Tim Vanstone scored two goals,

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ST. . PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Preparations for the IndyCar Series opener began with a silly spat between the two top organizations over a perceived slight made by the president of Team Penske. The dig -- Tim Cindric compared Penske to the New York Yankees and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing to the Miami Marlins -- irritated the Ganassi camp and created some drama heading into the race Sunday. When the checkered flag waived, it was Penske driver Will Power in the winners circle. With teammate Helio Castroneves finishing third, Team Penske drivers claimed two spots on the podium and fired the opening salvo in the rivalry. "Ive only heard a little bit of that story, so I havent paid much attention," Power said. "Are the Marlins good? Do they win?" Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon, the defending series champion, finished fourth and Tony Kanaan was sixth in his debut for the team. So with Verizon-sponsored driver Power on top of the podium in the first race with Verizon on board as the series sponsor, and Castroneves on the podium with him, round one easily went to Team Penske. "We dont want to give an inch this year," said Castroneves, who lost the championship to Dixon last season. "We dont want to give any opportunity. We want to give the championship to Roger no matter what it takes." Ganassi has won five of the last six championships, and Penske last won in 2006. It was fitting that the win went to Power, who picked up right where he left off last season. He won three of the final five IndyCar races last season -- including the last two -- and his Sunday win at St. Pete gives the Australian four out of the last six victories. Power passed pole-sitter Takuma Sato for the lead with an outside move headed into the second turn on Lap 31, and was never really challenged again. He had to beat Castroneves off pit lane during stops under caution, and the only hiccup was on the first restart of the race. He was the leader and was slow to restart the field with 28 laps remaining. It caused traffic to stack-up behind him and led to a crash involving rookie Jack Hawksworth and Marco Andretti. Andretti got out of his car with a limp and was favouring his wrist following the accident. "Its hard to see because I was pretty far back, but Will just stopped. Once you go, you gotta go," he said. "It looked like an accordion effect. I had a good restart going, but we were junk all day, so what are you going to do?" Hawksworth blamed the accident on the leaders stopping at the front of the field. "We went when they said green, and all of a sudden the leaders stopped. I dont know what was going on at the front," the rookie said. Power said he never braked and was confused because the field went green earlier than it should. "They actually threw the green before I was even in the (restart) zone, so it was confusing to me," Power said. Castroneves didnt buy Powers version and said he was fooled by his teammate. "Will and I know each other for a long time. He knows my tricks," Castroneves said. "I didnt quite know that trick from him, and he got me." IndyCar said the restart in question was acceptable, but race control did review Powers second restart and issued him a warning for going too early. He was not penalized, but IndyCar said he will be if he does it again. Juan Pablo Montoya finished 15th in his return to IndyCar for the first time since he left for Formula One following his Indianapolis 500 win in 2000. He spent almost five seasons in F1 and seven in NASCAR before returning to open-wheel with Roger Penske. "I think it went pretty good," he said. "We will learn and pass some people and some people passed us. There are a few things we have to do better, but I didnt feel my pace was too bad there at the end. Its going to be a lot of work but I am very excited." .com) - Marylands Brad Craddock is the winner of the 2014 Lou Groza Award, given annually to the countrys top kicker. . Kazmir was tagged for three homers and allowed a season-high seven runs in the As 10-1 loss to the New York Mets and Bartolo Colon on Tuesday night. . Vinatieri will face his former team in Sundays AFC championship game.Post-season Record: 20-9 (Colts were 2-1 when Vinatieri was on injured reserve following 2009 season).SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. - Max Lajoie scored the only goal of the shootout, and Landon Bow stopped 48 shots in total to lead the Swift Current Broncos to a 5-4 win over the Calgary Hitmen in Western Hockey League action on Wednesday.Jake DeBrusk scored twice for Swift Current (20-17-4), including a tie-breaking power-play goal with 49 seconds to play, and Colby Cave and Tyler Steenbergen rounded out the offence.Jake Virtanen, Connor Rankin, Elliott Peterson and Carsen Twarynski, with a short-handed goal, scored for the Hitmen (22-15-4). Bow stopped 43 shots through regulation and overtime and all five skaters in the shootout.Calgary goaltender Mack Shields made 37 saves through 65 minutes and four more in the shootout.---RAIDERS 5 WARRIORS 1PRINCE ALBERT, Alta. — Tim Vanstone scored two goals, including one shorthanded, and Rylan Parenteau turned aside 44 shots as the Raiders downed Moose Jaw.Craig Leverton, Jordan Tkatch and Matteo Gennaro had a goal and an assist apiece for Prince Albert (17-23-1), which was outshot 45-28.Jack Rodewald had the lone goal for the Warriors (16-22-4). Zach Sawchenko made 23 saves.---PATS 3 SILVERTIPS 1REGINA — Pavel Padakin had a goal and an assist to lead the Pats over Everett.Braden Christoffer, with a power-play gooal, and Jesse Gabrielle also scored for Regina (25-12-3). . Nikita Scherbak replied for the Silvertips (24-12-4).---CHIEFS 4 WINTERHAWKS 1SPOKANE, Wash. — Devon McAndrews struck twice as the Chiefs toppled Portland.Jason Fram had a goal and an assist for Spokane (22-14-3) and Adam Helewka added an empty-net goal at 18:32 of the third period. Oliver Bjorkstrand had the lone goal for the Winterhawks (21-18-3), finding the back of the net with his 22nd of the season in the first period.---AMERICANS 5 COUGARS 3PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Evan Sarthou stopped 33 shots and five difference Tri-City skaters scored in its victory over the Cougars.Jordan Topping, Richard Nejezchleb, Justin Gutierrez and Taylor Vickerman had a goal and an assist apiece for the Americans (19-19-2) while Nolan Yaremko rounded out the attack.Brad Morrison, Zach Pochiro and Josh Anderson supplied the offence for Prince George (20-22-0). Ty Edmonds made 21 saves.---ROCKETS 4 GIANTS 2KELOWNA, B.C. — Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist as the Rockets doubled up Vancouver.Rourke Chartier, Gage Quinney and Tyson Baillie also scored for Kelowna (15-23-5).Jakob Stukel and Carter Popoff, with a power-play goal, supplied the offence for the Giants (18-20-2).--- ' ' '