Briefs | NHL: Canucks win road game over Minnesota

NHL

Unlikely scorers lift Canucks over Wild: Tough guy Darcy Hordichuk and newly signed Matt Pettinger each scored their first goals of the season, forming an unlikely pair to lead the short-handed Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 victory over the host Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Hordichuk scored his first goal in 50 games. Pettinger was signed Monday to bolster a depleted roster.

Mason Raymond and Henrik Sedin also scored for the Canucks, who have won three in a row despite missing seven players with injuries. Alex Burrows added an empty-net goal.

Kyle Brodziak scored twice for the Wild, which was slow and sloppy throughout and showed little fight against a weakened opponent.

Niklas Backstrom gave up four goals on 17 shots and was pulled by new Wild coach Todd Richards for the first time.

Vancouver's Andrew Raycroft made 28 saves in his fifth straight game in place of Roberto Luongo, who has been out with a rib injury.

Sharks place Blake on injured list: The San Jose Sharks placed defenseman Rob Blake on injured reserve with an undisclosed upper-body injury and recalled defenseman Derek Joslin from Worcester of the American Hockey League.

Bruins' Krejci diagnosed with swine flu: Boston Bruins center David Krejci will stay away from the team for the next three to five days while he is quarantined with the swine flu.

Tennis

U.S. Open semifinalist banned for one year: U.S. Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer was suspended for one year by a Belgian anti-doping tribunal, accused of failing to report her whereabouts to drug-testing officials three times.

The Flemish regional tribunal called the punishment "reasonable." Tribunal spokesman Koen Uman said the suspension takes immediate effect, but Wickmayer can appeal the decision.

The 18th-ranked Belgian has denied any wrongdoing and said she planned to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She is playing in a tournament in Bali this week.

Murray advances in Valencia Open: Top-seeded Andy Murray reached the Valencia Open quarterfinals, where a match with defending champion David Ferrer was averted when the Spaniard withdrew because of a hamstring injury. Murray, making his return from a wrist injury, lost his serve twice but defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Djokovic beats Hernych at Swiss Indoors: Novak Djokovic of Serbia won 6-0, 6-0 for the first time at an elite event, blanking Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

College basketball

NCAA clears two freshmen to play: Indiana freshman Bawa Muniru and Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson have been cleared by the NCAA to play this season.

Sailing

Alinghi offers Australia as America's Cup venue: The most contentious America's Cup in the 158-year history of the event could be headed to Australia, if the teams can agree to end their long, bitter court fight.

Defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland told a New York judge it would race American challenger BMW Oracle Racing off Australia in February as a compromise. Alinghi still prefers to race in the Persian Gulf.

Auto racing

IndyCar to partner with Izod: The Indy Racing League will have Izod as a title sponsor next season, an agreement the IRL hopes will expand its fan base and take the series to a "new level."

The six-year deal could be extended, said Michael Kelly, executive vice president of marketing for the clothing maker's parent company, Phillips-Van Heusen. He did not say how much money was involved or how it would be spent. Izod will remain the IRL's official apparel partner.

Boxing

Martinez to face Williams: Two-time champion Paul Williams finally has found an opponent for his next bout, choosing Sergio Martinez to replace injured Kelly Pavlik in a 160-pound match. Heavyweight Chris Arreola also will fight on the card in Atlantic City on Dec. 5.

Hall of Famer Filippo dies at 83: Lou Filippo, a World Boxing Hall of Famer who judged 85 world champion fights and had small roles in the "Rocky" movies, has died in Downey, Calif., of a stroke. He was 83.

Track and field

South Africa chief suspended: Leonard Chuene, the South African track chief who lied about his role in runner Caster Semenya's gender tests, was suspended by the nation's top sports body.

WNBA

Lynx get first pick in WNBA draft: The Minnesota Lynx will have the top pick in next year's WNBA draft. The Sacramento Monarchs, who finished with a league-low 12 wins this year, received the second pick in the draft lottery, followed by the Connecticut Sun, the Lynx again with the fourth pick and the Chicago Sky.

The remaining draft order is San Antonio, Washington, Tulsa, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

Seattle, Indiana and the Sparks round out the final first-round picks in the 13-team draft.

Snowboarding

Bright, Kokubo win snowboarding events: Torah Bright of Australia and Kazuhiro Kokubo of Japan won season-opening World Cup snowboarding events in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.

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