US fighting mad after loss to Finland

At the IIHF world hockey championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, yesterday, Mikko Koivu scored with less than four minutes remaining to give Finland a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the United States that included a postgame brawl. After Koivu scored with 3:50 left, Adam Burish of the US team was ejected for butt-ending a Finland player. As the final horn sounded, US forward Dustin Brown drilled a Finnish defenseman into the boards with a hit to the head, touching off a melee that featured a fight between David Backes of the US team and Finland's Amsso Salmela. Phil Kessel of the Bruins and Tom Gilbert scored in the second period to give the US (2-2) a 2-0 lead, but Finland (4-0) scored three times on 25 shots in the final frame. The United States, which already has secured a quarterfinal berth, wraps up qualifying-round play today against Norway, which lost, 4-1, to Latvia. In Quebec City, Switzerland beat Denmark, 7-2, and Sweden defeated the Czech Republic, 5-3 . . . The NHL issued no suspensions, only undisclosed fines, to Detroit Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood and Dallas Stars center Mike Ribeiro, for their actions in the closing seconds of Saturday night's Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. Osgood used the handle of his stick to poke Ribeiro, who responded from behind the net with a two-handed slash across the goalie's chest, touching off a series of scrums. Both players will suit up for Game 3 tonight in Dallas.

The Brewers yanked Eric Gagné from the closer's role after the reliever called his latest performance embarrassing and said he didn't feel he deserved to pitch the ninth anymore. Manager Ned Yost said he read Gagné's comments and will use a closer by committee approach while the former Cy Young Award winner takes what Yost called a "mental break." Gagne, who signed a $10 million, one-year contract with Milwaukee in the offseason, has nine saves, but also has blown five save chances and has a 6.89 ERA. In a nonsave situation Saturday, he allowed the go-ahead runs in a loss to the Cardinals . . . The Rangers placed righthander Kevin Millwood on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin. Millwood threw just 12 pitches in his start Saturday against Oakland before being removed . . . Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (strained right quadriceps) worked out for the third straight day at the team's minor league complex in Tampa. He took 60 swings in batting practice and fielded 38 grounders. Rodriguez is scheduled for an MRI today, when he might get cleared for rehab games this week.

Next weekend's busy schedule just got tougher for some Indianapolis 500 teams. The second day of qualifying at the 2 1/2-mile oval was rained out, marking the third time in the opening week that drivers lost a full day of track activity. And it might not get any better. More rain is expected for Wednesday's practice and the forecast is calling for a chance of rain late in the week. But track officials still are hoping to fill the remaining 22 spots in the 33-car field Saturday. If it does remain dry, Sunday would still be the traditional "Bump Day," when nonqualified drivers can make the starting grid by knocking out the slowest qualifiers . . . Felipe Massa held off Lewis Hamilton in Istanbul to win his third straight Turkish Grand Prix and earn Ferrari's fourth consecutive Formula One victory. Massa finished 3.779 seconds ahead of McLaren driver Hamilton. Defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen finished 4.2 seconds back in third place.

Dina Safina pulled off her third upset of a top-10 player in a week at the German Open, winning the title by defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, in Berlin. The 17th-ranked Safina also beat No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 8 Serena Williams at the clay-court event. Safina claimed her sixth WTA Tour title and first this year at the warm-up for the French Open, which begins in two weeks . . . Third-ranked Novak Djokovic won the 10th ATP title of his career, rallying to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, at the clay-court Rome Masters.

A former associate of Southern Cal freshman guard O.J. Mayo claims the basketball star received thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts from an event promoter over the past four years that would violate NCAA rules, ESPN reported. Louis Johnson told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that Rodney Guillory, a Los Angeles-based event promoter, gave Mayo about $30,000 and other benefits while he attended high school and his sole season at USC. Mayo has decided to forgo his sophomore year and enter the NBA draft. Guillory received monthly payments from Northern California sports agency Bill Duffy Associates, the network reported. Mayo signed with the same agency last month shortly after declaring for the draft. If the allegations are true, USC may have to forfeit victories from last season and face more serious sanctions from the NCAA. "I have not engaged in any wrongdoing," Mayo said in a statement to ESPN . . . Manchester United won its 10th Premier League title in 16 years, getting a 33d-minute penalty kick from Cristiano Ronaldo and another goal from Ryan Giggs to beat host Wigan, 2-0, on the final day of the season. Giggs, who scored in the 80th minute, came off the bench in the second half to match Bobby Charlton's club record of 758 games. United finished the 38-game season with 87 points, 2 more than Chelsea, which was held to a 1-1 tie by Bolton. The teams face each other May 21 in the Champions League final in Moscow. Chelsea captain John Terry expects to play despite suffering a dislocated elbow against Bolton . . . On the final day of the USA Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the Australians took home two gold medals and a silver, while the Chinese were shut out of gold for the first time in the four-day event. China still led all countries in medals with seven - three gold, two silver, and two bronze. Australia and the United States each finished with five medals.