Laraque handed 5-game suspension

Montreal Canadiens tough-guy Georges Laraque will miss the next five games after being suspended by the NHL for his knee-on-knee hit on Detroit's Niklas Kronwall.

Laraque was handed the multi-game ban after speaking Monday with NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell, the league's disciplinarian.

The hit, which was called by referees in Montreal as a trip, sidelined the Red Wings defenceman Kronwall for at least a month with a serious medial collateral ligament sprain of his left knee.

“Mr. Laraque's actions were dangerous and caused a significant injury to his opponent," Campbell said in a statement released by the league.

After the game Saturday, Laraque told reporters the hit was accidental and the reaction of referees proved it.

"There were four refs on the ice, and they didn't call anything," Laraque said. "If they called a match penalty, it would be different. There was no intent, there was no reason why I would try to go and hurt him. It was a pure accident. That's why they called it tripping, so I'm not worried at all."

In missing the five matches — games against Columbus, Pittsburgh, Washington, Toronto and Buffalo — Laraque forfeits $38,860.10 US in salary. He won't be eligible to return to the Habs lineup until the Dec. 4 game against Boston.

Senators surge past Sabres 5-3

OTTAWA — Daniel Alfredsson had two goals and an assist and Filip Kuba had a goal and three assists to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

Chris Kelly and Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators, who have won three straight.

Brian Elliott replaced injured Ottawa starter Pascal Leclaire to start the third period and stopped 16 shots to pick up the win.

Thomas Vanek, Patrick Kaleta and Jason Pominville scored for the Sabres. Former Senators goalie Patrick Lalime faced 26 shots in just his third start of the season and took the loss.

Vanek opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period. Parked at the side of the net, Vanek picked up a rebound and beat Leclaire shortside.

The Senators responded with a power-play goal in the opening minute of the second period as Kuba fired a shot from the blueline.

Ottawa took the lead at 8:14 of the second when Alfredsson scored his seventh of the season on a quick wrist shot that beat Lalime.

Elliott started the third for the Senators after Leclaire left the game with a lower-body injury as a result of a collision in the second with Jochen Hecht. Hecht fell over Leclaire and afterward the goalie seemed to favor his left leg. He finished with 24 saves.

Ottawa made it 3-1 early in the third as Kelly tipped Matt Carkner's point shot and Michalek picked up his 10th goal of the season scoring on an odd-man rush.

After Alfredsson made it 5-1, Kaleta and Pominville scored less than two minutes apart to pull Buffalo within two with just over nine minutes remaining.

Notes: The Senators were without RW Alex Kovalev (personal), RW Shean Donovan (knee), D Anton Volchenkov (elbow). ... The Sabres RW Drew Stafford and D Nathan Paetsch were healthy scratches.

FIFA: No replay for France-Ireland WCup qualifier

LONDON — FIFA rejected Ireland's request to replay its World Cup qualifier against France on Friday, while Thierry Henry said a rematch would be "the fairest solution" to resolve the furor over his extra-time hand ball that set up the deciding goal.

Turning down an appeal by the Football Association of Ireland as well as pressure from lawmakers in both countries, FIFA said it could not interfere and the referee's decision to allow the goal stands.

"The result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed," FIFA said in a statement. "As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final."

Henry used his left hand to keep the ball from going out of play, then passed to William Gallas, who headed in the decisive goal. At the time of Henry's hand ball, which went unpunished by Swedish referee Martin Hansson despite fervent appeals by Ireland players, the match was 17 minutes from reaching a penalty shootout.

The 1-1 draw at Stade de France put the French through to next year's World Cup in South Africa 2-1 on aggregate.

Henry was jubilant in his goal celebrations but more subdued at the end of the match and admitted to handling the ball.

The France captain said after the game that the referee was at fault for not spotting the offense but waited until after FIFA's ruling to acknowledge the possibility of a replay.

"Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game, but it is not in my control," Henry said in a statement issued to British media. "Naturally, I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish, who definitely deserve to be in South Africa.

"There is little more I can do apart from admit that the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalizing goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish."

Henry again denied deliberately handling the ball, although television replays suggested he slapped the ball once to stop it going out of play and again to set up the pass to Gallas.

The 1998 world champions won the first leg of the playoff in Dublin 1-0, but only scored with the aid of a huge deflection off an Ireland defender.

Ireland captain Robbie Keane suggested the French Football Federation act upon Henry's statement and ask FIFA to grant a replay.

"To make such a statement took courage and honor, and all of us recognize that," Keane said. "I would also be happy for a replay to happen in the interest of fair play so that whichever team qualifies, can do so with their heads held high."

The Football Association of Ireland in Dublin said Friday it will petition the French Football Federation to change its stance after it received FIFA's reply rejecting a replay.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen raised the issue Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a meeting of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels.

FIFA did order Uzbekistan and Bahrain to replay a World Cup qualifying match in 2005 following a referee's critical error. However, there is no precedent to order a replay because of second-guessing a referee's judgment on the field of play.

Irish lawmaker Joe McHugh said France should follow the 1999 precedent set by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, a Frenchman who volunteered to replay a match in England's FA Cup after the Gunners won on an unfair goal.

Wenger backed calls to replay the match.

"I like justice in sport," Wenger said. "There are only two opportunities. One is France can offer to replay, which I support personally. The second is that FIFA has to make a decision on that issue."

Many in France, including political leaders, have urged FIFA to approve a replay.

Francois Bayrou, the leader of political party Modem, said the match should be replayed. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she felt "very sad" that the national team had qualified for the World Cup by "cheating."

AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.

Canadiens withstand comeback, beat Capitals 3-2

WASHINGTON — Travis Moen and Tomas Plekanec scored in a three-minute span early in the second period, Michael Cammalleri added a goal in the third, and the Montreal Canadiens withstood a furious comeback to beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Friday night.

Montreal led 3-1, but Brendan Morrison scored with 2:32 remaining to pull Washington within a goal. Then Maxim Lapierre was whistled for hooking with 1:52 to play, giving the Capitals a power play through the end of regulation.

Washington pulled its goalie with a minute to play, one of the Canadiens players lost his stick, and the Capitals held siege in the offensive zone. But the closest they got to tying the game came when Mike Green's drive hit the right post with less than 25 seconds left.

Carey Price made 32 saves for the Canadiens, who won for only the third time in nine road games despite getting outshot 27-8 over the last two periods.

Eric Fehr scored in the first period for the Capitals, who couldn't complain about a lack of chances. The puck seemed to flutter in front of the Montreal net for much of the game, but Alex Ovechkin and his teammates weren't able to finish.

With veteran goalie Jose Theodore dealing with personal issues and youngster Semyon Varlamov getting a day off in the first half of a back-to-back, Michal Neuvirth made his season debut for Washington and finished with 19 saves.

The Capitals were also missing Alexander Semin, who has nine goals on the season. He sat out a second straight game because of an injured right wrist.

Washington took the early lead when Fehr beat Price glove-side through traffic from the left circle, but the Canadiens came back with a pair of goals not long after the first intermission.

Moen tied it when he redirected Roman Hamrlik's drive from the blue line, and Plekanec made it 2-1 with a close-range shot that appeared to hit Morrison's hand and then trickled through Neuvirth's legs. Montreal recorded only four shots in the second period, but two found the net.

The Canadiens also didn't have a power play in the first two periods — in fact, they have not drawn more than four power plays in their last 12 games — but they capitalized in the third after Brooks Laich went off for tripping. Cammalleri, who had scored one goal in his previous six games, netted his ninth of the season during the man advantage with 7:31 remaining to put Montreal ahead 3-1.

NOTES: D Ryan O'Byrne returned for the Canadiens after missing 19 games with a lower body injury, and RW Georges Laraque was back after sitting out 13 games with an upper body injury. ... Washington D John Carlson made his NHL debut. The 27th overall pick in the 2008 draft, the 19-year-old Carlson is the youngest Capitals player to make his debut since Semin in the 2003-04 season. ... Washington played without LW Quintin Laing (broken jaw) and D Shaone Morrisonn (upper body), both injured against the Rangers on Tuesday. Laing is out four to six weeks, and Morrisonn is day-to-day.

Penguins captain Crosby runs with Olympic torch

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Sidney Crosby lifted the Stanley Cup in June, and now he's carrying the Olympic torch at home. Hundreds of people lined a downtown street on Wednesday to watch the captain of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins with the flame.

Clad in an official torchbearer uniform, Crosby ran about 300 yards before passing the torch to snowboarder Sarah Conrad.

Crosby, whose hometown of Cole Harbour lies across the harbor from Halifax, is one of 12,000 torchbearers carrying the flame across Canada.

"It's not just about me carrying the torch or another person — this is a celebration of the whole country and just to be a part of that, I feel so honored," Crosby said. "Whether I was playing hockey or whether I was someone here locally who just got the chance to do it, I think we can all say that it's a tremendous opportunity and we're proud to be able to do it."

The relay began in Victoria last month and will make stops in every province and territory leading up to the Winter Games in Vancouver in February.

Maynor, Jazz hold off Raptors 104-91

SALT LAKE CITY — Rookie Eric Maynor scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and helped the Utah Jazz hang on for a 104-91 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

The Jazz let an 18-point lead slip to one early in the fourth before pulling away for their ninth straight win over the Raptors.

Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 18 rebounds and Deron Williams added 20 points and nine assists for the Jazz, who had only nine players available because of injuries.

Chris Bosh scored 32 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead the Raptors, who lost their third straight and went 1-3 on a four-game Western Conference road trip.

Williams was back after missing two games for family reasons. The Jazz were without center Mehmet Okur (flu symptoms) and guard Ronnie Price (toe), leaving the backup point guard duties to Maynor, Utah's first-round pick out of Virginia Commonwealth.

Maynor and Williams played much of the fourth together and helped keep the Jazz from blowing a game they had led by 18 in the first half.

Maynor finished 5 for 11 and had six assists. Andrei Kirilenko had 20 points, seven rebounds three steals and two blocks, and Paul Millsap added 10 points and six rebounds for Utah.

Marco Belinelli scored 19 and Hedo Torkoglu returned for Toronto after missing a loss at Denver the night before with a sore left hip and finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

The Raptors cut Utah's lead to nine at halftime, then Toronto took advantage of Utah's poor shooting as the Jazz went 4 for 14 in the third period.

Amir Johnson started a late rally with a block on Maynor to start a break for the Raptors, which Bosh finished with a two-handed dunk off a no-look pass from Belinelli to cut Utah's lead to 76-72. Maynor scored on a layup for the Jazz, but the Raptors pushed for the final shot of the period and Belinelli hit a 3-pointer that made it 78-75 Utah entering the fourth quarter.

Belinelli added a layup to start the fourth and get the Raptors to 78-77, then the Jazz took over the game with a 17-2 run.

Maynor went 1 for 2 from the line, then Kirilenko and Boozer each added layups to give the Jazz more of a cushion at 83-77.

Kirilenko and Millsap battled each other for a defensive rebound that ended up going out of bounds, but Kirilenko made up for it after the inbounds when he ripped the ball out of Turkoglu's hands as he tried to drive the lane. Kirilenko's steal started a fast break which Maynor finished with a layup to put Utah up 89-79.

Maynor had eight points during a 12-0 run as the Jazz held the Raptors scoreless from Turkoglu's foul shots with 9:20 left until Jose Calderon hit a 3-pointer to cut Utah's lead to 95-82 with four minutes left.

NOTES: The Jazz were 16 for 26 (61.5 percent) in the first quarter, but just 1 for 3 from the foul line in the period while taking a 33-17 lead. ... Andrea Bargnani finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors. ... Bosh rallied the Raptors with eight straight points at the end of the second quarter to get Toronto to 61-52 at halftime. Bosh scored 22 in the half, hitting 8-of-11 shots and six free throws. ... Bosh scored 15 in the second quarter.

Price, Lapierre lead Canadiens to shootout win

MONTREAL — Carey Price stopped all six Carolina attempts in the shootout, Maxim Lapierre scored the winner and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Hurricanes 3-2 Tuesday night.

Price stopped Tuomo Ruutu, Jussi Jokinen, Rod Brind'Amour, Sergei Samsonov and Bryan Rodney before Lapierre finally beat Carolina's Manny Legace on Montreal's sixth attempt. Price then got enough of Matt Cullen's shot off a deke on the Hurricanes' next attempt to leave the puck on the goal line to the delight of the sell-out crowd.

Price, who tied a team record with 53 saves Saturday, stopped 30 shots, including consecutive saves on Brandon Sutter and Erik Cole during the waning seconds of overtime while Carolina enjoyed a 4-on-3 advantage.

Montreal was left short-handed 3:01 into overtime after Jaroslav Spacek was assessed a double minor for high-sticking Hurricanes defenseman Joe Corvo.

Andrei Kostitsyn drew Montreal even 17:14 into the third. Kostitsyn chased down his own rebound behind the Hurricanes' net and banked a shot in off Legace's skate from behind the goal line for his second goal of the season.

Max Pacioretty also scored for the Canadiens, who ended a three-game losing streak at home.

Sutter and Jokinen scored 2:52 apart in the second period as Carolina came within 2:46 of recording its second regulation win of the season.

The Hurricanes ending a franchise-record skid at 14 games with a 5-4 shootout win over Minnesota on Sunday.

Michael Leighton made 10 saves before leaving 7:12 into the second period because of a lower-body injury.

Already missing top center Eric Staal and goalie Cam Ward because of injury, Carolina was also without Scott Walker and Joni Pitkanen, who were both hurt Sunday.

Aaron Ward returned to the Hurricanes' lineup after missing Sunday's game because of a lower-body injury.

Pacioretty opened the scoring 5:41 in when he took Tomas Plekanec's centering pass from the left side and put a shot from the slot past Leighton's right pad.

Sutter scored his fifth of the season 3:28 into the second to draw Carolina even. Jokinen got his fifth at 6:20 to put the Hurricanes up 2-1.

Sutter tied it when he got behind Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges to create a 2-on-1, beating Price after he took Ray Whitney's return pass.

Cullen intercepted Spacek's clearing pass in the neutral zone on the play that led to Jokinen's go-ahead goal.

NOTES: F Stephane Yelle was back in the Hurricanes' lineup after leaving Sunday's game with an undisclosed injury. ... Legace stopped Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Kostitsyn, Plekanec and Guillaume Latendresse in the shootout.

Stoudemire scores 23 in Suns' win over Rockets

HOUSTON — Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points, Steve Nash had 16 assists and the Phoenix Suns recovered from a slow start to beat the Houston Rockets 111-105 on Tuesday night.

Jason Richardson scored 20 points for the Suns, who have won eight of their last 11 games against the Rockets in Houston.

Carl Landry scored a career-high 27 points off the bench and Aaron Brooks had a career-best 13 assists for the Rockets.

The Suns (10-2) rallied from a double-digit deficit to win for the fifth time this season. They're the only team to reach 100 points in all of their games so far.

Richardson's 3-pointer with 8:11 left in the third quarter gave the Suns their first lead since the opening minutes. Brooks hit a shot from the baseline before Nash made a pull-up jumper for his first field goal of the game, giving Phoenix a 63-62 lead.

The pace of the game picked up and the lead changed hands eight more times over the next 6 minutes. Landry dunked and Luis Scola sank a baseline jumper in the last minute of the quarter to give Houston an 82-78 advantage.

Nash returned from a short rest with 9 minutes left in the game and the Rockets leading 85-84. He immediately found Leandro Barbosa cutting inside for a layup, and the Suns moved back in front.

The teams traded baskets into the final minutes before Nash delivered his 15th assist to Richardson for a layup with 2:59 left that put the Suns up 100-98.

Brooks missed a short jumper and Channing Frye sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:51 remaining that made it 103-98. Landry split two free throws and Jarron Collins converted a three-point play to put it out of reach.

The Rockets finished 9 for 26 from 3-point range, after hitting five of their first seven attempts to take a 21-9 lead. Houston (6-5) also outrebounded Phoenix 14-5 in the opening quarter and led 34-22.

NOTES: The Rockets have reached 100 points in 10 straight games, the team's longest streak since a 12-game run in 1995-96. ... Phoenix is 10-2 for the third time in six seasons. ... The Suns' 22 first-quarter points were a season low. ... Hall of Famer and former Rockets C Hakeem Olajuwon had a courtside seat. He shook hands with referee Joe Crawford during a timeout in the first quarter.

'Melo leads Nuggets past Turkoglu-less Raptors

DENVER — Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and reserve J.R. Smith had 29, leading the Denver Nuggets past the Toronto Raptors 130-112 on Tuesday night.

Anthony is the only player in the NBA to score at least 20 points in all of his team's games so far. He's topped 30 points seven times and 40 points twice. He sat out the final quarter of this one after putting in 30 efficient minutes.

After withstanding Smith's seven-game suspension and a six-game trip consisting of three back-to-backs, the Nuggets weathered a very determined Raptors team that was without forward Hedo Turkoglu but didn't trail until midway through the third quarter.

Chris Bosh led Toronto with 13 points and 14 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan scored 17. Nene had 20 points and 10 boards for Denver, which shot 62 percent.

Turkoglu missed the game with a sore left hip and was replaced in the starting lineup by Antoine Wright, who's dealing with a sore left ankle and finished with five points in 17 minutes. All the other starters reached double figures, as did reserves Marco Belinelli (16) and Sonny Weems (12).

Denver didn't grab its first lead until Anthony fed Kenyon Martin for a dunk that made it 70-68 early in the third.

Jose Calderon sank a 3-pointer at the other end and it was back and forth until Denver took control with a quick 7-0 spurt that made it 81-74. Nene hit two free throws and Chauncey Billups sank a technical foul shot before 'Melo swished a fadeaway followed by a turnaround jumper.

Denver went on a 16-4 run to start the fourth, building a 20-point lead. The Nuggets have won 14 straight regular-season games at home, their longest streak since 1989, when they won 19 straight home games.

The Raptors put together an 11-point lead in the second quarter, but they settled for a 64-64 halftime tie. Nene scored eight points and 'Melo seven during Denver's 17-6 run to end the first half, which ended with Anthony's breakaway basket at the buzzer.

NOTES: Toronto claimed F Pops Mensah-Bonsu off waivers from Houston. He averaged 5.1 points, 5.4 boards and 13.8 minutes in 19 games with the Raptors last season before signing a free-agent deal with Houston, which waived him Friday. ... Denver has won eight of its last nine home games against Toronto.

Pacquiao eyes megafight with Mayweather

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Manny Pacquiao hopes his stunning victory Saturday over Miguel Cotto will put him in line for a mega welterweight showdown against Floyd Mayweather in 2010.

Filipino southpaw Pacquiao showed he is ready to lead boxing's revival by taking Cotto's World Boxing Organization belt and claiming his seventh world title in seven different weight classes.

He scored a final-round technical knockout, putting the Puerto Rican champion down as the referee stopped the onslaught 55 seconds into the 12th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Under siege from mixed martial arts, boxing has seen its fan base shrink in the past few years.

With his stunning demolition of his last three opponents, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and now Cotto, Pacquiao has become the face of the sport even making the front page of the Asian edition of Time magazine this month.

What better way to showcase the sport's newest poster boy than to have a pound-for-pound showdown between Pacquiao and American Mayweather.

"That is the fight the whole world wants to see," said Paquiao's trainer Freddie Roach.

Asked after the Cotto fight if he wanted Mayweather next, Pacquiao said, "My job is to fight and it depends on promoter Bob Arum to negotiate that."

Pacquiao said earlier in the week he doesn't think Mayweather will step up to the plate and called him a boring boxer.

"Boxing for him is like a business. He doesn't care about people around him watching. He doesn't care if the fight is boring as long as the fight is finished and he gets his money," Pacquiao said.

Roach said even if Mayweather agrees to a deal, the fight won't take place at any cost.

"If Floyd wants a 65-35 (purse) split then he is not going to get it," Roach said.

Heading into the Cotto fight, Pacquiao looked relaxed all week even smiling and waving as he climbed into the ring.

Underdog Cotto was the more serious of the two knowing the odds were stacked against him and his best hope for a win was to be the aggressor and try to land his savage left hook.

Pacquiao's game plan against Cotto was to engage him from the opening bell try to land an early shot and take away the champion's confidence.

While he didn't stick to the script entirely, Pacquiao did what he had to do in the first round to figure out his opponent and then break him down with his superior hand speed and boxing skills.

Pacquiao's confidence increased after the third round when he realized he could take Cotto's punches without losing any steam. In the fifth, he switched from being the aggressor to counter-puncher, landing several hard blows as Cotto tried to spin away from exchanges.

"I couldn't see where the punches were coming from," a bloodied Cotto said in the ring before heading off to the hospital for x-rays and treatment of cuts and bruises.

When he didn't get the knockout he wanted in the sixth and seventh rounds, Pacquiao appeared to carry Cotto into the later rounds, hoping to catch him with a flurry in the final minute of a round that would finish the fight. Either that or he was hoping the referee would evoke the mercy rule.

Roach said all week he didn't think Cotto's corner would be able to make adjustments very well in the middle of the fight and there seemed to be confusion among Cotto's handlers about when, and if, to the stop the fight.

"I would have stopped the fight if I was his corner man," Roach said of Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago.

"Once he (Cotto) started running he gave up and he was looking for way out. I would have given him one. I wouldn't have let him take a beating."