speed-favoring track and won the Florida Derby – beating heavily favored Union Rags, who managed to only finish third in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

• Willa B Awesome wins Santa Anita Oaks: Willa B Awesome edged Reneesgotzip by a nose to win the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks for 3-year-old fillies in Arcadia, Calif.

Chan, Kostner win figure-skating titles

Miscellany: Patrick Chan of Canada won the figure-skating world title for the second consecutive year despite a couple of errors in his free skate in Nice, France. Carolina Kostner of Italy won the women’s title for the first time.

• Phelps dominates 200 IM: Swimmer Michael Phelps finished the 200 IM in 1 minute, 56.32 seconds at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Lochte finished third in 1:59.37.

• Mancuso wins giant slalom title at nationals: Julia Mancuso won a second straight race at the U.S. skiing championships to capture the giant slalom title in Winter Park, Colo.

Mancuso finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 23.24 seconds.

• U.S. long jump champ Goodwin injured: Texas junior Marquise Goodwin, the current U.S. long jump champion, withdrew from the Texas Relays with school officials citing an unspecified injury.

Track coach Bubba Thornton refused to provide details on the injury or when it happened, but noted he wanted Goodwin to get well.