The Calgary Flames are limping home. Brady Skjei had a goal and two assists as the Carolina Hurricanes beat Calgary 6-3 for their fifth straight win and ninth in 10 games. The Flames finished their four-game road trip with a third consecutive loss. In the NHL’s other match, the St. Louis Blues outscored Washington 5-1.
The N-H-L has postponed two more games in Canada because of arena capacity limits due to COVID-19. Ottawa’s game in Vancouver has been pushed back as well as the Senators’ January 15th contest in Winnipeg. Ottawa has been dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that includes nine players and an assistant coach.
The Montreal Canadiens added two more players to the N-H-L’s COVID-19 protocols. Forward Alex Belzile and defenceman Kale Clague were the players in question. That boosts Montreal’s overall total to 24 players and two coaches within league protocols.
The Toronto Raptors are on a roll. Fred VanVleet scored a season-high 37 points and recorded his first career triple-double as Toronto Raptors defeated the Utah Jazz 122-108. Toronto trailed by as much as 17 points but VanVleet had 24 points in the third quarter alone.
It’s now a nine-game win streak for the Chicago Bulls. Zach LaVine had 27 points to lead the Bulls to a wild 130-122 victory over the Washington Wizards. Chicago hit 15 three-pointers to secure head coach Billy Donovan his 300th N-B-A win.
Another tough hit for the University of Western Ontario football program. Former head coach Larry Haylor, who guided the Mustangs to two Vanier Cup titles, has died at the age of 76. Earlier this week, Darwin Semotiuk, who Haylor succeeded as Mustangs head coach, died also at the age of 76.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. is reporting lawyers for Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich) have lodged court documents in his challenge against deportation from Australia that showed the tennis star contracted COVID-19 last month. The No. 1-ranked Djokovic was denied entry on Wednesday after his visa was cancelled for failing to meet its entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley says this can’t be decided by the state, but only by a Federal Circuit Court hearing taking place on Monday.
Friday’s Scores
NHL
Carolina 6 Calgary 3
St. Louis 5 Washington 1
NBA
Toronto 122 Utah 108
Philadelphia 119 San Antonio 100
Milwaukee 121 Brooklyn 109
Chicago 130 Washington 122
Minnesota 135 Oklahoma City 105
Dallas 130 Houston 106
Denver 121 Sacramento 111
Cleveland 114 Portland 101
L.A. Lakers 134 Atlanta 118
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Pittsburgh at Dallas, 2 p.m.
Boston at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Florida at Carolina, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Columbus, 7 p.m.
San Jose at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Colorado, 7 p.m.
Nashville at Arizona, 8 p.m.
Washington at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Chicago at Vegas, 10 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Detroit at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Montreal, ppd
N.Y. Islanders at Edmonton, ppd
Seattle at Winnipeg, ppd
Ottawa at Vancouver, ppd
NBA
Memphis at L.A. Clippers, 3:30 p.m.
Milwaukee at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Orlando at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Utah at Indiana, 7 p.m.
New York at Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Miami at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
NFL
Kansas City at Denver, 4:30 p.m.
Dallas at Philadelphia, 8:15 p.m.