LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: At an Exhibition Basketball Tournament in Laval, Quebec, the X-Men remain undefeated after a 104-81 victory over Ottawa. Meanwhile, the X-Women are 0-2 following a 73-60 loss to Windsor. Today, the X-Men play Winnipeg at 11 am Atlantic time, followed by the X-Women vs Guelph at 3.
MHL: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers host Summerside Capitals tonight at 7 at the Wellness Centre.
U18: The Pictou Weeks Majors visit the Sydney Rush at 2 , then tonight the Cape Breton West Islanders visit the Cole Harbour Wolfpack at 7:30.
Maritime Major Female League: The top-ranked Northern Subway Selects visit the Western Wind at 3:15.
Riverside International Speedway will celebrate its 55th anniversary throughout 2024, starting with the unveiling of a commemorative logo which will be used on special edition swag, promotional pieces, and more. While the complete schedule has not been finalized, three of an expected five event weekends – including the popular IWK 250 – are already on the calendar. More at riversidespeedway.ca
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Toronto Maple Leafs have dropped back-to-back games after Johnny Gaudreau scored in overtime for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 6-5 decision. Adam Fantilli had the game-tying goal for the Blue Jackets in the third period. William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner each had a goal and an assist for Toronto.
Jesper Bratt and brothers Luke and Jack Hughes combined for three goals and seven assists as the New Jersey Devils beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2. Dawson Mercer, Tyler Toffoli and Brendan Smith also scored for New Jersey. Drake Batherson and Jacob Bernard-Docker replied for the Senators.
Goaltender Hugo Havelid had a 21-save shutout as Sweden blanked Canada 2-0 at the men’s world junior hockey championship. Host Sweden has not allowed a goal over three straight wins and clinched first place in Group A. The defending champion Canadians have two victories and one loss. They’ll close out their preliminary round schedule on New Year’s Eve against Germany.
Jaylen Brown scored 31 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 120-118. The Celtics improved to 16-0 at home. Scottie Barnes led Toronto with a 30 points and 10 rebound performance. The Raptors have lost seven of their past 10 games.
Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, 17 in the decisive third quarter, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 119-93. Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points or more for the fifth time this season and was four shy of his career-best set last season. Oklahoma City has won three straight and eight of its last 10 to surge past Denver in the Northwest Division.
Paul George scored 23 points, James Harden added 16 points and the Los Angeles Clippers closed a successful December with a 117-106 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Friday night. The Clippers were 11-2 in December, which is the best mark in the Western Conference for this month.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
New Jersey 6 Ottawa 2
Florida 4 N.Y. Rangers 3
Detroit 5 Nashville 4 (OT)
Columbus 6 Toronto 5 (OT)
N.Y. Islanders 5 Washington 1
Colorado 2 St. Louis 1
Dallas 5 Chicago 4 (OT)
Seattle 2 Philadelphia 1 (OT)
Arizona 2 Anaheim 0
World Junior Hockey – Preliminary round at Gothenburg, Sweden
Sweden 2 Canada 0
Slovakia 8 Norway 4
Finland 4 Latvia 0
United States 4 Czechia 3 (SO)
Spengler Cup Quarterfinals at Davos, Switzerland
Canada 6 KalPa Kuopio 3
Frolunda HC 5 HC Ambri-Piotta 0
NBA
Washington 110 Brooklyn 104
Orlando 117 New York 108
Sacramento 117 Atlanta 110
Boston 120 Toronto 118
Milwaukee 119 Cleveland 111
Philadelphia 131 Houston 127
Oklahoma City 119 Denver 93
Phoenix 133 Charlotte 119
Portland 134 San Antonio 128
L.A. Clippers 117 Memphis 106
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Minnesota at Winnipeg, 2 p.m.
Columbus at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Carolina at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Montreal at Florida, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Nashville at Washington, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Boston, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Los Angeles, 10 p.m.
World Junior Hockey – Preliminary round at Gothenburg, Sweden
Switzerland vs. Norway, 11 a.m.
Germany vs. Latvia, 1:30 p.m.
Spengler Cup Semifinals at Davos, Switzerland
HC Davos vs. Frolunda HC, 10:15 a.m.
NBA
Miami at Utah, 5 p.m.
Toronto at Detroit, 6 p.m.
New York at Indiana, 7 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Philadelphia at Chicago, 8 p.m.
Dallas at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
NFL
Detroit at Dallas, 8:15 p.m.
