LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: The X-Women made it three wins in a row with a big 74-36 victory over the visiting Saint Mary’s Huskies on Coach K Court. Gabriel Pizza Player of the game Shannon Neita netted 17 points along with 10 rebounds as the X-Women dominated both ends of the court. Along the way, Neita picked up her 500th career point as an X-Women, making her the 36th student athlete to do so. With the win the X-Women improve to 10-4 on the season and clinch an AUS championship playoff berth. They currently sit tied for second place with Acadia, each with 20 points and eight back of first place UNB.
Meanwhile, the X-Men earned their sixth win in a row with a 96-74 takedown of Saint Mary’s. STFX Player of the Game DJ Jackson finished with 25 along with 9 assists, while rookie Phoenyx Wyse picked up a double-double with 14 rebounds and 11 points. The X-Men remain atop the AUS standings, two points ahead of Acadia.
The X-Women picked up a 2-1 shootout win over the UNB REDS in a battle of the top two teams in AUS women’s hockey. X-Women forward Samantha Morrison netted the only goal in the shootout to secure the win. She also scored the only X goal in regulation, picking up the game’s second star accolade. Player of the game and first star Brooklyn Oakes made 26 saves to earn the win in the X net. With the shootout loss, the REDS still earned a single point and maintain first place atop the AUS standings, one point ahead of the X-Women.
In Moncton, the X-Men earned a big 4-2 win over the first place Aigles Bleus. A three-goal second period helped lift the X-Men to victory, after being down 2-0. X-Men defenseman Raegan Wiles scored the game winner with only 36 seconds left in the second period.
The X-Women quartet of Caroline Ash, Hannah McIntyre, Poppy Moon & Caden Lee set a new school record in the Women’s 4×800 metres with a time of 8:56.57 at the Athletics NS meet in Halifax, ranking them first in the country ahead of the USports Track & Field Championships in Winnipeg in March.
Junior B: It was a blowout at the Antigonish Arena as the Bulldogs routed the Strait Pirates 7-2. Earlier in the day, the Eskasoni Jr. Eagles doubled the Pictou County Scotians 6-3. Tonight, the Scotians host the Jr. Miners in Trenton at 6 pm, while the Bulldogs travel to Eskasoni for a 7:30 match.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers lost a close-fought match 3-2 to the Western Capitals.
Seniors League: The Bearcats triumphed at home, beating the Bulldogs 3-1. The Pictou County Pipers were blown out 10-2 by the league-leading East Hants Penguins.
U15: The Novas were 7-3 winners over the Rangers, while the Bombers also won 7-3, defeating the Dartmouth Whalers. The Bombers travel to East Hants to take on the Rangers at 11 this morning.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host the Wildcats at Noon in Port Hawkesbury.
U18 Major: The CB West Islanders host the Halifax Macs in Port Hood at 1 pm.
High School Boys: In Westville, the Northumberland Nighthawks battled to a 3-3 draw with the CEC Cougars.
Maritime Major Girls U18 League: At the Hector Arena, the Northern Selects lost 1-0 to the Surge. The teams will play again on the Surge’s home ice at Noon. The CB Lynx play the Stars at 10 am in Membertou.
At the Leroy MacDonald Memorial U11 AA Tournament, the host Bulldogs advance to the semi-finals after finishing the round robin with a record of 2-1-1. They face the TASA Ducks Orange Team at 10 this morning at the Antigonish Arena. The other semi-final features the Truro Bearcats vs the Cape Breton County Islanders at the Keating Centre Auxiliary rink at 9:45 am. The winners play in the final at the Arena at 1 pm.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Kasperi Kapanen and Jack Roslovic each scored twice as the visiting Edmonton Oilers scored six goals in the second period en route to a 6-0 N-H-L victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Zach Hyman and Vasily Podkolzin also scored for the Oilers who handed the Canucks their 10th straight loss. Tristan Jarry made 31 saves to post the shutout.
Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, Kenneth Walker the Third rushed for three majors and the Seattle Seahawks advanced to the N-F-C championship game with a dominant 41-6 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers on Saturday. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw a T-D pass and got his first career playoff win in his first season with the Seahawks, who will host either Chicago or the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday.
Ja’Quan McMillian picked off Josh Allen’s deep throw in overtime, and quarterback Bo Nix led the Broncos into position for Wil Lutz’s 24-yard field goal that sent Denver to the A-F-C championship game with a 33-30 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday. McMillian’s interception was Denver’s fifth takeaway of the game. The Broncos revealed after the game that Nix broke his right ankle and will need season-ending surgery.
Gabriel Diallo of Montreal started strong, but he was no match for third-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany in the opening round of men’s singles at the Australian Open. Diallo won the opening set of the best-of-five match 7-6, but Zverev bounced back with 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 wins to advance to the next round.
Canadian Andrew Wiggins’ three-pointer with 31 seconds left put Miami up for good, Bam Adebayo (ad-eh-BYE’-oh) scored 30 points and the host Heat defeated the N-B-A champion Oklahoma City Thunder 122-120 on Saturday. Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points for Oklahoma City, which fell to 35-and 8 on the season.
Davis Riley birdied four of the final seven holes Saturday in Honolulu for a two-stroke lead with a round left in the P-G-A Tour’s season-opening Sony Open. Defending champion Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B-C, is tied for fifth, three shots back of the lead. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario, and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B-C, are tied at 8 under, four shots back of Riley.
Saturday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Toronto 4 Winnipeg 3 (OT)
Montreal 6 Ottawa 5 (OT)
Calgary 4 N.Y. Islanders 2
Edmonton 6 Vancouver 0
Minnesota 5 Buffalo 4 (OT)
Florida 5 Washington 2
N.Y. Rangers 6 Philadelphia 3
Utah 6 Seattle 3
Carolina 4 New Jersey 1
Columbus 4 Pittsburgh 3 (SO)
Boston 5 Chicago 2
Vegas 7 Nashville 2
Anaheim 2 Los Angeles 1 (OT)
PWHL
Toronto 2 Vancouver 1 (OT)
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League
Blainville-Boisbriand 5 Saint John 1
Ottawa 5 Gatineau 3
Baie-Comeau 5 Québec 1
Charlottetown 6 Halifax 3
Chicoutimi 7 Moncton 4
NFL Divisional Playoffs
Denver 33 Buffalo 30 (OT)
Seattle 41 San Francisco 6
NBA
Dallas 138 Utah 120
Boston 132 Atlanta 106
Detroit 121 Indiana 78
Phoenix 106 New York 99
San Antonio 126 Minnesota 123
Miami 122 Oklahoma City 120
Golden State 136 Charlotte 116
Denver 121 Washington 115
Portland 132 L.A. Lakers 116
Sunday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Tampa Bay at Dallas, 2 p.m.
Ottawa at Detroit, 5 p.m.
St. Louis at Edmonton, 8 p.m.
PWHL
Montreal vs. New York in Washington, D.C., 2 p.m.
Boston at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League
Rimouski at Charlottetown, 1 p.m.
Cape Breton at Moncton, 2 p.m.
Shawinigan at Sherbrooke, 3 p.m.
Victoriaville at Drummondville, 4 p.m.
NFL Divisional Playoffs
Houston at New England, 3 p.m.
L.A. Rams at Chicago, 6:30 p.m.
NBA
Memphis vs Orlando, 12 p.m., London, UK
Brooklyn at Chicago, 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Houston, 7 p.m.
Charlotte at Denver, 8 p.m.
Portland at Sacramento, 9 p.m.
Toronto at L.A. Lakers, 9:30 p.m.