LOCAL SPORTS
The Antigonish Bulldogs have taken the lead in the League final, defeating the East Hants Penguins 2-1 last night at the Antigonish Arena. Game 4 goes tonight in East Hants, with Game 5 Sunday in Antigonish at 7:30.
NS U18: The Islanders host the Halifax Macs on Friday at 7:30 and Saturday at 2, with game five set for Sunday in Halifax at 5:30, should the Islanders win.
NS U15: The Bombers are hosting the Valley at 4:30 on Friday.
NS U16AAA: The Highlanders are playing the Thunderbirds at 11:15 on Friday and then the Armada on 3:15.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Five Canadian N-H-L teams saw action Thursday. The Toronto Maple Leafs thumped the Washington Capitals 7-3, the Ottawa Senators came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Boston Bruins 3-2, Leon Draisaitl netted a hat trick in a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers win over the Nashville Predators, the Calgary Flames got rocked by the Vegas Golden Knights 6-1, and the Vancouver Canucks extended their win streak to five straight with a 7-1 dismantling of the Arizona Coyotes.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning officially earned a playoff berth with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Anthony Cirelli scored 1:58 into the extra frame to give Tampa the win. Elsewhere, the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched their 16th consecutive playoff berth by beating the New York Islanders 6-3.
Michael King escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam created by Aroldis Chapman to preserve New York’s 3-0 win over Toronto after Luis Severino became the first pitcher to strike out Blue Jays star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. three times. Guerrero struck out four times in all for the first time in his career — just one night after hitting three homers and going 4-for-4 at the plate.
The Blue Jays will next open a series with the Oakland A’s at Rogers Centre. Toronto third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired from Oakland in an off-season trade. Ross Stripling will get the start for Toronto against Daulton Jefferies.
At the R-B-C Heritage in South Carolina, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario is the top Canadian after one round of play. He’s in a tie for third, three strokes back of leader Cameron Young. There are seven Canadian golfers in the field.
Thursday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Tampa Bay 4 Anaheim 3 (OT)
Detroit 3 Carolina 0
Pittsburgh 6 N.Y. Islanders 3
Ottawa 3 Boston 2
St. Louis 6 Buffalo 2
Toronto 7 Washington 3
Edmonton 4 Nashville 0
Minnesota 3 Dallas 2 (OT)
Chicago 5 San Jose 4 (SO)
Colorado 3 New Jersey 1
Vegas 6 Calgary 1
Vancouver 7 Arizona 1
MLB
American League
Oakland 6 Tampa Bay 3
Seattle 5 Chicago White Sox 1
N.Y. Yankees 3 Toronto 0
Texas 10 L.A. Angels 5
Detroit 4 Kansas City 2
National League
Milwaukee 5 St. Louis 1
Pittsburgh 9 Washington 4
Miami 4 Philadelphia 3
San Diego 12 Atlanta 1
Chicago Cubs 5 Colorado 2
L.A. Dodgers 9 Cincinnati 3
Friday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
N.Y. Islanders at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Winnipeg at Florida, 7 p.m.
NBA Play-In Round
Atlanta at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.
New Orleans at L.A. Clippers, 10 p.m.
MLB
American League
Minnesota (Ryan 0-1) at Boston (Pivetta 0-1), 2:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Montgomery 0-0) at Baltimore (Lyles 0-1), 7:05 p.m.
Oakland (Jefferies 1-0) at Toronto (Stripling 0-0), 7:07 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Rasmussen 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (Cease 1-0), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Detmers 0-0) at Texas (TBD), 8:05 p.m.
Detroit (Skubal 0-1) at Kansas City (Keller 0-0), 8:10 p.m.
Houston (Odorizzi 0-0) at Seattle (Gonzales 0-1), 9:42 p.m.
National League
Arizona (Davies 0-0) at N.Y. Mets (Bassitt 1-0), 1:10 p.m.
Washington (Fedde 0-0) at Pittsburgh (Keller 0-1), 6:35 p.m.
Philadelphia (Eflin 0-0) at Miami (Lopez 0-0), 6:40 p.m.
St. Louis (Mikolas 0-0) at Milwaukee (Peralta 0-0), 8:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Stroman 0-0) at Colorado (Marquez 0-0), 8:40 p.m.
Atlanta (Wright 1-0) at San Diego (Gore 0-0), 9:40 p.m.
Cincinnati (Gutierrez 0-1) at L.A. Dodgers (Gonsolin 0-0), 10:10 p.m.
Interleague
San Francisco (Rodon 0-0) at Cleveland (Plesac 0-0), 7:10 p.m.
