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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Penguins rally past Jackets, take 2-1 lead

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury covers the puck as teammates Brooks Orpik (44) and Paul Martin provide cover during the second period of Pittsburgh’s 4-3 triumph over Columbus on Monday night. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NHL: Brandon Sutter, Lee Stempniak and Jussi Jokinen scored in a span of 2:13 of the third period to revive the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 4-3 victory over the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.

Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series thanks to the goals on three consecutive shots.

Brooks Orpik added a goal in the final seconds of the second period as the Penguins stormed back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1. Marc Andre-Fleury had 27 saves.

Boone Jenner and Jack Johnson staked the Blue Jackets to an early lead in the opening 3:18, with Cam Atkinson getting credit for a goal early in the final period that stretched the lead to 3-1.

Wild edge Avs: Mikael Granlund’s diving swing at his own rebound 5:08 into overtime gave the Minnesota Wild a 1-0 win over Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 in St. Paul, Minn., to pull within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Varlamov stopped 45 of 46 shots, a franchise playoff record number of shots on goal for the Wild. Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves in his first career playoff start.

Blackhawks blank Blues: Corey Crawford made 34 saves in his third career postseason shutout, and the Chicago Blackhawks got back into their playoff series with the visiting St. Louis Blues with a 2-0 victory in Game 3.

Jonathan Toews scored in the first period and Marcus Kruger added an empty-netter as Chicago bounced back after a pair of overtime losses in St. Louis.

Stars shut out Ducks: Kari Lehtonen had 37 saves, with some tremendous stops, for his first career postseason victory, and the Dallas Stars beat Anaheim 3-0 in their first home playoff game in six years. The top-seeded Ducks won each of the first two games at home, both one-goal results.

Robidas breaks leg again: Anaheim defenseman Stephane Robidas broke his right leg in an eerie replay of his last game in Dallas when he still played for the Stars.

Robidas had to be helped off the ice after his right leg bent awkwardly when a sliding Ryan Garbutt of Dallas undercut him and knocked him to the ice early in the second period Monday. The team said the latest fracture was just above the one he suffered Nov. 29 when Dallas was playing Chicago. He was traded to the Ducks in March.

Clippers blow out Warriors, even series

NBA: Blake Griffin scored a career playoff-high 35 points without a foul and the Los Angeles Clippers led all the way in routing the visiting Golden State Warriors 138-98 to even their first-round series at a game apiece.

Chris Paul added 12 points and 10 assists for the Clippers, who finished with a franchise record points for a playoff game.

Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 24 points in the third quarter, when the Warriors never got closer than 25 points. Klay Thompson finished with seven points, 15 under his average.

Grizzlies top Thunder in OT: Zach Randolph scored 25 points to help the visiting Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-105 in overtime and tie their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Mike Conley added 19 points and 12 assists for the Grizzlies.

Kevin Durant had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, and Russell Westbrook added 29 points.

Call on Howard incorrect: The NBA said the call that resulted in Houston’s Dwight Howard fouling out Sunday was incorrect. Instead, the All-Star center should have received two free throws that could have given the Rockets the lead.

Howard was called for his sixth foul with 10.8 seconds left in overtime while trying to get the rebound of James Harden’s missed 3-pointer. Portland’s Joel Freeland made one free throw, the final point in the Trail Blazers’ 122-120 victory.

But replay showed Freeland with an arm around Howard’s back holding him. NBA president of operations Rod Thorn said in a statement the foul should have been on Freeland.

Bobcats’ Jefferson in walking boot: Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said Al Jefferson’s left foot remains in a walking boot and the team’s star center is “day-to-day” for Wednesday night’s playoff game against the Miami Heat. Jefferson, Charlotte’s leading scorer, strained the plantar fascia in his left foot in the first quarter of Sunday’s 99-88 Game 1 loss to the Heat.

Source: Suh skipping Lions’ minicamp

Miscellany: A person familiar with the situation said Ndamukong Suh is not attending the Detroit Lions’ voluntary minicamp this week.

The person, who said Suh will attend the team’s voluntary workouts in May and mandatory minicamp next month, spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Suh was not announcing his plans.

The two-time All-Pro has skipped voluntary workouts in the past, and the 6-foot-4, 307-pound Suh has stayed in good shape. Suh is entering the last year of his contract.

Atlanta thinking big: The city of Atlanta wants to host college football’s national championship game in 2018 as a prelude to a possible Super Bowl bid.

Peach Bowl president Gary Stokan discussed the timetable after a news conference Monday to announce a six-year agreement with the current title sponsor. The game is part of a new playoff system and will again be known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl after carrying only the corporate moniker the last eight years.

Stokan already announced plans to bid for the national title game after the city’s $1 billion downtown stadium opens in 2017. He expects a decision next spring.

If Atlanta is selected, Stokan said it would bookend with plans by the NFL’s Falcons to bid for the 2019 Super Bowl.

Moyes could be out at Man U: David Moyes’ troubled tenure as Manchester United manager could be coming to an end after less than a year.

According to widespread reports on websites of numerous British newspapers, Moyes is set to be fired by United and could be forced out before the end of the season on May 11.