In Sports from United Press International

• Tweet

Montreal finally wins in Detroit

DETROIT, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Saku Koivu and defenseman Andrei Markov scored in a 3:12 span of the third period Thursday night as the Montreal Canadiens bounced back from two poor defensive performances and held on for a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings brought back a host of familiar faces as they celebrated their third championship in six years. Former coach Scotty Bowman, former goaltender Dominik Hasek and former defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov were among those on hand.

Detroit grabbed a 1-0 lead in its home opener, but the Canadiens roared back with the next three goals and recorded their first win at Joe Louis Arena since April 11, 1992.

Andreas Dackell started the comeback 12 seconds into the second period and Koivu put Montreal in front for good at 6:40 of the third. The Canadiens' captain charged down the slot on a two on one and, while falling, deflected Richard Zednik's centering feed past goaltender Curtis Joseph.

Markov gave Montreal some breathing room with an almost identical play. Yanic Perreault fired a pass from high in the right faceoff circle that Markov redirected for his first goal of the season.

Other NHL results: New York Islanders 3, Philadelphia 3; Washington 2, Carolina 1; New York Rangers 4, Buffalo 4; Toronto 5, Phoenix 3; St. Louis 7, Columbus 1; Minnesota 3, Dallas 1; Chicago 4, Florida 1; Boston 3, Calgary 3.

Belfour goes on injured list

TORONTO, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour, who has not played since recording a shutout in the season opener, was placed on injured reserve Thursday with an infected right thumb.

Belfour cut the thumb in the Maple Leafs' final preseason game but stopped 33 shots on Oct. 10 in a season-opening 6-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The thumb started swelling on the flight back to Toronto he has not played since.

Trevor Kidd has a 4.04 goals-against average and dismal .859 save percentage since replacing Belfour, who had hoped to return for Saturday's meeting with the Montreal Canadiens.

Agassi reaches quarterfinals

MADRID, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Andre Agassi converted the only break point in the match Thursday and outlasted Spain's Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Tennis Masters Series - Madrid.

At 5-5 in the third set, Lopez played a loose service game, hitting a pair of errors before two double faults. Agassi served out the win, which took more than two hours and was played before a raucous, partisan crowd.

Lopez, 21, finished with 19 aces against arguably tennis' best returner and 49 winners.

The 32-year-old American takes on the lone remaining Spaniard, fifth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, in Friday's quarterfinals. Ferrero recovered from a dropped set to rout countryman Alex Corretja, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Sluman shares Disney lead

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Jeff Sluman, Bob Burns and Japan's Hidemichi Tanaka fired 9-under-par 63s Thursday to share the lead after 18 holes at the Disney Classic, the next-to-last event of the PGA Tour season.

Sluman, who recorded his sixth career victory in July at the Greater Milwaukee Open, has played well down the stretch with three top-10 finishes in his last four starts, including a tie for second at last week's Invensys Classic in Las Vegas.

Burns and Tanaka are seeking their first titles.

Tiger Woods showed no signs of rust in his first appearance since last month's Ryder Cup, carding a 6-under 66. But he could do no better than a tie for 10th.

Woods has five wins in 12 tour events in Orlando, his adopted hometown.

A total of 39 players shot 5-under or better. Scott Hoch, Chad Campbell, Australia's Peter Lonard, Joe Durant and Chris DiMarco were tied for second at 8-under, while Stuart Appleby of Australia, Mike Sposa and Tim Clark were another stroke back.

Among those in a 13-player logjam at 6-under were Woods, Charles Howell III and Germany's Bernhard Langer.

Faldo, Campbell play marathon match

SURREY, England, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Two-time champion Nick Faldo and Michael Campbell of New Zealand made tournament history Thursday when their opening-round confrontation at the Cisco World Match Play Championship went 42 holes without winner.

Faldo won the last two holes of regulation with a birdie and a par and then agreed with Campbell that the sixth playoff hole would be their last one as darnkess fell over the Wentworth course.

The match will resume early Friday with the winner facing defending champion Ian Woosnam.

It was the longest match of the 384 played in the 39-year history of the event. The previous record was 40 holes, achieved three times, including a loss by Faldo to Darren Clarke two years ago.

In other matches Thursday, Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who lost last year's final to Woosnam, beat Canadian Mike Weir, 4 & 3; Vijay Singh of Fuji topped Britain's Justin Rose, 1-up; and former champion Colin Montgomerie of Scotland edged American Fred Funk, 3 & 2.

Campbell missed a five-foot birdie putt at the 34th hole that would have won the match.

Panthers owner has heart surgery

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson underwent successful quadruple heart bypass surgery Thursday and is expected to make a full recovery, the team announced.

"The surgery is our most common operation and went as we had hoped, with no complications," said Dr. Mark Stiegel. "He has a very strong heart and should have a full and complete recovery and his energy level should return to normal in about four to six weeks."

The 66-year-old Richardson has been hospitalized since Oct. 4 with an intestinal infection. An irregular heart rhythm was detected during his recovery.

Richardson led the group that obtained an NFL expansion franchise for Charlotte. He played for the Baltimore Colts, catching a touchdown pass in the 1959 NFL Championship game, then joined George Halas as the only former player to own an NFL team.