Antti Niemi made 28 saves against the NHL’s hottest team to get his sixth shutout and the Blackhawks ended Phoenix’s nine-game winning streak Tuesday night, beating the Coyotes 2-0.The win allowed the Blackhawks to take over the points lead in the Western Conference, where they have 99. San Jose has 98 and Coyotes 97.Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa scored second-period goals for the Hawks, who beat the Coyotes for the first time in four meetings this season. Phoenix’s nine-game winning streak that tied a franchise record had included a shootout win over the Blackhawks on Saturday night when the Hawks twice squandered two-goal leads.Kane fired a high shot from the middle of the left circle that eluded Ilya Bryzgalov on the glove side, 1:45 into the second. It was Kane’s team-high 28th goal of the season and gave him 20 points in his past 15 games.Patrick Sharp’s pass between two Coyotes was deflected but recovered by Hossa, who also scored from the left circle for a 2-0 lead at 7:16.Niemi then stopped a point-blank rebound shot by Petteri Nokelainen to preserve the two-goal cushion and later reached around behind his back to thwart a tuck attempt by Taylor Pyatt.Lee Stempniak, who’d scored nine goals in nine games since being traded to the Coyotes, said the end of the winning streak means the Coyotes must start another.Shane Doan skated behind the net and scored an apparent goal to give Phoenix a first-period lead. But the score was disallowed because the Coyotes’ Matthew Lombardi was in the crease.

NOTES—Brent Seabrook returned to the lineup after missing two games with a concussion. He was leveled last Wednesday by Anaheim’s James Wisniewski, who drew an eight-game suspension for the hit against his former teammate. Seabrook got a big cheer in the second when he drove Vernon Fiddler into the boards. He said there were no lingering effects from his injury….The Winnipeg Jets, who moved to Phoenix in 1996, also won nine in a row from March 8-27, 1985….The Blackhawks are 5-4-2 since the Olympic break. They have 10 shutouts this season total…..Brian Campbell, who will miss the rest of the regular season with a broken collarbone and broken rib after a hit from Washington’s Alex Ovechkin on March 14, said he has no target date for a return. There is a slim possibility he could be back, if the Blackhawks go deep into the playoffs.

GLENDALE—Matt Cain made the most of a strong showing from San Francisco’s offense.Cain pitched into the seventh inning in an impressive start, leading the Giants to a 6-1 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday.Cain yielded three hits and an unearned run in 6 2-3 innings, helping San Francisco improve to a majors-best 16-6 this spring.Pablo Sandoval and Bengie Molina each had two doubles and drove in a run for the Giants, who finished with seven doubles. Sandoval had missed the previous three games after he needed stitches following a collision last Friday.Gavin Floyd was shaky during his four innings for the White Sox, allowing six runs and nine hits, but struggling third baseman Mark Teahen had an encouraging day.Teahen, who agreed to a $14 million, three-year deal in December, went 1 for 3 and also reached on an error. He hit the ball hard all game while raising his batting average 23 points to .143.Teahen has just four hits this month.

NOTES—The White Sox moved closer to setting their 25-player roster for the start of the regular season. They optioned C Tyler Flowers and pitcher Carlos Torres to Triple-A Charlotte and reassigned pitcher Ryan Braun, OFs Jordan Danks and Josh Kroeger and INFs Brent Morel and C.J. Retherford to minor league camp. That left the Sox with 32 players remaining in its major league camp. … The Giants optioned pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Joe Martinez to Triple-A Fresno. Bumgarner, a 20-year-old left-hander, was under consideration for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, but has been somewhat inconsistent this spring. The fifth spot now is expected to go to RHP Todd Wellemeyer, a non-roster invitee who signed a minor league contract just before the start of camp.

SURPRISE—Kansas City Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar allowed one run and five hits, walked none and struck out three in five innings in a 5-5 tie with the Cubs on Tuesday.The game was called after nine innings.Hochevar has a 1.64 ERA after three starts.Ryan Dempster gave up two runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings, the longest outing by a Cubs starter, while striking out six and walking three. He threw 93 pitches.He left with a 3-1 lead, but reliever Carlos Marmol gave up a two-run homer to Brayan Pena in the sixth.Aramis Ramirez, who had not played since March 13 because of a right triceps injury, returned as the Cubs designated hitter and went 2 for 3 with a RBI. Ramirez is hoping to play third base by Friday.Lou Piniella said if this was a regular-season game Ramirez could have played third. Andres Blanco’s RBI single in the ninth gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead.The Royals tied it in the bottom of the inning when Alberto Callaspo’s single scored Chris Getz, who led off the ninth with a single. Callaspo, who is hitting .475, also tripled and scored on Billy Butler’s sacrifice fly in the sixth.Soriano went 0 for 3 to snap his seven-game hitting streak.

Derrick Rose had 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Bulls to a 98-88 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night. Flip Murray added 18 points and Kirk Hinrich scored 17 for the Bulls, who won back-to-back games after losing a season-high 10 in a row.The Rockets lost for just the second time in seven games. Luis Scola led Houston with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Martin added 19 points.The Bulls took control with a 16-2 run that Rose capped off with a 3-pointer to give his team a 72-59 lead with 1:44 left in the quarter.Even with the big lead, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro lost his cool with the officials and got ejected for storming the court and arguing.Del Negro was upset after Rose was called for a blocking foul that led to a three-point play for Houston’s Kyle Lowery. Seconds later, Del Negro stormed the court after Taj Gibson was called for an offensive foul. Bob Delaney kicked Del Negro out after issuing two technicals. The Bulls led 72-62 when Del Negro was kicked out. The Rockets mounted a comeback attempt late in the fourth.Aaron Brooks made a 3 and Trevor Ariza followed with a layup to get Houston within 85-81 with 2:10 left. After Rose answered with a jumper, Brooks came back with a 3 to get within 87-84.Hinrich hit a 3 to extend the Bulls lead to 92-86 with 56.2 seconds left. On Houston’s next possession Kevin Martin was called for an offensive foul that killed the Rockets rally.Ariza finished with 18 points. Houston played without defensive stopper Shane Battier. Battier sprained his left knee in Houston’s victory over New York on Sunday.An MRI on Monday revealed a sprain expected to keep him out at least 10 days.Things got worse for the Rockets in the second half. Forward Jared Jeffries’ night ended when he strained his left Achilles’ tendon in the third quarter and rookie Jordan Hill was helped off the court and to the locker room after spraining his left ankle early in the fourth.

NOTES—Brad Miller was called for a technical after slapping Houston center Chuck Hayes in the back when they were battling for a rebound in the third quarter. …Joakim Noah, who is slowly coming back from a foot injury, played 12 minutes and had four points and six rebounds.

CHAMPAIGN—Illinois used a big second-half run to beat Kent State 75-58 on Monday night and advance to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.With the game tied at 31 at halftime, Illinois (20-14) went on an 18-7 run out of the break to take control. Illinois hosts the winner of Dayton-Cincinnati on Wednesday.For a team that relies on its outside shooting, Illinois pounded the ball inside to score 40 of its points in the paint. Mike Davis had 16 points and 16 rebounds for his 15th double-double this season, while Mike Tisdale had 17 points.Kent State (24-9) hurt itself at the free-throw line, converting only 10 of 18 attempts for a paltry 55.6 percent while shooting 38.9 percent from the field.Justin Greene led the Golden Flashes with 15 points, while Anthony Simpson provided a spark off the bench with 14 points.

SURPRISE—Gil Meche pitched three innings Monday before leaving the Kansas City Royals’ 9-5 victory over the White Sox with a sore right shoulder.Meche allowed three runs and four hits, struck out one and walked one. He threw 31 of his 56 pitches for strikes.Meche was limited to 23 starts and 129 innings because of shoulder and back problems in 2009.Meche was scheduled to throw five innings or about 70-75 pitches with only two more starts left in spring training.Jake Peavy was hit hard during his three innings for the White Sox, yielding seven runs and 10 hits.Bobby Jenks followed Peavy and struck out one in a perfect inning. It was the closer’s first spring game since March 12 because of a calf injury.Jenks missed the final 11 games last year with a sprained right calf, so there was concern when his calf bothered him in early March. Tests were negative on an MRI exam Saturday.Peavy, who gave up a home run to David DeJesus, threw 74 pitches in three innings and another 21 in the bullpen. Because the Royals and White Sox are in the same division and meet 18 times this year, Peavy did not want use his entire repertoire.Billy Butler had two hits for the Royals, raising his average to .361. Wilson Betemit had two hits and two RBIs.Omar Vizquel, Alex Rios and Paul Konerko each had two hits for the White Sox. Josh Kroeger homered in the ninth.

NOTES: The Royals optioned RHP Gaby Hernandez to Triple-A Omaha, leaving 46 players in camp. … OF Rick Ankiel, who has not played since March 11 because of a sore right ankle, could return soon to the Royals lineup as the DH. “I’m hopeful it’s in the next two or three days,” manager Trey Hillman said. … Royals 3B Alex Gordon hit soft toss throws Monday for the first time since breaking his right thumb on March 6. Hillman labeled it “iffy” whether Gordon would be ready for the April 5 opener.

MESA—Fausto Carmona is in control – something he hadn’t been able to say for almost three years.After going 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA in 2007, when he finished fourth in Cy Young voting and helped the Cleveland Indians win the AL Central, Carmona had trouble throwing strikes. He averaged more than five walks per nine innings the next two years and went 13-19 with a 5.89 ERA for disappointing teams.This spring, Carmona has walked only two batters in 13 innings while posting a 0.69 ERA. The big right-hander, who got in better shape over the winter and adjusted his mechanics on the mound, was especially dominant Monday, pitching six shutout innings in a 9-2 victory over the Cubs.Carmona, who was so wild last season that the Indians demoted him to rookie ball in June, spent Monday sawing off bats with hard, sinking fastballs – just as he did in 2007.Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija wasn’t nearly as sharp, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks in four innings. It was his final outing before Piniella announces his season-opening rotation on Friday.Samardzija is competing with Carlos Silva for a spot, but Silva has been better, meaning Samardzija could be headed to the bullpen. Silva, who left Sunday’s start after two innings with a tight right quad, said Monday that he felt fine.Samardzija’s teammates offered little help Monday. After Austin Kearns led off the second inning with a double, first baseman Derrek Lee fielded Redmond’s grounder and threw late to third rather than take the sure out at first. Jose Constanza then hit an apparent double-play grounder, but second baseman Bobby Scales’ relay throw was high.In the fifth, third baseman Jeff Baker made an error and Scales couldn’t catch Constanza’s pop-up, leading to two unearned runs off John Grabow. Mike Parisi gave up four eighth-inning runs on a hit, two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch. Meanwhile, the Cubs were blanked on three hits through eight.Cleveland pitching had something to do with that. Paced by Carmona, the Indians lead all AL teams with a 3.38 ERA.

NOTES—Ted Lilly said his surgically repaired left shoulder felt great after he pitched three innings in a simulated game Monday. Lilly, who will start the season on the DL, wants to work two spring games but Piniella is preaching patience. “If you ask him now, he thinks he can be the opening-day pitcher,” the manager said. “Let’s be realistic. We don’t want to push him. There’s time.” … Indians OF Michael Brantley, who left Sunday’s game with a sore right ankle, “is just fine,” manager Manny Acta said. … With Chris Perez taking over for injured closer Kerry Wood, Cleveland’s other bullpen jobs – including the setup role Perez vacated – are up for grabs. “Guys dictate their own roles,” Acta said. “I’ll take seven Mariano Riveras.” … Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez (sore right triceps) has been throwing daily and “will be ready to play soon,” Piniella said.

***Three Big Ten teams are in the Sweet Sixteen even with Wisconsin losing to Cornell Sunday. Ohio State knocked off Georgia Tech, Purdue got a layup by Chris Kramer with 4.2 seconds left to edge stubborn Texas A & M and Michigan State needed a three point bomb at the buzzer from Korie Lucious to edge Maryland 85-83,but the Spartans lost star Kalin Lucis with a torn Achilles. OSU faces Tennessee and MSU plays Northern Iowa Friday in St.Louis while Purdue plays Duke Friday in Houston.

***Illinois gets a home game in the NIT second round Monday evening against Kent State.

***So how silly is this “Ozzie Gate” with his Son Oney quitting as a video guy with the White Sox over his twittering stuff? You don’t think this will effect anything do ya?

LES

GLENDALE—Former Blackhawk Radim Vrbata scored the lone goal of the shootout and the Phoenix Coyotes rallied to beat the Hawks 5-4 on Saturday night for their eighth straight win.Antti Niemi stopped attempts by Wojtek Wolski and Lauri Korpikoski before Vrbata scored on a backhand shot that lifted the water bottle off the top of the net.Ilya Bryzgalov saved shots by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp in succession for his 39th win of the season.Lee Stempniak scored twice and Wolski also had a goal for the Coyotes, who moved within one point of San Jose for the Pacific Division lead and two points of the Blackhawks for the Western Conference’s best record.The Coyotes’ winning streak is one short of the franchise record and matches the team’s eight-game streak from Nov. 6-Dec. 2, 1999.Andrew Ladd and Sharp scored 73 seconds apart early in the third period, Troy Brouwer and Kane also scored, and Marian Hossa had a pair of assists for the Blackhawks, who lost for the fourth time in five games. Two losses came after regulation.The Blackhawks were playing without defenseman Brent Seabrook, who missed his second game with an upper body injury sustained when he was leveled by Anaheim’s James Wisniewski on Wednesday. Wisniewski was given an eight-game suspension by the NHL for the hit.Ladd snapped a 2-2 tie with 17:27 remaining on a knuckling shot from the top of the right circle. Sharp made it 4-2 from between the circles.Stempniak scored on a rebound with 13:07 to go for his ninth goal in eight games since he was acquired by the Coyotes at the trade deadline to cut the lead to 4-3.Brouwer scored from the doorstep at 11:52 of the first to open the scoring.Kane was left alone in the right circle during a second-period power play, took a cross-ice pass from Hossa, and beat Bryzgalov for a power-play goal that made it 2-0 at 5:11.Wolski made it 2-1 at 9:20, backhanding the puck toward the net as he was pestered by a pair of defenders. The puck bounced off Shane Doan’s skate to the top of the crease where Wolski swooped in and beat Niemi with a wrist shot.Stempniak tied it with a power-play goal 1:11 into the third. He stood at the top of the crease and redirected another ex Hawk Adrian Aucoin’s shot from the point past Niemi.

NOTES—Stempniak has three two-goal games since coming to Phoenix. The game was played in front of a season-high crowd of 17,534 (at least half of whom were Blackhawk fans), besting the attendance from opening night by two. Kane’s goal was his first since March 2, a span of nine games….The same two teams meet Tuesday night in the United Center.

PHILADELPHIA—Ninety minutes before the tip-off, Derrick Rose was flexing his wrist in the locker room. He then flexed his All-Star form in a game the Bulls sperately needed to win.Rose scored 23 points in his return from a sprained left wrist, and the Bulls snapped a losing streak at 10 games with a 98-84 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.Kirk Hinrich added 17 points and 11 assists, Brad Miller had 16 points, and Hakim Warrick 13 for the Bulls, 2½ games behind Toronto for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.Rose who sparked the Bulls with a 9-for-16 shooting performance, including 4 for 6 on 3-pointers.Marreese Speights had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Philadelphia. The 76ers have lost 12 of their last 14 games and are 11-23 at home.Samuel Dalembert added 16 points for Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala had 11, and Jrue Holiday had 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.The Bulls built a 21-point lead and had a 77-62 advantage after the third quarter.Joakim Noah and Miller scored consecutive baskets to open the fourth to quickly put the Bulls back ahead by 19. The Sixers, 1 of 17 from 3-point range, never got within single digits the rest of the way.Rose missed the Bulls’ previous four games, while Noah returned after missing 10 straight games because of a left foot injury,all of which the Bulls had lost.

NOTES—Iguodala is 1 for 26 from 3-point range in his last eight games….Philadelphia forward Thaddeus Young (right thumb fracture) was inactive…..The Bulls committed only two turnovers in the first half…..Sixers guard Lou Williams didn’t play in the second half because of back spasms….Bulls forward Chris Richard was whistled for a technical foul with 59.2 seconds left in the third quarter.