Pittsburgh extends win streak to 14
NHL: Pascal Dupuis scored twice and Evgeni Malkin had a goal in his return to the lineup, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-0 home victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night for their 14th straight win.
Chris Kunitz had a goal and an assist and Sidney Crosby had two assists to push his league-best points total to 56 as the Penguins moved within three victories of their own NHL record for consecutive wins. Malkin, back from an upper-body injury, got his first goal in three weeks.
Tomas Vokoun stopped 20 shots and even recorded his first assist while getting his 50th career shutout.
Al Montoya, making just his fourth start of the season, made 39 saves for Winnipeg but the Jets were no match for the NHL’s hottest team.
• Lupul nets go-ahead goal for Toronto: Joffrey Lupul scored the go-ahead goal with 3:10 remaining, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs hold off a Carolina comeback at home and beat the Hurricanes 6-3.
Lupul raced past Joe Corvo and beat Justin Peters for his seventh goal this season, shifting the puck from his backhand before tucking the puck into the net.
• Bishop shuts out Rangers: Ben Bishop turned aside 24 shots to earn his second career NHL shutout and the Ottawa Senators beat the visiting New York Rangers 3-0.
Andre Benoit, Guillaume Latendresse and Colin Greening scored for the Senators, and Mika Zibanejad and Chris Neil chipped in with two assists apiece.
• Los Angeles tops St. Louis 4-2: Mike Richards scored the go-ahead goal with 2:43 to play, Jonathan Quick made 20 saves and the Los Angeles Kings continued their dominance of St. Louis with a 4-2 road win over the Blues, completing the season sweep.
• Scoring flurry stops Phoenix’s skid: Radim Vrbata had two goals and an assist and Rostislav Klesla added four assists and the visiting Phoenix Coyotes scored six times in the opening period to cruise to a 7-4 victory over the Nashville Predators and snap a seven-game losing streak.
Sanders leads Bucks over Lakers
NBA: Larry Sanders scored 13 of his career-high 21 points in the third quarter and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied to beat the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 113-103.
Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, leaving him four points behind Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) for fourth place on the NBA’s career list.
Dwight Howard had 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Steve Nash scored 16 points for the Lakers.
• Indiana wins fourth straight: Paul George had 24 points and eight rebounds and the visiting Indiana Pacers broke open a close game in the third quarter to beat the Dallas Mavericks 103-78.
The first-place Pacers won their fourth straight and have a half-game lead for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Points opens with one-shot lead
Golf: D.A. Points opened with five straight birdies and wound up with an 8-under 64 on a pleasant morning with only moderate wind in the Houston Open at Humble, Texas. He had a one-shot lead over Cameron Tringale and John Rollins.
Rory McIlroy had to fight hard for a 73.
Phil Mickelson was at 4 under and right in the mix until he hit his tee shot into the water on the sixth hole and made double bogey, nearly hooked a 3-wood into the hazard on the next hole and three-putted for bogey, and then made bogey on the par-3 ninth from a bunker to wind up at 72.
Serena Williams to face Sharapova
Tennis: Maria Sharapova advanced to another Key Biscayne (Fla.) final by beating Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-1.
Sharapova will face five-time champion Serena Williams, who took care of Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-3.
A four-time runner-up at the event, the No. 3-seeded Sharapova would plug one of the few holes in her resume with a victory Saturday. She completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open last year but has never won the tournament near downtown Miami.
Investigation reveals noncompliance
Miscellany: Southeastern Louisiana officials say an internal investigation revealed that 137 ineligible athletes competed for the Lions in unspecified sports between 2005 and 2010.
The university released a statement saying most violations occurred between 2005 and 2007 and involved instances in which the university failed to comply with NCAA academic requirements by mistakenly certifying athletes as eligible when they were not.
• Mark Martin replaces Hamlin in No. 11 car: Mark Martin will drive for Joe Gibbs Racing while Denny Hamlin recovers from a fractured vertebra in his lower back.
Martin’s first start in the No. 11 Toyota will be next week at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he wasn’t scheduled to race.
• Palermaa leads PBA Tournament of Champions: Finland’s Osku Palermaa left a 7-10 split on his first shot of the day, converted the so-called impossible split and carried that momentum into the lead in the PBA Tournament of Champions at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.