VANCOUVER—Andrew Brunette and Patrick Kane scored power-play goals midway through the second period, and the Blackhawks rallied from an early deficit to win their fourth straight game, 5-1 over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.The Canucks, who beat the Blackhawks in the United Center 6-2 earlier this month, led 1-0 before Brunette and Kane took advantage of the game’s first two power plays. Vancouver scored on five of six advantages in the earlier meeting.Jonathan Toews scored his fifth goal in four games, Patrick Sharp added a goal 1:49 later in the third period, and Steve Montador also scored to complete the rout.Jannik Hansen scored for the Canucks against goalie Corey Crawford, who made 28 saves.Joel Quenneville said before the game that revenge was on his players’ minds after the Nov. 6 loss.The Blackhawks began a six-game road trip by improving to an NHL-best 12-4-3. It is their best start since the 1982-83 season.The Canucks (9-9-1) had won three of four.Both clubs had opportunities in a scoreless, sometimes scrambled first period but shooters either missed the net or couldn’t control the puck Hansen scored the first goal with the first shot of the second period. He tapped in Henrik Sedin’s centering pass for his fourth goal in five games and fifth of the season.Hansen also backhanded the puck wide on a third period short-handed chance.Brunette made it 1-1 after Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler was called for tripping.The forward had an open net, and goalie Cory Schneider out of position, when Marcus Kruger’s pass arrived from the side boards.Alex Burrows drew the game’s second penalty for slashing Duncan Keith on the hand, and the Canucks paid again.Kane was in a perfect spot to slip a clever setup from Marian Hossa behind Schneider for his third goal in five games. He hit the post on a third-period power play.Schneider got the start because No. 1 goalie Roberto Luongo was sidelined with an undisclosed upper body injury. Luongo was hit on the mask Sunday during a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders, but finished the game.Toews finished a three-way passing play with Hossa and Victor Stalberg, and Sharp beat Schneider on a short-side shot. Hossa and Toews also earned assists on Montador’s late goal.

NOTES—Canucks D Keith Ballard was injured in the first period and didn’t return. …Brent Seabrook sat out because of an undisclosed lower body injury. He crashing feet first into the boards on Sunday. …Dave Bolland returned after missing three games with a foot injury. … With Luongo out, the Canucks called up Swedish rookie Eddie Lack from the AHL’s Wolves.

CHARLESTON—Freshman Joey Miller converted a three-point play in the final minute to lift Eastern Illinois to a 65-61 victory over Loyola, in the Panthers’ home opener Wednesday night.Miller’s points broke a 60-60 tie as Loyola was held without a basket for the final 5:23.Alfonzo McKinnie scored 13 points and Jeremy Granger 10 for the Panthers (1-1), who shot 46.4 percent (26 of 56).The Ramblers (0-2) got 15 points from Walt Gibler, 13 from Denzel Brito, 12 from Joe Crisman and 10 from Chim Kadima.Eastern Illinois turned a 26-19 deficit into a 39-32 halftime lead courtesy of a 20-6 run to end the first half that was sparked by 11 points from McKinnie.Gibler hit two free throws for a 60-58 Loyola lead with 2:18 left, but James Hollowell dunked the ball to tie it, and then Miller came up big.

Darrin Williams had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead UIC to a 59-42 win over Roosevelt Wednesday night.Greg Travis scored 14 points and Daniel Barnes had 11 for the Flames (1-1), who were playing their home opener. They led 27-19 at halftime against the NAIA school.Paul Tometich led the Lakers (0-3) with 13 points. Elliott Vaughn had nine points and 10 rebounds and Brandyn Denson had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for Roosevelt.UIC shot 36 percent from the field, while Roosevelt made just 23 percent of its shots (14 of 60).

GROBBER’S NFL WEEK 11 PICKS:

===========================

NY Jets over DENVER(Thur Night)

BALTIMORE over Cincinnati

Jacksonville over CLEVELAND

MIAMI over Buffalo

Dallas over WASHINGTON

SAN FRANCISCO over Arizona

Seattle over ST.LOUIS

Tennessee over ATLANTA

NY GIANTS over Philadelphia(Sun Night)

NEW ENGLAND over Kansas City(Mon Night)

NFC NORTH GAMES:

———————————

Oakland over MINNESOTA

DETROIT over Carolina

GREEN BAY over Tampa Bay

BEARS over San Diego

Teams listed in ALL CAPS are HOME teams.

Last week:10-6. Total through ten weeks: 96-51

LES

Jeremiah Kelly hit six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points to lead DePaul to an 80-70 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Monday.Kelly hit five 3-pointers during a 3:30 span in the first half, part of a 25-12 run that opened a 46-34 halftime lead for the host Blue Demons (2-0).DePaul, playing a rare on-campus game at McGrath-Phillips Arena, also got 19 points from Brandon Young, 16 from Cleveland Melvin and 10 from Charles McKinney.The Delta Devils (0-2) were led by 13 points from Paul Crosby and 12 points apiece from Amos Studivant and Cor-J Cox.Kelly’s six 3-pointers were two shy of the school record set by Draelon Burns in 2008.

Two teams that do not like each other duked it out and this was no contest. The Bears used six Detroit turnovers,and got yet another punt return for a TD by Devin Hester and hammered the Lions 37-13 to draw even with their Division rivals.It was an Indian Summer like,yet windy afternoon. At kickoff,the temperature was 67* with winds gusting up to 40MPH. The Bears came out wearing their orange shirts for the second time this season and after the Lions,who looked like late Pumpkins,won the toss and received,the Bears got their first of two quick turnovers as first Julius Peppers forced a Calvin Johnson fumbled which Brian Urlacher recovered and returned to the Detroit 30. Matt Forted finished the drive with a six yard TD run just 4:31 into the game. Then on the Lions second second series,Nate Burleson had the ball stripped by Tim Jennings who fell on it at the Bears 38. The Lions held,but Robbie Gould kicked a 43 yard field goal that the winds didn’t effect. Jay Cutler hit Earl Bennett at the Lions 18 and after the call on the field was ruled that he was out of bounds,but Lovie Smith challenged and the call was overturn as the quarter ended 10-0 Bears. After a Hester 29 yard punt return to the Detroit 38 led to a Gould 35 yard field goal,making it 13-zip. After the Bears stopped the Lions three and out with zero yards gained and Ryan Donahue’s punt was returned by Devin Hester 82 yards for a TD. He just kept his feet in bounds and despite a review,the Bears took a 20-0 lead just :45 seconds into the second period. The Lions got their first break when a Cutler lateral was off target and Detroit got it at the Bears 22,but the defense stiffened and Jason Hanson got the Lions on the board with a 29 yard field goal. Detroit had a nice drive late in the half which was halted when Peppers sacked Stafford at the 17,forcing a 35 yard field goal by Hanson with 1:23 left before halftime. Gould missed wide right on a 43 yard try with :06 left and the Bears took a 20-6 lead into halftime.

The Bears went a quick three and out to start the third quarter,but then Major Wright picked off a Stafford pass and returned it 24 yards untouched to make it 27-6 only 1:44 into the third quarter. If that wasn’t enough, Stafford’s awful day continued when Peanut Tillman got in front of a pass,picked it off and got his fourth career pick six from the 45 yard line to turn this into a 34-6 rout. After stopping another Detroit series,the Bears got a 40 yard run from Forte which set up Gould’s third field goal of the day, from 50 yards to make it 37-6.The Lions put up a nice drive to the Bears 11,but four incompletions later,the ball went over on downs. That was how the score was after three periods. Then when Jennings picked off a Stafford pass and returned it to his 48,and Stafford grabbed D.J.Moore by the helmet and a brawl occurred as players came off both benches. Detroit challenged the call that Jennings was down by contact and that was upheld. Moore was the only player ejected. The Bears got the ball at their own 8 as chants of “Detroit Sucks!” began as well. Corey Graham got the fourth Bears interception of the game in the end zone and the Lions,who had just five turnovers all season,now had their SIXTH of this game. The Lions got a late TD on a Stafford to TE Tony Scheffler with 5:00 left.

NOTES—18 NON-Offensive TD’s by Hester is one behind Deion Sanders who had some defensive TD off picks. This does NOT include Hester’s Kickoff return TD to start Superbowl 41….With four ‘Pick Six’s” Tillman tied Mike Brown and Benny McRae for most in Bears history….In addition to Stafford’s cheap shot on Moore,in which the QB was NOT penalized, Rookie Nick Fairly of the Lions was also guilty of a late hit on Cutler,but he WAS called for it twice inthis game.

LES

Jonathan Toews and Steve Montador each scored twice to help the Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 on Sunday night for their third straight victory. Duncan Keith had a goal and assist for the Hawks (11-4-3), which handed Edmonton its third consecutive loss. Daniel Carcillo capped the scoring with an empty-net goal. Ryan Smyth, Jordan Eberle and Shawn Horcoff scored for the Oilers (9-6-2). Montador, a defenseman playing his 10th NHL season, had his first two-goal game. He scored one of his goals playing in a forward spot — and parked in the slot — on a power play.Edmonton’s Former Hawk Nikolai Khabibulin surrendered a season-high five goals on 34 shots and lost his second straight game in regulation after starting the season 7-0-2. Khabibulin, who entered the game with an NHL-leading 1.18 goals-against average and .957 save percentage, has allowed eight goals in the consecutive losses after permitting just nine in his first nine games. Corey Crawford made 20 saves for the Blackhawks who now leave on their annual “Circus” six game Western road trip.Brent Seabrook sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and didn’t return. The Blackhawks jumped ahead 2-0 early in the first on goals by Toews and Montador just 36 seconds apart. By the :22 mark of the second period it was 4-1 as Toews and Montador each tallied theior second of the night.

EVANSTON—John Shurna scored a 15 points and Luka Mirkovic added 12 to lead Northwestern to a 60-36 season-opening victory over Texas-Pan American on Sunday night.The Wildcats shook off a sluggish start, using an 11-1 run late in the first half to take control. They steadily extended the advantage behind 11 second-half points from Drew Crawford.Brandon Provost and Jared Maree had 12 points each for the Broncs, who are 0-2 in a season-opening Chicago swing. They lost at DePaul on Friday.Northwestern improved to 8-4 in season openers under head coach Bill Carmody and is 7-0 against Texas-Pan American in a series dating back to 1999.

EVANSTON— Persa threw for a career-high 372 yards, Jeremy Ebert set a personal best with 208 receiving yards and Northwestern beat Rice 28-6 on Saturday.Persa also matched a career high with four touchdown passes, none more spectacular than a 90-yarder to Ebert in the first quarter. It was the second-longest completion in school history, and it set the tone as the Wildcats built a 21-0 halftime lead on the way to their third straight victory. NU suffered no letdown after a stunning 28-25 victory last weekend at then-No. 9 Nebraska.Instead, the Wildcats (5-5) pulled back to .500 – no small feat for a team that dropped five in a row before this run.Northwestern outgained the Owls (3-7) 533 yards to 254 and was poised for its first shutout since the 2007 opener against Northeastern when Tyler Smith scored on a 9-yard run with 4:16 left.Ebert easily trumped his previous career high of 147 yards against Nebraska, and Persa looked sharp after sitting out the second half last week with an injured left shoulder.The nation’s leader in completion percentage, he was 25 of 32 with two interceptions.Ebert was just as good.He caught just seven passes, including three for 116 yards in the first quarter alone, and had two touchdowns. He fell just short of the school single-game record of 226 yards set by Jim Lash against Michigan State in 1972 and Todd Sheets against Purdue in 1980. Ebert was so good he even caught the ball when he wasn’t looking, spinning around and hauling in a 33-yarder with two defenders on him in the third.But this was the highlight: With the Wildcats pinned deep in their territory, Ebert caught a pass near the Northwestern 40 and turned up the left sideline, beating the Owls’ Tanner Leland to make it 7-0 with 4:15 left in the first quarter.Ebert also caught a 40-yarder from Persa in the second quarter, and he beat a backpedaling Leland on another scoring catch later in the period – this time a 17-yarder that made it 14-0.That gave him 10 TD receptions, two shy of the school’s single-season record set by D’Wayne Bates in 1996, and it came after Demetrius Fields had turned a short pass into a 50-yard gain.NU added to its lead right before halftime.A hit by Ben Johnson on Nick Fanuzzi led to an interception by Tyler Scott, the ball simply falling into his hands with just over a minute left, and the Wildcats took advantage.This time, Fields caught a short pass along the left side at the 9, broke Matt Nordstrom’s tackle and juked Cameron Nwosu for a 15-yard touchdown that made it 21-0 with 23 seconds remaining in the half.The Owls’ Chris Boswell then lined a 60-yard field goal off the middle of the crossbar just before the half, temporarily preserving the shutout.The loss was the fourth in five games for Rice, which was coming off a wild 41-37 win over UTEP. The Owls racked up 671 yards in that one, with Fanuzzi throwing for 405, but it was a rough day all around this time.Fanuzzi threw for just 92 yards Saturday.