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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Late goal lifts Wings to OT win over Canadiens

Detroit Red Wings center Gustav Nyquist celebrates his winning goal in overtime. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NHL: Gustav Nyquist scored on a rebound with 28 seconds left in overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens in the first post-Olympic game for both teams Wednesday night in Montreal.

Montreal had goalie Peter Budaj pulled for an extra attacker when captain Brian Gionta scored with 29 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

A team coached by Detroit’s Mike Babcock, who led Canada to the gold medal, had not allowed a goal since Lauris Darzins got one at 15:41 of the first period of Canada’s 2-1 win over Latvia in the quarterfinals in Sochi.

Todd Bertuzzi scored in the first period for Detroit.

Budaj had been slated to start in goal for Montreal even before Canadian Olympian Carey Price injured his left leg during the team’s game-day skate. He is expected to start again when Montreal visits Pittsburgh on Thursday.

• Blackhawks trade for Connelly: The Chicago Blackhawks acquired defenseman Brian Connelly from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Brad Winchester.

The 27-year-old Connelly has played in 50 games this season with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, leading the team in points (32) and assists (27). He also ranks second among team defensemen in goals (5).

Nashville assigns Rinne to Milwaukee of AHL: The Nashville Predators are sending goaltender Pekka Rinne to their AHL affiliate in Milwaukee for games Friday and Sunday in the latest step in his recovery from an E. coli infection in his surgically repaired left hip.

Rinne has been sidelined since Oct. 24 for an infection in the hip surgically repaired May 9. Rinne is 4-4-1 in the nine games he has played this season.

Barton paces Trail Blazers

NBA: Will Barton had a season-high 20 points and career-high 11 rebounds, providing a spark off the bench for the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers in a 124-80 rout of the Brooklyn Nets in Portland.

The Blazers won their fourth straight game despite missing forward LaMarcus Aldridge. The team’s top scorer and rebounder has been out five straight games with a left groin sprain.

Jason Collins, who became the NBA’s first openly gay player when he signed a 10-day contract with the Nets on Sunday, entered the game without fan reaction and played a pair of scoreless stretches in the fourth quarter.

Judge denies Armstrong request

Cycling: A Texas judge has rejected Lance Armstrong’s request to stop an arbitration panel from reviewing $12 million in bonuses the cyclist was paid before admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Judge Tonya Parker declined to stop the panel from considering whether Dallas-based SCA Promotions should be repaid the bonuses it awarded Armstrong for three of his seven Tour de France victories.

Jeff Tillotson, an attorney for SCA Promotions, said that the panel will meet March 17 to discuss his request that Armstrong forfeit prize money from those races and penalize him for committing perjury.

Armstrong’s attorneys argued before Parker last week that the panel no longer had authority to review the settlement once it was signed – even if SCA could demonstrate that Armstrong lied under oath.

Djokovic, Federer reach quarters

Tennis: Defending champion Novak Djokovic needed less than an hour to advance at the Dubai Championships, while Roger Federer faced a struggle to seal his place in the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Djokovic swept to a 6-1, 6-3 win over 51st-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in just 57 minutes, but fourth-seeded Federer had to fend off a serious challenge from 48th-ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic before coming through 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

Real Madrid routs Schalke

Soccer: With an overwhelming offensive display, Real Madrid became the first road team to score six goals in a knockout-stage game of the Champions League and put itself in position for its fourth straight trip to the quarterfinals.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema scored two goals each in a 6-1 rout of Schalke in the first leg of their second-round matchup in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.