LOCAL SPORTS
Maritime Hockey: In their last game before the holidays, the Crushers lost a close match 2-1 against the Valley Wildcats.
U18: The CB West Islanders visit Steele Subaru in Dartmouth at 7:45.
U15: The WearWell Bombers host the Novas at 5 at the PC Wellness Centre.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders visit Kings in Sackville at 5:30.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects visit the Western Flames at 6:30.
Antigonish Rural Hockey: the Heatherton Warriors take on the St. Croix Angels at 7 pm, followed by a matchup between the County Outlaws and the Pleasantdale Panthers at 8:30. Both games take place at the Antigonish Arena.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Hockey Canada’s provincial and territorial members will vote today on whether to approve a slate of nominees to fill the organization’s nine vacancies on its board of directors. Hugh L. Fraser, a retired judge with nearly three decades of experience at the Ontario court of justice, is the nominee for board chair. Former women’s national team captain Cassie Campbell-Pascall has been put forward to fill one of the other eight seats. Hockey Canada’s previous board stepped down in October amid blistering criticism related to the scandal-plagued federation’s past handling of sexual assault allegations and hushed payouts to victims. Today’s virtual vote is to approve the entire slate of nominees, rather than candidates on an individual basis.
Boos rained down on the Calgary Flames as they dropped a fifth straight game last night. Jordan Kyrou put up a pair of goals and the visiting St. Louis Blues took a 5-2 victory over the struggling Flames. Connor Mackey scored twice for Calgary, marking his second and third N-H-L goals.
Mats Zuccarello netted a hat trick and an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots as the Minnesota Wild downed the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. Kirill Kaprizov scored and had a helper and Sam Steel added two assists for the Wild, who won their fourth straight game. Zuccarello, Steel and Kaprizov have combined for 19 goals since being put together on Minnesota’s top line 13 games ago.
Kyrie Irving hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Brooklyn Nets rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors 119-116, extending their winning streak to a season-high five. Irving scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, eluding Toronto’s Fred VanVleet to connect on the winning basket. VanVleet matched his season high with 39 points and Scottie Barnes had 26 as the struggling Raptors lost their season-worst fourth straight.
The Los Angeles Lakers smoothly overcame Anthony Davis’ latest injury in a 126-108 win over the Denver Nuggets. Davis missed the second half with a right foot injury, but LeBron James rallied his team with 30 points. Russell Westbrook added 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for L-A, which claimed its second win in six games.
Moritz Wagner scored 25 points and Paolo Banchero added 20 as the Orlando Magic beat the N-B-A-leading Boston Celtics 117-109. Franz Wagner scored 19 points to help Orlando win its fifth straight game. Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and Jaylen Brown had 26 for Boston, which dropped to 22-8 with its third loss in four games.
Tiger Woods and his 13-year-old son are both limping at the P-N-C Championship in Orlando. Woods is dealing with plantar fasciitis that has him in a cart while Charlie rolled his ankle yesterday. The ailments aren’t enough to keep either out of the 36-hole tournament where they were runner-up a year ago.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Calgary 2 St. Louis 5
Minnesota 4 Chicago 1
Arizona 5 N.Y. Islanders 4
NBA
Brooklyn 119 Toronto 116
Atlanta 125 Charlotte 106
Sacramento 122 Detroit 113
Cleveland 118 Indiana 112
Philadelphia 118 Golden State 106
New York 114 Chicago 91
Minnesota 112 Oklahoma City 110
Orlando 117 Boston 109
Dallas 130 Portland 110
L.A. Lakers 126 Denver 108
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Ottawa at Detroit, 1 p.m.
Columbus at Boston, 1 p.m.
Anaheim at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Washington, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Carolina, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Florida at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Arizona, 9 p.m.
Nashville at Colorado, 9 p.m.
Winnipeg at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Vegas, 10 p.m.
San Jose at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
NBA
Washington at L.A. Clippers, 4 p.m.
Miami at San Antonio, 5 p.m.
Dallas at Cleveland, 8 p.m.
Memphis at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
Portland at Houston, 8 p.m.
Utah at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
New Orleans at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
NFL
Indianapolis at Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Baltimore at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m.
Miami at Buffalo, 8:15 p.m.