LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: In playoff action at the Keating Centre, the X-Women were shutout 2-0 by the St. Thomas Tommies in Game 1 of their Best-of-5 division semi-finals. The X-Women look to even the series tonight at 7, also at the Keating Centre.
In Halifax at the AUS Basketball Championships, the X-Women were knocked out in the quarterfinals 61-57 by the Capers. Shannon Neita was top scorer for the X-Women with 15 points. Meanwhile, the X-Men go into the tournament as the top seed in the conference, earning them a bye to the semi-finals. Despite finishing the season with a pair of losses to Memorial, X-Men head coach Tyrell Vernon said he feels the team’s in a good space. Winning the regular season banner isn’t easy in the AUS, noted Vernon, adding he’s proud of the team. Now, he says they have to finish the job. The X-Men begin their tournament with a semi-final matchup at 3 p.m. versus the UNB REDS.
Junior B: The Antigonish Bulldogs take a 2-1 lead in their playoff series with the Strait Pirates, following a 4-2 win in Port Hawkesbury. Game 4 is set for Sunday at 7:30 at the Civic Centre.
U15: The Novas are in Dartmouth to face off with the Whalers at 5:30 pm.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host Kings at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre at 6 pm.
U18 Major: The Weeks Majors travel to Lunenberg to tangle with the Mustangs this afternoon at 3. The CB West Islanders are also on the road, taking on the Hunters at 7:20 tonight in Cole Harbour.
High School Boys: The Gryphons played a pair of games on Friday, suffering two losses: 6-1 to CEC and 4-0 to Northumberland. The Regional Round Robin continues in Trenton this afternoon, as the Nighthawks host CEC at Noon, followed by the Gryphons vs the Hants East Tigers at 3:30.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects lost 2-1 to the Greenfoot Capitals, and trail their playoff series 2 games to 1. Game 4 in the series will be at 3 pm in Bedford.
Rural League: Heatherton wins their series in 6 games, after defeating Pleasantdale 6-4. Meanwhile, the Outlaws forced a seventh game with a 2-1 victory over St Croix. The decider begins tonight at 7 at the Antigonish Arena.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Toronto Maple Leafs moved back into first place in the N-H-L’s Atlantic Division with a 3-2 win over the host New York Rangers. The Leafs, who won seven of eight games in February, got goals from Matthew Knies’, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and William Nylander. Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle scored for the Rangers, who had their two-game win streak halted.
Logan Stankoven scored twice and Roope Hintz had four assists as the Dallas Stars beat the visiting Los Angeles Kings 6-2. And in Denver, Ross Colton had two goals and an assist as the Colorado Avalanche rocked the Minnesota Wild 5-2.
The visiting Toronto Raptors faded down the stretch and dropped a 125-115 overtime decision to the Chicago Bulls. Coby White scored 24 points, including a clutch four-point play with four seconds left in regulation time to tie the N-B-A contest at 110-110. Scottie Barnes scored 24 points for the Raptors, who have lost three straight. Toronto led 101-88 with nine minutes left.
Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder continued their overwhelming dominance of the N-B-A’s Eastern Conference by beating the Atlanta Hawks 135-119. Atlanta centre Onyeka Okongwu had 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Defending champion Brad Gushue opened the Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B-C with a convincing 9-2 win over Ty Dilello’s team from Newfoundland and Labrador. Gushue is looking to win the Canadian men’s curling championship for a record fourth time in a row and seventh time overall. Dilello is making his Brier debut. His team plays out of the same St. John’s club as Gushue.
Canadian tennis ace Denis Shapovalov lost 7-6, 7-6 to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the semifinals of the Mexican Open on Friday night in Acapulco. The closely-contested men’s singles match took two hours 18 minutes to play.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Toronto 3 N.Y. Rangers 2
Dallas 6 Los Angeles 2
Colorado 5 Minnesota 2
NBA
Chicago 125 Toronto 115 (OT)
Denver 134 Detroit 119
Oklahoma City 135 Atlanta 119
Cleveland 123 Boston 116
Portland 121 Brooklyn 102
Miami 125 Indiana 120
New York 114 Memphis 113
Phoenix 125 New Orleans 108
Utah 117 Minnesota 116
L.A. Lakers 106 L.A. Clippers 102
MLB Spring Training
Toronto (ss) 10 Detroit 7
N.Y. Yankees 6 Toronto (ss) 3
Seattle 2 San Diego 1
Houston 3 St. Louis 2
Baltimore 13 Minnesota 10
Philadelphia 7 Boston 5
Pittsburgh 3 Tampa Bay 2
Atlanta 7 Miami 2
N.Y. Mets 7 Washington 0
Athletics 13 Cincinnati 1
Cleveland 3 Colorado 1
Texas 8 Chicago Cubs 8
San Francisco 9 Milwaukee 2
Arizona 6 Kansas City 1
L.A. Angels (ss) 3 Chicago White Sox 2
L.A. Dodgers 6 L.A. Angels (ss) 5
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Tampa Bay at Washington, 12:30 p.m.
Nashville at N.Y. Islanders, 12:30 p.m.
Calgary at Florida, 3 p.m.
Boston at Pittsburgh, 3 p.m.
Detroit at Columbus, 6 p.m.
Edmonton at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
San Jose at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
New Jersey at Utah, 9 p.m.
Vancouver at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Chicago at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
PWHL
Boston at Montreal, 2 p.m.
NBA
Washington at Charlotte, 6 p.m.
Brooklyn at Detroit, 7 p.m.
San Antonio at Memphis, 8 p.m.
Sacramento at Houston, 8 p.m.
Milwaukee at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Golden State at Philadelphia, 8:30 p.m.
MLS
Atlanta at Charlotte, 2:15 p.m.
Seattle at Real Salt Lake, 4:30 p.m.
Toronto at Orlando, 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Nashville at N.Y. Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
Columbus at New England, 7:30 p.m.
Montreal at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.
San Jose at Sporting KC, 8:30 p.m.
D.C. United at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Dallas at Colorado, 9:30 p.m.
Austin at Portland, 10:30 p.m.
NYCFC at LAFC, 10:30 p.m.
St. Louis at San Diego, 10:30 p.m.
MLB Spring Training
Toronto vs Atlanta, at North Port, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Washington (ss) vs St. Louis, at in Jupiter, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets vs Tampa Bay, at in Port Charlotte, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Philadelphia vs Detroit, at Lakeland, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh vs Baltimore, at Sarasota, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Minnesota vs Boston, at Fort Myers, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Houston vs N.Y. Yankees, at Tampa, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
San Francisco vs L.A. Dodgers, at Phoenix, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Cleveland vs Chicago Cubs (ss), at Mesa, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
San Diego vs Cincinnati, at Goodyear, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Athletics vs L.A. Angels, at Tempe, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Colorado vs Arizona, at Scottsdale, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox vs Seattle, at Peoria, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Texas vs Milwaukee, at Phoenix, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Miami vs Washington (ss), at West Palm Beach, Fla., 6:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (ss) vs Kansas City, at Surprise, Ariz., 8:05 p.m.