Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins banned gambling on team flights after a fight between Tony Allen and O.J. Mayo on board an airplane.
Team spokesman Dustin Krugel said the Grizzlies will allow ěno more gamblingî on flights. Their next road trip begins Friday night after hosting the Utah Jazz.
The team released a statement morning confirming that Allen and Mayo had a ěbrief altercationî on the charter flight back to Memphis on Monday from Los Angeles. The Grizzlies spent the night in California after beating the Lakers 104-85 on Sunday.
CYCLING
SYDNEY ó Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong said he is not affected on a daily basis by an ongoing U.S. federal investigation into drug use by cyclists.
In an interview in the Sydney Morning Herald ó his first newspaper interview since July ó Armstrong spoke of problems affecting cycling but would not elaborate on the Food and Drug Administration investigation.
HOCKEY
BUFFALO, N.Y. ó Artemi Panarin scored twice and Russia overcame a three-goal deficit in the third period to stun Canada 5-3 to win gold at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
OLYMPICS
LONDON ó ESPN, Fox and the other main contenders for U.S. television rights have shown interest in buying a package covering four Olympics rather than the usual two-games deal.
The International Olympic Committee had been planning to auction only the lucrative rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
SOCCER
SAN FRANCISCO ó Landon Donovan has been honored as the U.S. player of the year for a record seventh time by Futbol de Primera.
TENNIS
HONG KONG ó Venus Williams lost to second-ranked Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday at the Hong Kong Classic exhibition tournament in her first match since the U.S. Open.
Williams was sidelined with a left knee injury for the last part of the 2010 season and is using the tournament as her only warmup for the Australian Open.
NHL
Flyers 4, Devils 2
NEWARK, N.J. ó The Philadelphia Flyers made up for a sub-par game with a little bit of luck, something the New Jersey Devils havenít had all season.
Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell capitalized on fortuitous bounces to score two goals apiece and Ville Leino added a career-high three assists as the Flyers defeated the fast-fading Devils 4-2 on Thursday night.
Canadiens 2, Penguins 1
MONTREAL ó Benoit Pouliot scored on Montrealís fifth shootout attempt to give the Canadiens a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were missing injured captain Sidney Crosby on Thursday.
Carey Price, who made 31 saves through overtime, was perfect in the shootout. He denied Kris Letang, Pascal Dupuis, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu before stopping Chris Kunitz on Pittsburghís final attempt.
Wild 3, Penguins 1
BOSTON (AP) ó Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck scored the go-ahead goal in the third period on Thursday night and Minnesota held on to beat Boston 3-1.
ěI kind of surprised myself when I got it,î Clutterbuck said. ěItís karma. That kind of thing has happened to us enough times.î
Jose Theodore stopped 35 shots, and Martin Havlat also had a bit of a lucky goal for the Wild, converting four seconds into a power play when Shawn Thornton was sent off on a misguided hooking call. Replays showed that Wild defenseman Brent Burns merely slipped and fell.
ěYou guys saw it,î Thornton told reporters through gritted teeth. ěI canít say anything, obviously. What did you see?î
Clutterbuck also assisted on Mikko Koivuís empty-netter with 43 seconds left. The Wild, who entered the night 21st in the NHL in goals scored this season, have never lost in Boston, and they are 9-2 overall against the Original Six franchise since joining the league in 2000.
ěEarly on in the year, things werenít going well and confidence was an issue,î Wild coach Todd Richards said. ěBut you walk through that room right now, and you can see the confidence starting to build.î
Tuukka Rask made 31 saves for the Bruins, who were 0 for 4 with a man advantage and have never scored a power-play goal against Minnesota. Rask fell to 3-8 for the season despite a .927 save percentage that is fourth in the NHL.
ěItís awful,î Thornton said. ěKid plays that good for us all the time, we donít get the wins for him. We care about him and we should probably show it in a better way because he stood on his head for us pretty much every night.î
Steven Kampfer scored for Boston, which returned from a five-game road trip in which it earned eight of 10 points.
The Wild took the lead in the second period when Thornton was called for putting his stick blade in Burnsí gut, even though he had removed it before Burns went down. Thornton barely had taken his seat in the penalty box when, on the ensuing faceoff, Havlat came up with the puck, stickhandled into the slot and put a backhand past Rask to make it 1-0.
Boston tied it later in the period when Patrice Bergeron stole the puck from Burns in the Wild zone. Theodore made the save with his left knee, but left the rebound in front, where Kampfer got it and chipped it under the crossbar.
The Wild went up for good 2:25 into the third period when Savardís pass in the Boston zone was intercepted by Clutterbuck, who wristed in a shot to make it 2-1.
ěI tried to flip it out because we had a tired group out there,î Savard said. ěI just fanned on it.î
Bruins coach Claude Julien benched Savard for part of the third. The 13-year NHL veteran had just three shifts for a total of 3 minutes, 20 seconds in the final period, though he was the extra skater who came out when Rask was pulled with about 1:20 left.
ěWhen you make a mistake like that, a person has to be held accountable,î Julien said. ěYou donít expect a guy like that to do something like that.î
NOTES: Minnesota has outscored Boston 33-16. … Kampfer has four goals in five games; he has only played in 13 NHL games. … Theodore has won seven of his last eight starts against the Bruins, and six of his last seven in Boston. … Wild C Patrick OíSullivan recorded his 100th NHL assist.
The Associated Press
01/06/11 22:45