Hockey

In a matchup of recent Stanley Cup winners, the defending champion Detroit Red Wings showed they're still at the top of their game.

Dan Cleary and Johan Franzen scored 35 seconds apart midway through the third period to rally Detroit to a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, the 2007 Cup champs, on Wednesday night.

If Wednesday night's game against the reigning Stanley Cup champions was a measuring stick, the Ducks still have some distance to make up before they can legitimately contend to bring the Cup back.

Or maybe they just need a few reinforcements. Say, a Selanne here and a Huskins there, to start.

Dale Reinhardt scored the go-ahead goal in the first period and the Ontario Reign held on to beat the Phoenix Roadunners, 2-1, on Wednesday in an ECHL hockey game.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Ontario.

Mike Howe also scored for Ontario, which leads the Pacific Division. Ashton Rome scored for Phoenix.

Ontario next plays at home against the Utah Grizzlies on Friday at 7 p.m.

After scoring the game's first goal, Evgeny Artyukhin put a hit on Drew Doughty that put the Los Angeles Kings' rookie defenseman out for the rest of the game -- ending the first showdown between the league's top two draft picks.

Artyukhin and Mark Recchi scored 41 seconds apart late in the first period, Vincent Lecavalier also had a goal, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Kings 3-1 Monday night. But the question on everyone's minds before the game was how Doughty would do against center Steven Stamkos -- who was chosen just ahead of him last June.

There was no doubt about the second one.

Chris Kunitz scored twice in the third period to help the Anaheim Ducks beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-3, on Sunday night.

With the game tied at 2-2 early in the third, Kunitz wrapped around the New Jersey goal and tucked the puck under goalie Scott Clemmensen's pads.

Brian Rolston, Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias put the pop back in New Jersey's power play. Each scored with the man-advantage to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Kings, 5-1, Saturday night.

Jamie Langenbrunner had a goal and an assist and Devils backup goalie Kevin Weekes made 34 saves in his first start since a 4-2 loss against Buffalo on Dec. 13. First-time All-Star Zach Parise got his 100th career goal and Zajac had two assists.

The Victoria Salmon Kings extended their winning streak to 15 games with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Ontario Reign on Saturday night.

Itan Chavira scored his first goal of the season in the first period, and Chris Curran tallied a third-period goal for the Reign, which lost its third consecutive game.

Ryan Malone scored his second goal of the contest with 9:10 left in the third period to put Tampa Bay ahead for good after it blew a two-goal lead, and Martin St. Louis had a short-handed goal and two assists in the Lightning's 4-3 victory over the Ducks on Friday night.

"The guys showed some of the will and the character to win, and that can go a long way for a lot of players when you win games like that," Coach Rick Tocchet said. "Guys were staying the course in the third period and playing a bend-not-break kind of defense."

Wes Goldie and Darryl Lloyd scored two goals each as the Victoria Salmon Kings defeated the Ontario Reign, 5-2, Friday night in a meeting of ECHL division leaders.

Victoria took a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals by Dylan Yeo, Goldie and Lloyd. Ontario got close on second-period goals by Geoff Walker (at 13:08) and Todd Jackson (at 18:19).

Goal scoring was not an issue for the Kings on Thursday night, but trying to slow down Ducks rookie forward Bobby Ryan became a bit of a problem.

Alexander Frolov scored a power-play goal with 12:17 to play, allowing the Kings to salvage a bizarre 4-3 victory over the Ducks before a sellout crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center.