In brief: Red Wings open with win, edge Bruins
NHL: Gustav Nyquist’s power-play goal in the second period lifted Detroit to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins on Thursday night in the Red Wings’ season opener.
Justin Abdelkader also scored for Detroit, which lost to the Bruins in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Patrice Bergeron scored Boston’s only goal Thursday. Jimmy Howard had 16 saves for the Red Wings. Detroit was without star forward Pavel Datsyuk, who is recovering from a separated shoulder.
• Big night for Nash as Rangers beat Blues 3-2: Rick Nash had two goals and an assist, including the tiebreaking score late in the third period, and the New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in St. Louis in the first game of the season for both teams.
Chris Kreider had a goal and an assist for the Eastern Conference champions, and Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves. Jaden Schwartz led the Blues with a goal and an assist. Paul Stastny also scored, and Brian Elliott stopped 22 shots.
After a fortunate carom off the glass, Nash scored the go-ahead goal with 1:50 remaining off a behind-the-back pass from Martin St. Louis in front of the net.
New York opened the scoring 4:01 into the first period on Nash’s low shot from the slot off a Blues turnover in the defensive zone. Kreider was credited with the assist.
Djokovic, Federer advance in Shanghai
Tennis: Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic avoided being the latest seed to lose at the upset-hit Shanghai Masters in Shanghai, rallying to defeat No. 85-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the third round.
Roger Federer also advanced to the quarterfinals with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista Agut, a night after he saved five match points and escaped with a three-set win in the second round.
Djokovic extended his 27-match winning streak in China, but it wasn’t easy against the speedy Kukushkin, who kept the top-ranked Serb running with powerful forehands that repeatedly caught the lines and impressive defense to extend rallies.
Federer avoided the dramatics of his opening match over Leonardo Mayer, which he finally won 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7) after coming back from a 5-2 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker. Federer will overtake Rafael Nadal at No. 2 in the rankings next week.
• Samantha Stosur advances at Japan Women’s Open: Defending champion Samantha Stosur advanced to the quarterfinals of the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka, Japan, when Jarmila Gajdosova retired with an injury while trailing 7-6 (4), 1-0. The top-seeded Stosur will next face Yulia Putintseva.
Klinsmann critical of Donovan
Soccer: While Jurgen Klinsmann said Landon Donovan heads into his U.S. national team finale today as “the poster boy of the game” in America, the coach feels the player didn’t completely fulfill his potential.
The exhibition against Ecuador in East Hartford, Connecticut, will be the 157th national team appearance for Donovan, the American career leader with 57 international goals and 58 assists. The 32-year-old forward, a veteran of three World Cups, was controversially cut by Klinsmann before this year’s tournament.
Klinsmann said Donovan “raised the awareness of the game to new dimensions,” but added, “I wished in a certain way, ah, he could have done a bit more here and a bit more there.”
• Spain loses qualifier for first time in eight years: Defending champion Spain lost a qualifying game for the first time in eight years, while England left nothing to doubt in the European Championship.
Spain fell 2-1 at Slovakia in Group C for its first loss in a qualifier for the European Championship or World Cup since 2006.
England had no such trouble against minnow San Marino, rolling to a 5-0 victory in Group E.
In Group G, Sweden drew 1-1 at home with Russia.
Kyle Busch takes pole at Charlotte
Auto racing: Kyle Busch won the pole for Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, where Joe Gibbs Racing could surge into the championship race.
Busch qualified first for JGR with a lap at 197.390 mph in qualifying. Jeff Gordon failed to bump Busch for the pole, turning a lap at 197.217 for Hendrick Motorsports. Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin qualified third.
Gonzalez takes lead at Frys.com Open
Golf: Andres Gonzales birdied his last two holes at Silverado Resort for a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead in the season-opening Frys.com Open in Napa, California. Gonzalez finished 11th on the Web.com Tour last year to earn his card for a third time.
• Stacy Lewis leads by one in LPGA’s Malaysian event: No. 1-ranked Stacy Lewis of the United States shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the second event of the tour’s six-tournament Asian swing.
Lewis birdied the par-5 16th hole to break away from a tight leaderboard at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
Tied for second with scores of 66 were the South Korean quartet of Na Yeon Choi, Hee Young Park, Eun Hee Ji and So Yeon Ryu.
Uchimura claims fifth title at gym worlds
Gymnastics: Kohei Uchimura of Japan won a record fifth straight all-around gold medal at the gymnastics world championships in Nanning, Japan.
Uchimur sealed the title on the horizontal bar to finish with a total of 91.965 points.
Attorney: Florida’s Harris not guilty
Miscellany: The attorney for suspended Florida quarterback Treon Harris said “misstatements in the media have painted a picture that is inconsistent with the evidence.”
Authorities are investigating sexual assault allegations that have made against Harris.
His attorney, Huntley Johnson, is trying to dispel reports about Harris’ relationship with the woman and what happened early Sunday at an on-campus residence hall. Johnson released a detailed statement defending his client Thursday, saying the woman showed “no indication of any physical or mental trauma” after the alleged sexual assault.
Johnson says, “We believe the evidence will show the alleged victim was in fact in the sexual aggressor with not one, but two young men early last Sunday morning.”
Harris has not been arrested or charged with a crime.