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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Whitney’s hat trick makes it 300 in stellar career

Carolina Hurricanes’ Ray Whitney, left, and Joe Corvo celebrate Whitney’s goal during the second period against Calgary on Friday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Former Spokane Chiefs’ star Ray Whitney scored three power-play goals to reach 300 for his career in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 6-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at Raleigh, N.C., on Friday.

The Hurricanes, fighting for an Eastern Conference playoff shot, have won six of their last eight games. Calgary, coming off a 5-1 victory in Philadelphia on Thursday, had scored at least four goals in its last five games.

Whitney, who played for the Chiefs when they won the Memorial Cup in 1991, opened the scoring for Carolina off a feed from Samsonov. Whitney’s second score, which gave him his eighth season of at least 20 goals, came on a two-man advantage midway through the second period.

Habs’ road woes continue: Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves and the Atlanta Thrashers had one of their strongest defensive efforts of the season, beating visiting Montreal 2-0.

The Canadiens, attempting to protect their position in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race, suffered their second straight road loss to fall to 2-11-1 in their last 14 away from Montreal.

Blues hanging in: Brad Boyes scored 27 seconds into overtime to give St. Louis a 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay at Tampa, Fla., keeping the Blues’ playoff hopes alive. They are 12th in the Western Conference with 66 points, one point behind Minnesota and two points behind Edmonton, Dallas and Anaheim in the tight race for the eight playoff spots.

NBA

Celtics close gap

Paul Pierce scored 29 points, reserve Leon Powe had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and host Boston beat Cleveland 105-94 to move within percentage points of the Cavaliers in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. LeBron James was held to 21 points.

Wade on fire: Dwyane Wade had 42 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Miami beat host Toronto 108-102. Wade shot 17 for 23 and topped 40 points for the fourth time in seven games.

Pistons win fourth straight: Richard Hamilton scored 22 points and host Detroit beat Golden State 108-91 for its fourth straight victory. Rodney Stuckey had 14 points and eight assists.

Auto Racing

Martin grabs pole

Mark Martin has claimed the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., his first top spot since 2001.

The 50-year-old Martin qualified first Friday night with a speed of 187.045 mph, his 42nd career pole but first since May 5, 2001, at Richmond. Kurt Busch will start from the outside of the front row.

College basketball

Bjorklund scores 25

Former University High School standout Angie Bjorklund scored 25 points, and No. 19 Tennessee (22-9) beat No. 21 Florida (23-7) 71-67 to advance to the semifinals of the SEC tournament in North Little Rock, Ark. Bjorklund went 9 of 15 from the field and 6 of 10 from 3-point range.

Cornell in NCAAs: Ryan Wittman had 25 points and Cornell (20-9, 10-3 Ivy) beat Penn (9-17, 5-7) 83-58 in Ithaca, N.Y., to clinch the Ivy League title and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Golf

Yang leads Honda

Y.E. Yang shot a bogey-free round of 5-under-par 65, moving to 7 under through two rounds at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The South Korean was one shot ahead of Will MacKenzie, Jeff Overton, and Robert Allenby.

Langer has one-shot lead: At Newport Beach, Calif., defending champion Bernhard Langer shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Toshiba Classic.

Woods in Doral: Tiger Woods has entered the CA Championship at Doral next week, resuming his return from knee surgery.

•LPGA: In Singapore, Americans Paula Creamer and Jane Park each shot 1-under 71 to share the second-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s HSBC Women’s Champions. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., is eight strokes back.

NFL

Family calls off search

The family of NFL player Marquis Cooper says they have decided to discontinue their search for the 26-year-old man and two friends still missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bruce Cooper said his family is beginning the healing process, and needs time to be together and remember his son. The former University of Washington football player was aboard a 21-foot fishing boat last Saturday evening when it capsized in rough seas.

Pro Bowl back to Hawaii: The Hawaii Tourism Authority board voted 9-1 to accept the NFL’s offer to return to Hawaii in 2011 and 2012.

Baseball

Sweeney retires

Mark Sweeney, whose 175 pinch hits rank second in major league history, announced his retirement Friday and joined manager Joe Torre’s coaching staff with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Only Lenny Harris had more pinch hits (212) than Sweeney had during his 14-year career.

•South Korea 9, Taiwan 0: Lee Jin-young hit a grand slam in the first inning to power South Korea to a 9-0 win over Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo.

South Korea faces Japan today with the winner qualifying for the second round.

Skiing

Vonn closes in on title

American Lindsey Vonn finished eighth in a giant slalom at Ofterschwang, Germany, won by Kathrin Zettel and is poised to become the first American woman to capture two overall titles.

Her nearest overall rival, Maria Riesch of Germany, was 22nd in the GS. Vonn has a 414-point lead in the overall standings with five races left and will clinch the title if she leads Riesch by 401 points or more after today’s slalom.

Osborne-Paradis wins: In Kvitfjell, Norway, Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Canada earned his first victory in a World Cup downhill, edging Austria’s Michael Walchhofer by 0.31 seconds.