LOCAL SPORTS
Junior B: The Antigonish Bulldogs took the first game in the Sid Rowe Division Final, defeating the Pictou County Scotians 6-2. Game 2 is tomorrow night at 6 pm in Trenton.
Maritime League: It’s Game 1 of the division semi-final between the Pictou County Weeks Crushers and the Western Capitals tonight. The teams face off in Summerside at 7:30, with Game 2 tomorrow at 7 at the Wellness Centre.
U15: Playoffs begin today: the Wearwell Bombers are in Truro to take on the Bearcats at 3, then the Novas host the Western Hurricanes at 5:30 at the Arena.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders playoff series against the Voyageurs begins in Bedford this morning at 10:15.
U18 Major: The CB West Islanders play the Halifax Macs in Port Hood at 6 pm – the Macs lead the series 2 games to none. In Dartmouth, the Weeks Majors look to take a 3-1 lead in their series against Steele Subaru. Game time is 7:45.
The Antigonish Bulldogs U11-B teams are hosting the league’s Northern Championship this weekend. Play begins at the Antigonish Arena with the Bulldogs Black Squad taking on the Cumberland Ramblers at 10 am, then it’s the Truro Bearcats vs the Strait Richmond Pirates at 11:30, and the Bulldogs’ Black and White Squads tangling at 1. Play continues through the afternoon, with the playoffs and championship game on Sunday.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Kyle Connor scored twice and added an assist to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a key 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Dylan Samberg and Morgan Barron also scored to boost the league-leading team’s record to 46-17-and-4. Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves, helping the Jets go ahead 2-1 in the clubs’ four-game season series. The final meeting is on April 10th in Dallas.
Parker Kelly scored twice to lead the red-hot Colorado Avalanche to a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames. Colorado extended its points streak to eight games, with seven wins in that span. Blake Coleman and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Calgary, which lost in regulation for the first time in six games. The Flames remain tied with Vancouver for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Scottie Barnes had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Immanuel Quickley also scored 20 points and the Toronto Raptors beat the Utah Jazz 126-118. Canadians A-J Lawson and R-J Barrett added 18 and 17 points, respectively. Quickley hit a three-pointer with 43 seconds left that gave Toronto the lead for good at 90-88 and sparked a 16-2 run to make it a 15-point lead with about eight and a half minutes to play.
Canadian Jamal Murray sank a three-pointer with 5.6 seconds left and Russell Westbrook stole the inbounds pass for an exclamation-point dunk as the Denver Nuggets rebuffed the scrappy, short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 131-126. Austin Reaves scored 37 points for the Lakers, whose lengthy list of injured players included LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
Evan Mobley had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Darius Garland added 20 points and nine assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers recorded a franchise-record 16th straight victory with a 133-124 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The win eclipsed Cleveland’s previous standard for consecutive wins with 15 to open this season. Ja Morant led Memphis with a season-high 44 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied to beat the Orlando Magic 118-111 for their seventh straight victory. Down 90-82 with 10:23 left, Minnesota had a 13-0 run to take a 95-90 advantage. Paolo Banchero had 43 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Carolina 4 Detroit 2
Edmonton 2 N.Y. Islanders 1 (OT)
Winnipeg 4 Dallas 1
Colorado 4 Calgary 2
Anaheim 2 Nashville 1
Seattle 4 Utah 2
NBA
Boston 103 Miami 91
Indiana 112 Philadelphia 100
L.A. Clippers 121 Atlanta 98
Charlotte 145 San Antonio 134
Cleveland 133 Memphis 124
Houston 133 Dallas 96
Minnesota 118 Orlando 111
Denver 131 L.A. Lakers 126
Toronto 126 Utah 118
Phoenix 122 Sacramento 106
MLB Spring Training
Washington 5 Atlanta 3
Athletics 12 L.A. Angels (ss) 1
Cleveland 8 Seattle 7
Chicago White Sox 7 Cincinnati (ss) 3
Milwaukee 11 San Francisco 5
Boston (ss) 9 Miami 4
Arizona 2 Cincinnati (ss) 1
Kansas City 9 L.A. Angels (ss) 8
Houston 6 Toronto 5
Minnesota (ss) 13 Tampa Bay 6 (7 innings)
Detroit 8 Pittsburgh 8
Baltimore 10 Minnesota (ss) 0
St. Louis 3 N.Y. Mets 3
N.Y. Yankees 6 Philadelphia 5
Texas (ss) 5 Colorado 0
San Diego 9 Texas (ss) 8
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Vegas at Buffalo, 12:30 p.m.
New Jersey at Pittsburgh, 3 p.m.
Washington at San Jose, 5 p.m.
Carolina at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Florida at Montreal, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Ottawa at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Boston, 7 p.m.
Nashville at Los Angeles, 8 p.m.
St. Louis at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Chicago at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
PWHL
Boston at Ottawa, 2 p.m.
NBA
Boston at Brooklyn, 6 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Chicago at Houston, 8 p.m.
Indiana at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
Miami at Memphis, 8 p.m.
New Orleans at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.
New York at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
Washington at Denver, 9 p.m.
MLB Spring Training
L.A. Dodgers at Yomiuri Giants, 6 a.m.
Miami vs. Houston at West Palm Beach, Fla., 12:05 p.m.
Toronto vs. St. Louis at Jupiter, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Atlanta (ss) vs. Boston at Fort Myers, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh at Bradenton, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Detroit vs. Philadelphia at Clearwater, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees vs. Tampa Bay at Port Charlotte, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Cleveland vs. Kansas City (ss) at Surprise, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Seattle (ss) vs. San Francisco at Scottsdale, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Texas vs. Athletics at Mesa, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Colorado vs. Chicago White Sox (ss) at Glendale, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Kansas City (ss) vs. Cincinnati at Goodyear, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Athletics vs. Milwaukee (ss) at Phoenix, 4:10 p.m.
Milwaukee (ss) vs. L.A. Angels at Tempe, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
San Diego vs. Seattle (ss) at Peoria, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (ss) vs. Arizona at Scottsdale, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
N.Y. Mets vs. Washington at West Palm Beach, Fla., 6:05 p.m.
Minnesota vs. Atlanta (ss) at North Port, Fla., 6:05 p.m.