Dave Bolland scored two power-play goals, and the Blackhawks overcame the loss of star forward Patrick Kane in the opening minute and beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Sunday.Bryan Bickell and Jonathan Toews also scored power-play goals for the Hawks.Kane, the Blackhawks’ leading scorer last season with 88 points, sustained an undisclosed lower body injury 46 seconds into the game and didn’t return. He spun and fell awkwardly along the right wing boards while trying to avoid a check by Flames defenseman Cory Sarich. Kane skated off the ice with assistance and was escorted to the dressing room.Jarome Iginla and Anton Babchuk scored on the power play for the Flames. Babchuk’s goal was his first since joining Calgary in a trade from Carolina on Nov. 17.Corey Crawford started for the fourth time in five games and made 24 saves.Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 28 shots.The Hawks held a 3-2 lead after the first period, in which every goal was scored during a power play.Bickell put the Blackhawks ahead 1-0 at 4:14 when his shot from the slot sailed over Kiprusoff’s outstretched glove.Bolland’s connected during a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the period to make it 2-0. Standing at the left edge of the crease, Bolland redirected Toews’ cross-ice feed into a wide-open net.Iginla cut the Flames’ deficit in half with 6:54 left when he ripped in a shot from between the circles with Matt Stajan screening Crawford.Babchuk tied it 2-all with another screened goal just over three minutes later. He beat Crawford with a high shot while Calgary’s Olli Jokinen and Brent Seabrook were tied up in front of the crease.Toews batted in a loose puck from a goal-mouth scrum with 2:27 left in the first to restore the lead.Following a scoreless second period, the Blackhawks held on the third by killing four late power plays. Iginla’s shot with 3:40 left struck the right post.Bolland fired a power-play goal into an empty net to complete the scoring.

NOTES—Since joining the Blackhawks in 2007 after being chosen No. 1 in the NHL draft, Kane has missed only two games. He sat out twice in January 2009 with an ankle injury. Calgary RW Ales Kotalik played his first game of the season after missing 26 because of a knee injury. … Marian Hossa missed his third game with a lower body injury sustained Monday in practice. …Fernando Pisani’s upper body injury kept him out for a fourth game.

DETROIT—This one was no easier than the season opener.Detroit led most of the way,but the Bears were able to hang in and get a fourth quarter seven yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to Brandon Manumaleuna with 8:46 remaining and they escapes Ford Field with a 24-20 win over the Lions.The Bears started this final five game stretch with three road Division games sandwiched around two home contests against the top two AFC East clubs. The Bears won the coin toss but deferred and Detroit chose to receive the opening kickoff which Robbie Gould kicked to Stefan Logan who downed it five yards deep in the end zone for a touch back.A quick false start on Rob Simms moved the ball back to the 15.Jahvid Best was stopped for a yard gain by Lance Briggs.Drew Stanton,the Lions third string QB out of Michigan State gave the Bears defense early problems. He found Stephen Pettigrew on a screen pass for 14 and a first down.Two running plays left the Lions with a third and five at the 35.Stanton moved the chains with an 8 yard pass to Nate Burleson(who was wrong with prediction of a Lions win)at the Detroit 43.A five yard play was then called back due to a holding on Pettigrew making it first and 19.Mo Morris picked up 8 to the Lions 41.A Stanton pass intended for Calvin Johnson was knocked down by Peanut Tillman.Henry Melton was called for a neutral zone infraction,leaving it third and seven at the Detroit 46.After another incompletion that short hopped C.Johnson, Nick Harris punted top Devin Hester at his five and he returned it 7 yards to the 12.The Bears offense took the field for the first time with mediocre field position. Matt Forte went over the middle for three to the 15,then he was stuffed for no gain Julian Peterson.The Bears then got confused and had to burn a time out just 5:29 into the game.After that Jay Cutler was quickly sacked by Cliff Avril for an eight yard loss back to the 7 and Brad Maynard punted to Logan who returned it 19 yards to the Bears 38. Beast went around the left side for eight to the Bears 30.Next came pass that Burleson couldn’t handle.But on a broken play,Stanton escaped the pocket for six yards and a first down at the 24.After that, Stanton also did not like what he saw a took a time out.Stanton was then able to avoid the rush and hit Burleson for 15 yards to the Bears 9 and a first and goal.Morris broke through the line for 6 to the three.On second down, Stanton was forced from the pocket by Israel Idonije and threw it almost to Lansing.Stanton then caught the Bears defense flat footed and scrambled to the left,running into the end zone untouched to give Detroit first blood.Dave Rayner,filling in for injured Jason Hanson, kicked the PAT and it was 7-0 Lions with 6:36 left in the first period.Rayner kicked off to Daniel Manning who returned it 19 yards to his 24.Cutler hit Hester on a slant that worked for only one yard.Cutler,then under pressure,threw one into the ground.On third down,Cutler hit Earl Bennett who was able to stretch the ball forward for just enough yards for a first down at the 34.Forte on first down broke over right tackle for 17 and got to the Lions 49.Forte followed that up with five more after getting the hand off from Bennett who had taken the snap.The Bears then burned another time out.Chester Taylor took a pitch out around RE, and got six to the 38.Taylor went off left guard for two yards.Cutler went deep for Hester who was double covered in the end zone and it was off target.But on third down,Cutler hit an open Bennett for 14 at the 22. Forte crashed off right guard for two yards.Bennett then grabbed a quickie over the middle for 13 to the Lions 7. Forte got a yard to the six.A pass intended for Johnny Knox was incomplete, but pass interference gave the Bears a first and goal at the one, and Taylor rolled around left end without a hand being laid on him for the TD which tied the game with :03 left in the first quarter. Logan returned Gould’s kickoff from the end zone to the Detroit 29 as the period ended with a 7-7 tie. On first down Stanton hit Pettigrew for eight yards.Morris then broke two tackles for six and a first down at the Detroit 43.The Lions then pulled off an end around with Logan gaining 17 yards to the Bears 40.Morris then carried twice for a quick three,and then for just one yard.Stanton however found C.Johnson on a slant play for eight and a first down. Best went to the right and gained one yard.D.J.Moore then got Best for a one yard loss back to the 28. On third down, the Bears blitzed Stanton and he had to throw it away,and C.Johnson was called for offensive pass interference making it third and 20 at the Bears 38.After a six yard pass to Tony Scheffler, Rayner kicked a 50 yard field goal that had plenty to spare and with 9:31 remaining in the half, Detroit regained the lead 10-7. Rayner kicked off to Hester who only got to his own 17 before Bobby Carpenter tackled him.But the Bears were able to go 83 yards in eight plays. Taylor zig-zagged for six yards on first down to his 23.Cutler avoided a sack on second down,scrambled and tossed a shovel pass to Taylor for a first down at the thirty. Another pass to Taylor resulted in no gain.The Lions however had several jump off side to make it second and five.Cutler then found Taylor on the right flat and he picked up nine to the Bears 44 and moved the chains.Cutler,on a botched play threw in the direction of Devin Aromashodu but he never saw it and it fell incomplete.On a draw,Taylor broke two tackles and got to the Detroit 47.On third and one, Cutler hit Bennett in stride and he not only broke two tackles,but it took three Lions to bring him down after a 33 yard gain to the Detroit 14.Forte then busted around left end,and scored untouched,similar to the TD by Taylor and with 4:40 remaining in the half,the Bears took their first lead 14-7. Gould kicked it to Logan who got to the 19 as Zack Bown brought him down by the ankles.The Bears came on a blitz and Stanton beat it by hitting Best with a screen and he gained 32 yards to the Bears 49.Logan gained a yard after taking another pitch out. Stanton found Pettigrew for six to the Bears 42 and on third and three, Manning broke up a pass intended for Pettigrew. Harris punted out of bounds at the Bears 12. Cutler hit Knox who almost broke it,but still got twenty at his 32.Cutler,then under pressure hit Forte for sixteen to the Bears 48 at the two minute warning. On second and ten, Knox caught an eight yard pass at the Detroit 44,but Cutler’s third down pass was deflected to the ground by Ndamukong Suh. Maynard then punted the ball dead on the Lion nine yard line.But the Bears defense then had their worst stand of the season,allowing the Lions to go 91 yards in two plays.Best got the Lions in scoring range with a 45 yard run around the right side after breaking a tackle at the line.Stanton then hit Johnson who again broke tackles and got to the end zone with :34 left and put the Lions back in front 17-14. As one would expect,Lovie Smith had Cutler take a knee and Detroit took their 17-14 lead into the locker room.Manumaleuna for what would be the game winner.The Bears forced a Detroit punt from the 40 and the Lions never got the ball back.The Bears thus kept their one game lead over Green Bay in the NFC North.

The Lions took advantage of a sack of Cutler and his fumble which gave them the ball at the Bears nine to begin the third quarter,but the Bears held them to a 25 yard`Rayner field goal. That would be the last points that Detroit would score as they took a 20-14 lead.The Bears got those three points back when Gold kicked a career long 54 yard field goal and the Lions lead stood at 20-17 going into the fourth. It went back and fourth until the Bears came up with a stop at their own 40 by forcing Stanton to throw an incomplete pass on fourth down. The Bears then marched the needed 60 yards on just four plays with Cutler hitting Forte for twenty yards, and Bennett for twelve more.Cutler then scrambled for 8 and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Suh put the ball on the Lions seven,and Cutler hit

NOTES—Cutler was 21-26 for 234 yards, Forte rushed 13 times for 64 yards……Cutler was sacked four times, three times by Avril.

LES

SEATTLE—Demetri McCamey had 11 points and seven assists, and No. 20 Illinois was blistering from beyond the arc in a 73-61 defeat of Gonzaga on Saturday.Mike Tisdale hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half to extend a 34-28 lead, and the Illini (8-1) went on a 14-3 run to take a 62-44 advantage.Ten of the Illini’s first 11 baskets in the second half came from beyond the 3-point line, and they finished 52 percent from beyond the arc for the game.Elias Harris finished with 12 points, all in the first half, to lead Gonzaga. Stephen Gray added 10 points.Robert Sacre provided the only scoring threat for the Bulldogs (4-3) during the Illini’s big second-half run. He scored nine straight points to help Gonzaga stay in the game.Mike Davis scored in the lane to break a streak of six straight Illinois 3-pointers and give the Illini a 67-47 edge. Gonzaga answered with a 10-0 run, but D.J. Richardson scored on a floater in the lane and Illinois was able to grind out the remaining minutes for the victory.Richardson and Tisdale each finished with 15 points to lead the way for Illinois.Elias Harris checked into the game at the 15:25 mark of the first half after missing a game against Eastern Washington with an Achilles’ injury. He immediately made an impact, driving the lane and getting a quick basket to knot the game at 10-10.The Bulldogs were 0 for 8 from 3-point range in the first half and shot just 19 percent from beyond the arc for the game.

Valparaiso finished off its two-game Horizon League sweep of Chicago teams Saturday, defeating Loyola 66-56.Howard Little led the Crusaders with 16 points and seven rebounds.Valparaiso (6-2, 2-0), which outlasted UIC 68-66 in overtime Thursday night, built a 34-28 lead by halftime against the Ramblers.The Crusaders’ victory was No. 623 for coach Homer Drew, who is the seventh-winningest active coach in NCAA Division I. In 32 years of coaching, he’s 623-417, including a 354-295 mark in 21 seasons with Valpo.Loyola (7-2, 0-2), which holds a 32-11 lead in the all-time series, was led by Ben Averkamp with 11 points.

Nikola Cvetinovic hit a layup with 19 seconds left to break a tie and lift Akron to a 54-52 victory over UIC on Saturday.Cvetinovic finished with 19 points to lead the Zips (4-2) while Brett McClanahan added 10.The Flames (4-5) were up by as many as 13 points early in the second half, but Akron hammered away during the period with 44.8 percent shooting.McClanahan tied it at 52-all on a 3-pointer with about a minute left in the game. Akron got the ball back again when Steve McNees stole it from UIC’s Robo Kreps about 10 seconds later.Cvetinovic clinched it soon after.Kreps led the Flames with 14 points while Darrin Williams added 12.

Mamadou Seck scored 17 points and Southern Illinois beat Chicago State 75-61 Saturday.The Salukis (4-4) outpaced the Cougars 18-5 on offensive rebounds and had a 20-6 advantage on second-chance points over the Cougars (2-7).Seck, making his first start for the Salukis, had 14 rebounds, two assists and was 7 of 11 from the field.Carlton Fay and Gene Teague each scored 12 points, and Teague pulled down seven rebounds. Jack Crowder added nine points, and Troy Long contributed eight.Carl Montgomery led the Cougars with 29 points, seven rebounds and one assist. Montgomery shot 10 of 14 from the field and 9 of 14 from the free-throw line. Victor Scott and Sean Montgomery each added 10 points and four rebounds.

FRESNO—Coach Pat Hill has made a career out of taking risks at Fresno State. So it came as no surprise when he decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 in his own territory protecting a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter. The move paid off by about an inch and Fresno State went on to beat Illinois 25-23 on Friday night to end the regular season the way it started, with a home victory over a team from a major conference. Ryan Colburn threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs (8-4) overcame a 318-yard rushing night from the Illini (6-6) to earn their 17th win since 2000 against a team from a BCS conference to tie Utah for the most by any school from a non-automatic qualifying conference. Fresno State also beat Cincinnati of the Big East in the season opener. Nathan Scheelhaase ran for 131 yards and a touchdown and also throw a TD pass, and Mikel Leshoure added 142 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Illini, who ended the regular season by losing three of four games. The Bulldogs improved to 3-6 against Big Ten teams, including last year’s 53-52 win at Illinois. This game wasn’t nearly as dramatic as that contest, which ended when 350-pound offensive lineman Devan Cunningham caught a deflected pass and made his way into the end zone for the winning 2-point conversion with two seconds left. Fresno State just milked this one out at the end, killing more than nine minutes to nearly run out the clock with help from a key penalty and the big fourth-down conversion. Tavon Wilson was called for a personal foul for hitting a defenseless Jamel Hamler on third-and-13 from the 7. Colburn then threw a 15-yard pass to Hamler on third-and-10 and A.J. Ellis barely converted a fourth-and-1 run from the Bulldogs 46 with 3:17 to go.Illinois finally got the ball back at its 9 with 18 seconds left but could not do anything from there. The Illini cut a 16-point first-quarter deficit to 19-17 after when they scored on the opening drive of the second half. Scheelhaase expertly moved Illinois 92 yards in 17 plays, capping with an off-balance 18-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins. The Bulldogs responded with a touchdown drive of their own, with Colburn throwing a 21-yarder to Rashad Evans. Coach Pat Hill opted to go for a 2-point conversion that failed and Fresno State’s lead was only 25-17. The decision didn’t backfire when Fresno State stopped Illinois 2-point try after Scheelhaase’s 21-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter cut the lead to 25-23. While the Bulldogs had impressive bookend wins, the middle portion of the season didn’t go quite as well. They lost at Mississippi and then fell to the three top teams in the WAC: Boise State, Nevada and Hawaii. Fresno State will be going to a bowl for the fourth straight season, with the Humanitarian Bowl the most likely spot in a return to a stadium where the Bulldogs lost 51-0 to Boise State earlier this season. The Illini also are going to a bowl for the first time in three seasons, with the Texas Bowl being their possible destination after a rough end to the regular season. Playing without injured leading rusher Robbie Rouse, Fresno State relied heavily on Colburn and the passing game. That got the Bulldogs off to a fast start with Colburn throwing a 27-yard TD screen pass to A.J. Ellis on the first drive and then exploiting a blown coverage for a 78-yarder to Jalen Saunders on the first play of the second possession to make it 13-0. Leshoure’s 35-yard touchdown run in the second quarter helped the Illini cut the deficit to 19-10. But Illinois was unable to capitalize on a fumble by Tracy Slocum in Fresno State territory and Derek Dimke then was short on a 49-yard field goal in the final minute of the half.

BOSTON—Kevin Garnett scored 20 points with a season-high 17 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo scored 12 and had 19 assists on Friday night to lead the Boston Celtics to their sixth straight win, a 104-92 victory over the Bulls.Ray Allen scored 14 and Paul Pierce had 18 for Boston, which never trailed.Derrick Rose scored 20 with eight assists, and Joakim Noah had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Carlos Boozer scored 12 points in 21 minutes in his second game since missing the first month of the season with a broken bone in his right hand.Garnett had 16 points and 11 rebounds at the half, when the Celtics led 53-48. The Bulls cut the lead to one point before missing their next eight shots and watching Boston open a 70-54 lead.The Bulls were on the road for the eighth time in nine games, and this time they had Boozer back. The centerpiece of the Bulls’ offseason rebuilding program, Boozer missed all of the exhibition season and the first 15 games of the regular season, then returned with five points and two rebounds in his Bulls debut on Wednesday in a 107-78 loss to Orlando.Allen scored 10 in the first nine minutes to help the Celtics open a 26-12 lead. The Bulls scored 10 of the first 11 points of the second before Shaquille O’Neal’s putback dunk with 8:44 left gave Boston its first field goal of the quarter.But the Bulls never took the lead. It was a five-point game at the half, then Noah and Boozer both scored from inside to make it 53-52. That’s when Garnett went to the floor near midcourt to get a loose ball and flipped it backward to Rondo, who was streaking to the basket for the easy layup.The Celtics followed with a 14-1 run while the Bulls missed eight straight shots. That put the lead back into double-digits and the Bulls never got within 11 points after that.

NOTES—Glen “Big Baby” Davis was called for two fouls in the first 2:20 of the second quarter and went to the bench with three. O’Neal also picked up three fouls before halftime, leaving Boston’s center duties to Turkish rookie Semih Erden, who had five points and three rebounds at the break. O’Neal scored nine points in the first half. … Garnett’s 17 rebounds were his most in two years, since he had 20 against Indiana in an overtime game on Dec. 7, 2008. … Keith Bogans started but played just 13 minutes, with zero points. Taj Gibson had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Bulls… Former Celtic Brian Scalabrine got a standing ovation when he checked into the game for the final 67 seconds. … Rondo appeared to hurt his left leg with 5 minutes left in the third, but he stayed in the game. He then hit a long 2-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Boston a 74-57 lead.

Roberto Luongo made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season and 53rd overall, leading the Vancouver Canucks to their fourth straight victory, 3-0 over the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks who suffered their eighth regulation loss at home, matching their regular-season total from last season. The Blackhawks are 6-8-0 at home after going 29-8-4 last season at United Center.Tanner Glass, Christian Ehrhoff and Henrik Sedin scored to give the Canucks and Luongo the all the offense they needed to avenge a 7-1 home loss to the Blackhawks on Nov. 20.Sedin’s goal was his first since Nov. 4 and ended an 11-game drought.Luongo came up with several dazzling and point-blank stops to thwart prime scoring chances. The Blackhawks winning streak ended at three games although they dominated play at times and outshot Vancouver 32-18.Veteran Marty Turco was back in nets and made 15 saves. Rookie Corey Crawford started the Blackhawks’ three previous games.The Hawks eliminated Vancouver from the playoffs in the past two seasons, each time in the second round.The Blackhawks controlled the scoreless first, outshooting Vancouver 14-8 and testing Luongo with several prime chances. His best stops were on Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland and Jonathan Toews in the second half of the period.The Hawks again put some heat on in the second, and Luongo matched it. He made a pad save on Sharp at 7:44 after Sharp and Jack Skille slipped behind the defense and raced in on a 2-on-none. Less than a minute later, Luongo denied Patrick Kane with an acrobatic pad stop on a 2-on-1 break.Loungo’s effort started to pay off when Glass opened the scoring with 8:42 left in the second on only the Canucks’ second shot of the period. Glass shoveled in a loose puck from a scrum in the crease after Dan Hamhuis’ shot hit traffic in front.The Hawks kept the pressure on and Loungo held his ground. With 25 seconds left in the second, he made a point-blank blocker save on Toews after the Chicago captain beat Ryan Kesler and Alexander Edler to skate in alone.During a Blackhawks’ power-play just seconds into the third, Tomas Kopecky fired a shot off the side of the net with Luongo down.Ehrhoff’s power-play goal at 5:06 of the third gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead. Following a faceoff, Ehrhoff’s shot from the right point beat Turco as Kesler screened in front.Sedin scored on a loose rebound of brother Daniel’s shot with 4:25 left to complete the scoring.

NOTES—The Blackhhawks observed a moment of silence before the game for former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo, who died of cancer early Friday. … Marian Hossa missed his second game because of a lower-body injury sustained in practice Monday. Blackhawks RW Fernando Pisani sat out his third with an upper-body injury. … Vancouver C Rick Rypien missed his sixth game on personal leave.

DETROIT—Austin Boucher threw a touchdown pass to Armand Robinson with 33 seconds left and Miami (Ohio) won the Mid-American Conference championship with a 26-21 victory over No. 24 Northern Illinois on Friday night.The RedHawks (8-4) won the MAC for the first time since 2003 and their conference-best 15th title overall a season after they finished 1-11.Chandler Harnish threw three touchdowns for the Huskies (10-3), who had won eight in a row. Boucher, a freshman making his third start of the season, finished the game 29 for 46 for 333 yards. The decisive touchdown came six plays after the RedHawks forced Northern Illinois to punt from its end zone.The Huskies drove past midfield in the closing seconds, but the RedHawks’ sideline emptied after Harnish was sacked as time expired. Trailing 14-13 at halftime, Miami went on top early in the half when Thomas Merriweather scored the second of his two touchdowns rushing.The Redhawks reached the Huskies’ 1-yard line after recovering a fumble but came up empty when a fake field-goal failed.Willie Clark caught a 39-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Northern Illinois a lead that lasted until the final minute.The RedHawks got the game’s first touchdown when Merriweather ran in from a yard out but the kick was blocked by Mike Krause. The Huskies answered with a 69-yard TD catch by Martel Moore.Miami retook the lead with Tracy Woods’ 7-yard touchdown late in the first but fell behind minutes later when Moore caught a 27-yard touchdown from Harnish.Robinson tied a Miami record with 14 catches for 176 yards and Merriweather ended the night with 85 yards on 11 carries.NIU tailback Chad Spann, the conference’s rushing leader, finished with 54 yards — barely more than half his average — on 17 tries. Moore amassed 110 yards on four catches.Miami could by back in the Motor City soon. Organizers of the Dec. 26 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl get the first choice of the MAC’s bowl-eligible teams.