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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – Brad Lukowich and Patrick Marleau scored 53 seconds apart late in the second period and the San Jose Sharks closed out the pre-season with a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night.

VANCOUVER – Roberto Luongo is sporting a C after all.The Vancouver captain, forbidden by NHL rules from wearing the letter on his jersey because he is a goaltender, sported a new C on his mask Sunday night as the Canucks hosted Anaheim in the final 2008-09 pre-season game for both clubs.

DALLAS – Jason Strudwick’s tiebreaking goal early in the third period lifted the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night in the pre-season finale for both teams.

CHICAGO – Ryan Smyth’s power-play tip-in at 3:07 of overtime lifted the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-3 pre-season win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks signed Cody Hodgson, their top pick in the 2008 draft, to an NHL entry-level contract Sunday.Hodgson, chosen 10th overall, has one assist and six penalty minutes in three pre-season games with the Canucks.

DETROIT – Red Wings coach Mike Babcock admitted that Detroit is not yet in regular-season form.Don’t worry. The Stanley Cup champions will get there soon enough.

WASHINGTON – Phil Kessel and Patrice Bergeron scored shootout goals, carrying the Boston Bruins to a 5-4 win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday night that wrapped up each team’s pre-season schedule.

TORONTO – The dress rehearsal is over. And the final act wasn’t pretty.The Toronto Maple Leafs blew a two-goal lead late in their final exhibition tuneup and watched as the Columbus Blue Jackets completed the comeback in a shootout, walking away with a 5-4 victory on Sunday.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Ray Whitney and Eric Staal both scored to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday in the final pre-season game for both teams.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Dany Heatley scored two more goals and Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson had two assists for the Senators, who beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 to split their opening weekend series in Sweden.

TEMPE, Ariz. – Players in the Central Hockey League have lifted their strike after the league agreed to meetings with Professional Hockey Players’ Association officials this week in Denver.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Wade Redden and Scott Gomez each scored second-period goals as the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Sunday to sweep their two-game season-opening series in Europe.

In terms of goal production this season, it truly was a David versus Goliath situation on Saturday night at the Pacific Coliseum.And unlike the children’s fable, the Giants won it this time – by a wide margin.

Kale Kerbashian scored 1:55 into overtime as the London Knights survived a five-goal rally by the Erie Otters to earn a 6-5 win in Ontario Hockey League action Saturday night.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Steven Reinprecht scored twice and rookie Viktor Tikhonov added a short-handed goal to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in their pre-season finale Saturday night.

BOSTON – Jonathan Sim tipped home a shot by defenceman Thomas Pock with 6:01 left Saturday, lifting the New York Islanders to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins in a pre-season game.

ATLANTA – St. Louis centre Andy McDonald finished the pre-season with an NHL-best 13 points, scoring his fourth goal and adding an assist to help the Blues beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1 on Saturday night.

NEWARK, N.J. – Brian Rolston and David Clarkson scored power-play goals in the second period for the New Jersey Devils, who finished their pre-season schedule with a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.

TORONTO – A potential comeback by the Toronto Maple Leafs evaporated as quickly as it came.After rallying from a two-goal deficit early in the third, the Leafs ultimately fell 4-3 to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night in pre-season NHL action before 18,878 fans at the Air Canada Centre.

MONTREAL – Niklas Backstrom made 25 saves and Stephane Veilleux continued his strong pre-season with a goal and an assist to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens Saturday at the Bell Centre.