Briefs: Franzen’s five powers Wings past Ottawa

NHL: Johan Franzen scored five goals and the visiting Detroit Red Wings sent Ottawa to its eighth straight loss by beating the Senators 7-5 on Wednesday night.

The Senators (17-27-8) have lost 14 of 15 and haven’t won a home game since beating Pittsburgh on Dec. 26.

Kris Draper and Niklas Kronwall also scored, and Jimmy Howard made 29 saves for the Red Wings. It was Detroit’s first visit to Ottawa since October 2008.

Milan Michalek scored twice for Ottawa, and Peter Regin had a goal and two assists. Chris Campoli and Alex Kovalev also scored for the Senators.

Robin Lehner was pulled midway through the second period after allowing four goals on 19 shots in his first home start. Brian Elliott allowed two goals on 19 shots in relief.

The Senators took a 1-0 lead on Kovalev’s power-play goal, but Franzen scored twice in 48 seconds to put Detroit ahead.

• Canucks trample Coyotes: Roberto Luongo made 23 saves for his 54th NHL shutout and third of the season, and the Vancouver Canucks routed the struggling Phoenix Coyotes 6-0 at Glendale, Ariz.

Durant notches fifth 40-point game

NBA: Kevin Durant continued a scoring tear with 43 points and 10 rebounds and led a key fourth-quarter run and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the visiting New Orleans Hornets 104-93.

Durant eclipsed 40 points for the third time in four games, and he leads the NBA with five 40-point games this season.

• Cavs close in on futility record: The Cleveland Cavaliers’ slide reached 22 games – one shy of the NBA’s single-season record – as Danny Granger scored 23 points and Darren Collison added 22 to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 117-112 win over the host Cavaliers, now winless in 2011 and losers of 32 of 33.

Unless they can win on Friday in Memphis, the Cavs (8-41) will match the league’s all-time mark for consecutive futility, a record shared by the 1995-96 expansion Vancouver Grizzlies and 1997-98 Denver Nuggets.

• Nuggets stop Blazers: Nene had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups scored 20 points each and the Denver Nuggets beat the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 109-90.

• Martin’s three-point play sinks Jazz: Kevin Martin scored on a three-point play with 6.9 seconds left and finished with 22 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a come-from-behind 97-96 victory at Salt Lake City over the Utah Jazz, who were without two starters.

Syracuse upends UConn to stop skid

Men’s basketball: Rick Jackson had 13 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 17 Syracuse (19-4, 6-4 Big East) to a 66-58 victory over No. 6 Connecticut (17-4, 5-4) at Hartford, Conn., as the Orange avoided the first five-game losing streak in coach Jim Boeheim’s 35 seasons.

• Aztecs hold on: D.J. Gay sank a jumper with 1.8 seconds left to lift the No. 7 San Diego State Aztecs (22-1, 7-1 Mountain West) to a 56-54 win over Colorado State (15-7, 5-3) at Fort Collins, Colo.

• Oklahoma State trips No. 14 Missouri: Darrell Williams scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Oklahoma State (15-7, 3-5 Big 12) to a 76-70 victory over No. 14 Missouri (17-5, 3-4) at Stillwater, Okla.

Griner, Williams guide No. 1 Baylor

Women’s basketball: Brittney Griner scored 29 points and Destiny Williams had 19 points and 11 rebounds to help top-ranked Baylor rout No. 13 Oklahoma 92-70 at Waco, Texas.

Melissa Jones added 14 points while Odyssey Sims had 10 for the Bears (20-1, 7-0 Big 12). Aaryn Ellenberg scored 27 for the Sooners (16-5, 6-2).

Snyder files lawsuit against weekly paper

NFL: Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has sued Washington City Paper over a column he says defamed him and had anti-Semitic references.

Snyder filed the lawsuit against the weekly paper and its parent company, Atalaya Capital management LP, in New York State Supreme Court.

The suit seeks at least $1 million in damages for each of the two causes of action, plus punitive damages.

The cover story entitled “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder,” has an altered photo of the owner with horns and a beard drawn in pen.

Heil takes advantage of Kearney’s error

Skiing: A mistake on her final jump cost defending Olympic champion Hannah Kearney the ladies’ mogul title by 0.04 and allowed retiring Jennifer Heil of Canada to win the 2011 Freestyle World Championship at Deer Valley, Utah.

Heil, who lost to Kearney on her home soil in the Vancouver Olympics, captured her only freestyle singles World title with a score of 24.35 on the difficult Champion course at Deer Valley Resort. Fellow Canadian Kristi Richards (23.71) took bronze.

Kearney entered the freestyle World Championships having won five freestyle World Cup moguls events this season but failed to grab her ski on the bottom jump.

France’s Guilbaut Colas won the men’s title with 26.26 points.