LOCAL SPORTS
The X-Men Hockey team advanced to the U-Sports Semi-Finals with a 5-3 win over Queens. They will face a familiar opponent, as they play UNB tonight – the winner goes to the final.
In Junior A Hockey, the Strait Pirates took the first in their best-of-seven series against the Junior Miners with a 5-0 shutout. Game 2 is tonight at 7:30 in Membertou.
Nova Scotia Female Midget AAA League – the Subway Selects host the Station Six Fire in the first game of round two of the playoffs. Puck drops at the Wellness Centre this afternoon at 2:15.
Another win for the Antigonish Bantam A Female Bulldogs at the Colchester Female Spring Thaw Tournament. The Bulldogs won 4-0 over Yarmouth Riptide White in Brookfield. Scoring for Antigonish were Lauren Keats with 2, and singles from Julia MacDonald and Alexis MacDougall. Gracie Chisholm got the shutout in net. Player of the game was Jaelyn Rovers. The Bulldogs next play tonight at 5:20 against Chester.
Rural League Playoffs on Friday at Antigonish Arena:
Heatherton 4 Outlaws 2 (Heatherton wins series 4-1)
St Croix 3 Pleasantdale 2 (Pleasantdale leads series 3-2)
Tonight at 7 at Antigonish Arena: Pleasantdale vs St Croix Game 6
NATIONAL SPORTS
Jacob Markstrom gave the Canucks a chance in Vancouver. Markstrom made 31 saves, many of them large, but Damon Severson scored in the seventh round of the shootout to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 win over the Canucks. The Devils had trailed 2-0 early in the third period before Kevin Rooney and Stefan Noesen scored goals 7:53 apart to force overtime.
Matthew Tkachuk put on a performance in Calgary. He had two goals and three assists as the Flames beat the Rangers 5-1 to take back first place in the Pacific Division. It’s Tkachuk’s first career five-point game. Calgary also regained top spot in the Western Conference with its one point lead on San Jose.
A wild one for the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Despite falling behind 5-2 and giving up a hat trick to former Leaf James van Riemsdyk, Toronto was still able to pull off a 7-6 comeback victory. Auston Matthews scored twice in the third period to salvage two points. He’s up to 34 goals on the season.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have pushed themselves into a tie with Carolina for the N-H-L’s two Eastern Conference wild-card berths, two points ahead of Montreal. Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 of his 46 saves in the second period in a 3-0 win over the Hurricanes.
NHL
Calgary 5 N.Y. Rangers 1
New Jersey 3 Vancouver 2 (SO)
Toronto 7 Philadelphia 6
Columbus 3 Carolina 0
Vegas 2 Dallas 1
Anaheim 5 Colorado 3
Austin Dillon received the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Auto Club Speedway after no drivers completed a lap in the final round of qualifying. Dillon claimed his fourth career pole after he won each of the two rounds of qualifying. Kevin Harvick will start second, followed by Aric Almirola and Kyle Busch.
NBA
Charlotte 116 Washington 110
Detroit 111 L.A. Lakers 97
Philadelphia 123 Sacramento 114
Houston 108 Phoenix 102
Milwaukee 113 Miami 98
Portland 122 New Orleans 110
San Antonio 109 New York 83
L.A. Clippers 128 Chicago 121
MLB Pre-Season
Philadelphia 3 Toronto 2
Tampa Bay (ss) 7 Detroit 3
Miami 7 Atlanta 6
Minnesota 12 Baltimore 9
N.Y. Yankees 14 Boston 1
Washington 11 N.Y. Mets 3
L.A. Angels (ss) 5 San Francisco 5
Texas 5 Cleveland 2
Chicago Cubs 11 Chicago White Sox 9
Milwaukee 6 San Diego 2
L.A. Angels (ss) 2 Arizona 1
Colorado 2 Kansas City 1
Tampa Bay (ss) 6 Pittsburgh 6
Houston (ss) 5 St. Louis (ss) 0
Houston (ss) 11 St. Louis (ss) 2
L.A. Dodgers 8 Cincinnati 1