In brief: Perry’s hat trick helps Ducks soar

NHL: Corey Perry scored three goals and Curtis McElhinney stopped 25 shots for his second NHL shutout, leading the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-0 win over the struggling Colorado Avalanche on Saturday in Denver.

Perry completed his second hat trick of the season by scoring an empty-net goal with 17.3 seconds remaining.

McElhinney bottled up the high-scoring Avalanche while filling in for All-Star Jonas Hiller, who was scratched due to fatigue. The Ducks have won eight of nine against Colorado.

Peter Budaj made 26 saves for the Avalanche, who have dropped three straight.

• Coyotes end skid: Taylor Pyatt ended Phoenix’s franchise-record 157-minute, 13-second scoring drought early in the third period and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots for his fourth shutout this season, helping the Coyotes beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0 in Glendale, Ariz., to end a five-game home losing streak.

• Flyers stop Stars: Andrej Meszaros and Darroll Powe each scored on long-distance wrist shots, and Brian Boucher stopped 29 shots to lead the Philadelphia Flyers past the Dallas Stars 3-1 in Philadelphia.

• Rinne shines in Predators’ win: Pekka Rinne stopped 35 shots and the Nashville Predators beat Detroit 3-0 in Nashville, Tenn., – the Red Wings’ second straight shutout loss.

• Blue Jackets top Oilers: R.J. Umberger scored twice and assisted on both of Kristian Huselius’ goals, including the game-winning tally with 4 minutes left, to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets past the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Columbus, Ohio.

Mavericks beat ’Cats to continue streak

NBA: Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Tyson Chandler grabbed 15 rebounds against his former team, and the Dallas Mavericks extended the NBA’s longest active winning streak to eight with a 101-92 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats in Charlotte, N.C.

• Gasol sparks Lakers: Pau Gasol had 34 points and 10 rebounds, helping the visiting Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Hornets 101-95. Kobe Bryant added 32 points for Los Angeles.

• Rockets earn rare OT win: Kevin Martin scored 31 points, including 15-for-15 shooting from the free-throw line, and the Houston Rockets won for the first time in six overtime games this year, beating the Memphis Grizzlies 95-93 in Houston.

Walker, No. 6 UConn edge Seton Hall

College basketball: Kemba Walker scored 19 points and No. 6 Connecticut (18-4, 6-4) stopped a two-game losing streak with a 61-59 Big East Conference victory over Seton Hall (10-14, 4-8) in Newark, N.J., after trailing by 10 points with 8:17 to play.

• Fredette’s 29 propels BYU: Jimmer Fredette scored 16 of his game-high 29 points from the free-throw line, and reserve Stephen Rogers added 12 points as No. 9 BYU (22-2, 8-1) swept its season series against UNLV (17-6, 5-4) with a 78-64 victory in Provo, Utah.

Fredette’s free throw to cap a three-point play with 3:24 remaining made him the career scoring leader in the Mountain West Conference, breaking the record of 2,189 points set by San Diego State’s Brandon Heath in 2007.

• Georgetown ekes out victory over Friars: Georgetown nearly blew an 18-point second-half lead and overcame a career-high 43-point performance by Marshon Brooks as the No. 13 Hoyas (18-5, 7-4 Big East) held on for an 83-81 win over Providence (14-10, 3-8) in Washington for their sixth straight win.

• Bears upset Aggies in OT: Anthony Jones’ layup with 3.1 seconds left in overtime lifted the Baylor Bears (15-7, 5-4 Big 12) to a 76-74 win over No. 16 Texas A&M (17-5, 4-4) in College Station, Texas.

Perry Jones led the Bears with 27 points.

• Stanford women tie record: Jeanette Pohlen made five 3-pointers, all five Stanford starters reached double figures scoring and the fourth-ranked Cardinal (20-2, 11-0) rolled to a 91-61 win over Arizona (13-9, 4-7) in Tucson, Ariz., to match their conference record of 48 consecutive Pac-10 victories.

The Cardinal tied the Pac-10 mark they set from Feb. 9, 1995, to Jan. 12, 1998. Stanford’s last Pac-10 loss was 57-54 at California on Jan. 18, 2009.

• West Virginia’s streak ends: Taneisha Harrison scored 30 points and Pittsburgh (11-11, 3-6 Big East) finished the game with a 11-0 run to snap No. 14 West Virginia’s (20-4, 6-4) 31-game home winning streak, 60-53 in Morgantown, W.V.

Vick wins Comeback Player of Year award

Miscellany: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick took a most unusual path to The Associated Press 2010 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.

In the 12-year history of the honor, no player has returned from jail to earn it.

Vick received 29 1/2 votes, easily beating Seattle receiver Mike Williams, who got eight.

• Team Texas beats Team Nation: Linebacker Eddie Jones tackled Damien Berry at the 1-yard line on fourth down with 55 seconds to go, helping Team Texas hold on for a 13-7 victory over Team Nation in the NFL Players’ Association All-Star game in San Antonio.

The game featured players eligible for the NFL draft in April.

• Gainey leads, Mickelson in contention in Phoenix: Phil Mickelson thrilled the huge crowd on the par-3 16th with a 30-foot birdie putt and closed within four strokes of leader Tommy Gainey halfway through the frost-delayed Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Mickelson birdied six of the last 11 holes for a 6-under 65. He was 10 under for two rounds in the tournament that will end Monday because of long delays.

Alex Prugh (Ferris, UW) shot a round of 4-under 67 to give him a two-day total of 137 and leave him nine shots behind Gainey.

• Belgium leads United States in Fed Cup: Melanie Oudin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States lost their singles matches, giving Belgium a 2-0 lead in the first-round Fed Cup matchup in Antwerp, Belgium.

Oudin lost to Australian Open winner Kim Clijsters 6-0, 6-4, and Mattek-Sands fell 6-1, 7-6 (6) to Yanina Wickmayer in the opening match.

• Reichelt wins super-G: Hannes Reichelt of Austria won a World Cup super-G race in Hinterstoder, Austria, for his fifth career victory, while American Bode Miller finished third.

Reichelt mastered the demanding Hannes Trinkl course in 1 minute, 43.91 seconds to beat teammate Benjamin Raich by 0.34. Miller was 0.93 back in third.