Detroit

Based on the regular season, the Chicago Blackhawks are favored to oust the surging Boston Bruins and win their second Stanley Cup in the last four years. Then again, as the Los Angeles Kings showed last year, the regular season doesn't mean much in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Fact is, Boston - which had 15 fewer points than Chicago in the lockout-shortened, 48-game regular season - has been playing with a relaxed but focused attitude ever since it made the most remarkable Game 7 recovery in NHL history, way back in Round 1 against Toronto.

Rick Zombo and Sergei Fedorov scored goals eight seconds apart in the third period as Detroit beat Minnesota, 8-6, last night, keeping the Red Wings unbeaten at home and the North Stars winless on the road. Detroit took 47 shots against goalie Kari Takko, recalled Monday from Kalamazoo (Mich.), where he was 4-0-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average.

   Friday's men's basketball game between Temple and Detroit, part of the Gotham Classic at the Liacouras Center, was postponed because of bad weather. The game will be rescheduled.    Conditions in the Midwest combined with wind conditions in Philadelphia prevented Detroit from being able to safely travel to Philadelphia for the game, according to Rick Giles, president of the Gazelle Group, which runs the event.

Even though he didn't score any points, Sergei Fedorov was a plus for Detroit. Ask a teammate. "It was good to have him back," Detroit forward Vyacheslav Kozlov said after the Red Wings beat visiting Florida last night, 3-1. Fedorov ended a long contract dispute Thursday when the Red Wings matched a $38 million, six-year offer sheet from Carolina. "For a guy who hasn't played two-thirds of the season, he looked good," said forward Darren McCarty, who scored Detroit's last goal.

THERE'S a particular genre of film and photography that has become associated with Detroit in recent years: Called "rubble porn" or "ruin porn," it dwells on aestheticized images of urban decay and hopelessness that have become glib visual signifiers, not just of Detroit but of post-industrial America. "Detropia" trafficks in its share of those images, most strikingly the ghostly and tattered facade of a once-splendid skyscraper, teetering precariously on a blighted skyline. But in the hands of filmmakers Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, "Detropia" largely sidesteps the cliches and facile false choices that have beset so many Detroit movies.

HOW DID IT come to this? The current debate on whether to rescue Detroit automakers reflects a deep animus toward that most American of enterprises, the auto companies. It feels almost like a nasty divorce. You know, you've either been through one, or had friends who have, and after a while, everything is exaggerated, every utterance is an assault, nothing makes sense. All that's left is hatred and distrust. Two cases in point: I was in a bar in New York City the other day when a man I just met was positive that Ford workers once upon a time sabotaged their own products as part of a labor dispute with the company.

Former Flyers defenseman Danny Markov signed a $2.5 million, 1-year contract with Detroit yesterday. Markov had 11 assists in 58 games for the Nashville Predators last season, and the Moscow native was a key player for Russia at the Turin Olympics. He missed 17 games with various injuries. The 6-1, 190-pound Markov also has played for Toronto, Phoenix and Carolina in addition to the Flyers, contributing 131 points in 472 NHL games. His best season was with the Coyotes in 2001-02, when he had career highs in goals (six)

Lomas Brown was on his way home from the funeral of Detroit teammate Eric Andolsek in June when he heard more terrible news. Another friend, Eagles All- Pro defensive tackle Jerome Brown, had been killed along with his nephew in an auto accident in Brooksville, Fla. "It's still hard to grasp," Lomas Brown said. "I mean, Eric and Jerome were there. Then suddenly, they aren't. It takes time to get over. "It was a double shock. Eric was a friend and a colleague, and so was Jerome.

ALEX AVILA'S drive sailed to deep rightfield, barely clearing both an outfielder and a wall. An exhilarating opening series at Comerica Park was finally over, and the Detroit catcher could look forward to some much-needed rest. "I'm too tired right now," Avila said. "I'm glad we have an off day [Monday]. This weekend has been crazy. " Avila's two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Tigers a stunning 13-12 victory over Boston on Sunday, leaving the Red Sox winless in three games under new manager Bobby Valentine.

Based on the regular season, the Chicago Blackhawks are favored to oust the surging Boston Bruins and win their second Stanley Cup in the last four years. Then again, as the Los Angeles Kings showed last year, the regular season doesn't mean much in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Fact is, Boston - which had 15 fewer points than Chicago in the lockout-shortened, 48-game regular season - has been playing with a relaxed but focused attitude ever since it made the most remarkable Game 7 recovery in NHL history, way back in Round 1 against Toronto.

JUSTIN WILLIAMS scored two goals in the second period, and the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 last night in Los Angeles. Jonathan Quick made 25 saves as the Kings finished off the agonizingly even series with their 14th consecutive home victory over the past 2 months, including seven straight in the postseason. The home team won all seven games in the thrilling all-California series, and the fifth-seeded Kings barely rode their home-ice advantage to victory in their first potential elimination game in the last 2 years.

THE YOUNG Detroit Red Wings have made the mighty Chicago Blackhawks look vulnerable, beating them two straight times to gain an advantage in their last playoff matchup as Western Conference rivals. Gustav Nyquist and Drew Miller scored 31 seconds apart midway through the second period and Pavel Datsyuk restored a two-goal lead in the third to help Detroit beat visiting Chicago, 3-1, last night and take a 2-1 lead in the second-round series. As good as the Red Wings have looked - scoring six straight goals to earn momentum in the series - their hard-driving coach isn't ready to celebrate.

DETROIT - Detroit may be broke but it will soon have a first-rate motor pool, featuring 23 new ambulances and a fleet of 100 new police cars. Some city parks also are getting tender loving care. New fruit trees and shrubs have been planted, and mowing crews are beginning to make the rounds to keep the green spaces tidy. One of the surprising things about Detroit's descent toward insolvency - so dire that a state-appointed emergency manager recently took over - is that public services haven't collapsed as completely as some might have expected.

The schedule said that Game No. 81 for the 76ers was to be played against the Detroit Pistons, so that's what the teams had to do. A combined 38 games under .500 to begin the contest, both teams played with the tenacity of a Sunday morning walk with the dog. But just as the game had to be played, someone had to win, and the Pistons did that, 109-101. The loss dropped the Sixers to 33-48. Still, Sixers coach Doug Collins, who was coaching his next to last game with the team, has been proud of the effort his club has given of late.

DETROIT - Detroit's new emergency manager offered a "sincere olive branch" Monday to local leaders who fought against creating his job, even as a crowd of protesters rallied outside City Hall during his first day of trying to revive the city's beleaguered finances. Kevyn Orr, a bankruptcy lawyer and turnaround specialist who represented automaker Chrysler LLC during its successful restructuring, met with Mayor Dave Bing and at least two City Council members Monday as he began an 18-month term as emergency manager.

Crash victim, 9, walks for help LOS ANGELES - A 9-year-old girl crawled out of a mangled SUV, climbed out of a canyon, and walked about a mile in the middle of the night to find help after a crash that killed her father, authorities said. The 2010 Ford Escape was launched about 200 feet down an embankment along a semi-rural stretch of the Sierra Highway in Acton about 1 a.m. Sunday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Cheyenne Quesada. The vehicle overturned several times. The girl managed to extricate herself and walk through rugged terrain to a nearby home, but nobody answered the door, the CHP said.

TAMPA, Fla. - The Phillies named Cole Hamels their opening-day starter earlier this week, and Charlie Manuel came tantalizingly close Saturday to saying Domonic Brown would man one of his corner outfield spots - most likely left field - in the April 1 opener against the Atlanta Braves. "I would say right now, he's got the lead," the manager said after the Phillies' 7-0 exhibition win over the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field. "Kind of like Smarty Jones or something out front.

THE FIRST TWO conference tournaments begin Tuesday with the Big South and the Horizon getting under way. The first two bids go out on Saturday when the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley settle their league championships. From today until next Thursday, March 14, the Daily News will preview conference tournaments as they start. Let the wonderful madness begin. Big South Regular-season champs: High Point (17-12) won the North Division and Charleston Southern (17-11) will be co-No.

The fun continues for Temple - barely. Khalif Wyatt scored 12 of the Owls' final 14 points Thursday night as Temple defeated Detroit, 83-78, at the Liacouras Center. It was Temple's fourth straight win. The victory gave the Owls (20-8) their sixth straight 20-win season to tie a school record for the most consecutive 20-win seasons. Most significant, they beat another quality opponent in the Titans (19-11), which could go a long way in securing an NCAA tournament at-large bid. But it was far from a picture perfect victory for the Owls, who battled back from an 11-point first-half deficit.