In brief: Red Wings rally late, top Penguins in OT

NHL: Justin Abdelkader’s goal 4 minutes, 16 seconds into overtime capped a dramatic Detroit rally, giving the Red Wings a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night in Detroit.

The Red Wings scored twice with their goalie pulled in the final 2:39 of regulation, tying the game on Niklas Kronwall’s goal with 38.9 seconds to play.

On the winner, Henrik Zetterberg deflected Paul Martin’s clearing attempt from behind the net. The puck went right to Abdelkader in the slot, and he beat goalie Thomas Greiss to the stick side.

• Neal’s hat trick lifts Predators past Chicago: James Neal scored a natural hat trick, and the Nashville Predators edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in Nashville, Tennessee, to become the last NHL team still unbeaten in regulation this season.

The two Central Division rivals came in as the only teams yet to lose in regulation. They played into overtime six nights earlier in Chicago with the Blackhawks winning 2-1.

Carden helps No. 18 ECU turn back UConn

College football: Shane Carden threw for a season-high 445 yards, Breon Allen ran for two touchdowns and No. 18 East Carolina pulled away to beat Connecticut 31-21 in Greenville, North Carolina.

Carden was 38 of 64 during his seventh career 400-yard performance. He helped the Pirates (6-1, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) sidestep a major upset bid by four-touchdown-underdog UConn (1-6, 0-4) in East Carolina’s first prime-time, weeknight showcase game in its new league.

Williams follows beating with big rout

Tennis: Following the worst beating of her professional career on Wednesday, when she won only two games against Simona Halep, it took hours of cajoling and encouragement from coach Patrick Mouratoglou to get Serena Williams in the right frame of mind for her last WTA Finals round-robin contest against Eugenie Bouchard.

Whatever he said worked, as she routed Bouchard 6-1, 6-1 in Singapore.

“I was feeling mighty low,” Williams said. “I was able to feed off his belief. I know that sounds weird, even though I’ve won so many titles, I still at some point feel like, ‘Oh gosh, maybe I might not be able to do this or maybe I might not be able to do that?’

Williams improved her record to 2-1, and will have to wait until today’s match between Halep and Ana Ivanovic to know if she is through to the semifinals. Williams will make the final four unless Ivanovic beats Halep in straight sets. Halep is guaranteed of a semifinal berth.

Off the court, Williams also said she received a written apology from Russian tennis chief Shamil Tarpischev for offensive comments in which he called her and sister Venus the “Williams brothers.”

Williams said “he has reached out to apologize to both myself and my sister,” adding “it was written. I did not speak to him.”

Tarpischev was fined $25,000 and suspended from tour involvement for a year for his comments on a Russian TV show, in which he also said the sisters were “scary” to look at.

• Federer beats Istomin in Swiss Indoors 2nd round: Top-seeded Roger Federer again had to fight back from a set down before beating Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland.

Federer next faces either Vasek Pospisil of Canada or fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

Ealier, fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada hit 22 aces, including on match point, to beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2). Raonic, who beat Young in two sets in Washington earlier this year, next faces Belgium’s David Goffin.

Eighth-seeded Ivo Karlovic also advanced after coming from a set down to defeat qualifier Kenny De Schepper of France 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3 in just under 2 hours.

Birdies help Korda lead Blue Bay LPGA

Golf: Jessica Korda birdied five of the first eight holes and finished with a 6-under-par 66 to take the first-round lead in the Blue Bay LPGA in Hainan Island, China.

“I was hitting the ball pretty well and the putter was hot,” Korda said.

The American, a two-time winner this season, birdied the first three holes and added birdies on No. 6, 8 and 14 in her bogey-free round in the inaugural event at Jian Lake Blue Bay.

Michelle Wie and Chinese star Shanshan Feng were a stroke back.

• Compton among early leaders at Sea Island: Erik Compton made two quick birdies in the morning chill and wound up with a 5-under 65. He was among three players tied for the early lead in the McGladrey Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Spokane native Alex Prugh shot a 74.

Court rules town can keep Thorpe’s body

Miscellany: The remains of famed athlete Jim Thorpe will remain in the Pennsylvania town where he was laid to rest six decades ago.

A federal appeals court has thrown out a ruling that could have resulted in the remains’ removal to American Indian land in Oklahoma.

Thorpe’s surviving sons had been fighting to move the body to Sac and Fox land in the state where he was born. U.S. District Judge Richard Caputo had ruled in their favor.

But the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that Thorpe’s body should remain in the town named after him.

• Galaxy to install largest video board in MLS: The Los Angeles Galaxy and owner AEG will spend more than $15 million to improve their stadium, including the installation of the largest video board in Major League Soccer.

The 5,100-square-foot LED video board will be installed above the berm behind the north goal of the StubHub Center that opened in 2003.

• Armstrong barred from South Carolina ride: USA Cycling said Lance Armstrong can’t ride in a South Carolina event this weekend with several of his former U.S. Postal Service teammates.

Armstrong had hoped to ride with George Hincapie and several other former teammates at the non-competitive ride that bears Hincapie’s name. But because the ride is still authorized by USA Cycling, Armstrong can’t participate under his lifetime ban for using performance-enhancing drugs.