Blackhawks extend points streak to 20
NHL: Jonathan Toews scored twice, and Ray Emery and Corey Crawford combined on a shutout as the visiting Chicago Blackhawks extended their NHL-record season-opening points streak to 20 games with a 3-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
Andrew Shaw also scored for Chicago. The Blackhawks, who have won seven in a row overall, have earned 37 out of a possible 40 points this season with a 17-0-3 start.
Crawford was pulled after making six saves in the first period. He missed four games earlier this month with an upper-body injury and returned to the lineup Sunday, making 28 stops in a 1-0 win over Columbus.
• Bergeron leads Bruins: Patrice Bergeron scored the winning goal with 1:21 left in overtime after a replay review, lifting the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators.
Nathan Horton scored the other goal for Boston, which won its fourth straight and was coming off a 4-1 road trip.
Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins, including a pair of stellar stops in OT.
• Sabres top Panthers in shootout: Nathan Gerbe scored two goals, Ryan Miller made 38 saves and the Buffalo Sabres beat the struggling Florida Panthers 4-3 in a shootout in Sunrise, Fla.
Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville both scored in the tiebreaker for Buffalo.
Lady Vols clinch another SEC title
College Basketball: Kamiko Williams scored a career-high 18 points in the final home game of her career and No. 8 Tennessee beat No. 13 Texas A&M 82-72 in Knoxville, Tenn., to clinch its 17th Southeastern Conference regular-season title.
Cierra Burdick added 15 points and 14 rebounds for Tennessee. Meighan Simmons scored 17 points, Bashaara Graves had 14 and Isabelle Harrison added 10.
• Miami women rise past No. 5 Duke: Stefanie Yderstrom and Pepper Wilson each scored 16 points, Krystal Saunders added 15 and Miami gave its NCAA tournament resume a serious boost by upsetting No. 5 Duke 69-65 in Coral Gables, Fla.
• Smith leads No. 16 Ohio State: Lenzelle Smith scored a season-high 24 points, Deshaun Thomas added 19 and No. 16 Ohio State men used a late run to beat Northwestern 63-53 in Evanston, Ill.
Clippers end Pacers streak with victory
NBA: Chris Paul scored 29 points, while Blake Griffin finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Clippers hold off Indiana’s late charge for a 99-91 victory in Indianapolis.
David West led the Pacers with 22 points, while All-Star Paul George had 20 points and five assists. Danny Granger finished with a season-high 12 points.
• Noah’s triple-double too much for 76ers: Joakim Noah had 23 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 11 blocks for his third career triple-double and the Chicago Bulls ended a two-game losing streak with a 93-82 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.
Jrue Holiday paced the Sixers with 22 points.
Villegas takes lead with eagle at Honda
Golf: With one great shot, Camilo Villegas turned a solid round into his lowest start in more than a year.
Villegas drilled a 3-wood into 8 feet on the par-5 18th hole and made the eagle putt for a 6-under 64, and a one-shot lead That gave him a one-shot lead over Rickie Fowler, Branden Grace, Graham DeLaet and Robert Streb after the first round of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods each had a 70.
Big East breakup picks up speed
Miscellany: The breakup of the Big East’s football and basketball schools appears to be on the fast track.
According to media reports, the basketball schools plan to have their new conference up and running for the 2013-14 school year and will pay the football schools to keep the Big East name and play its conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.
• NFL Salary cap increases to $123 million: The NFL salary cap for the 2013 season will rise to $123 million from $120.6 million in 2012, an NFL Players Association official familiar with negotiations over the figure told The Associated Press.
• American skaters have big day at junior worlds: Joshua Farris, Shotaro Omori and Jason Brown accomplished something no American men have done before, finishing 1-2-3 in the short program at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Milan.