LOCAL SPORTS
U15: In the U15 provincial championship tournament at the Wellness Centre on Friday, the Wearwell Bombers picked up two victories, 6-2 over the Wildcats and 6-0 over the Cougars. The Novas tied the Gulls 3-3, then lost 5-3 to the Bandits. This morning, the Bombers play Western Hurricanes at 8 am – play continues through the day, with playdowns at 5 o’clock.
U15AAA Female: The league championships continue at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre… in action Friday, the Quad County Whitecaps battled the Fundy-Highland Stars to a 2-2 tie, and fell 3-2 to the Metro East Inferno. The Whitecaps start the day with an 8:30 match against Metro West Force Red, and follow up with a 12:30 game vs Metro West Force Blue. The championship game takes place tomorrow morning at 11.
U16 AAA: At the Rath Eastlink Centre in Truro, the Cabot Highlanders got a pair of wins in their league tournament on Friday, defeating Kings 3-2 and the Armada 5-1. Today, the Highlanders face off with the Fundy Thunder at 10am, then take on the Voyageurs at 4 pm.
U18 Major: It’s the deciding game in the league finals between the Pictou County Weeks Majors and the Halifax Macs tonight at the Halifax Forum. Game time is 7 pm.
Rural League: It’s Game 4 of the finals between the Heatherton Warriors and County Outlaws tonight at the Arena. Heatherton leads the best of seven series 2-1. Puck drops at 7.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves for his league-leading seventh shutout this season as the Winnipeg Jets blanked the New Jersey Devils 4-0 for their 50th victory. Hellebuyck also set a franchise record for shutouts in a season and earned M-V-P chants in Winnipeg. The Jets lead the league with 104 points.
The Columbus Blue Jackets rallied back from two multi-goal deficits to beat the Vancouver Canucks 7-6 in a shootout. Vancouver jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period but lost for the first time in three games. The Canucks are four points behind the St. Louis Blues for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Former Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand capped his Florida debut by setting up Sam Bennett’s overtime winner to lift the Panthers past the Utah Hockey Club 2-1. Marchand joined Florida at the N-H-L trade deadline earlier this month but missed time with an injury. The win pushed Florida into first in the Atlantic Division with one more point than the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Steph Curry scored 23 points in his return from a two-game absence and the Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-95 in N-B-A action. Curry played 34 minutes and hit five three-pointers. Jimmy Butler added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors.
Tim Hardaway Junior scored a season-high 32 points as the Detroit Pistons beat the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers 133-122. With their 42nd win, the Pistons guaranteed their first winning season since 2016. Detroit withstood a 38-point performance from Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell.
Alysa Liu is the first American women’s figure skating world champion in nearly two decades. The 19-year-old dethroned three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto with a brilliant free skate that earned her a standing ovation in Boston. Canada’s Madeline Schizas (SKEE’-zuhs) finished 11th.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Carolina 4 Montreal 1
Columbus 7 Vancouver 6 (SO)
Winnipeg 4 New Jersey 0
Florida 2 Utah 1 (OT)
Vegas 5 Chicago 3
Anaheim 5 N.Y. Rangers 4 (OT)
MLB
American League
Toronto 8 Baltimore 2
Texas 4 Boston 1
Athletics 7 Seattle 0
National League
Pittsburgh 4 Miami 3
San Diego 4 Atlanta 3
Arizona 8 Chicago Cubs 1
Interleague
Tampa Bay 3 Colorado 2
N.Y. Mets 3 Houston 1
L.A. Dodgers 8 Detroit 5
NBA
Toronto 108 Charlotte 97
Detroit 133 Cleveland 122
L.A. Clippers 132 Brooklyn 100
Minnesota 124 Phoenix 109
New York 116 Milwaukee 107
Golden State 111 New Orleans 95
Denver 129 Utah 93
NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Regional Semifinals
At Atlanta
Michigan St. 73 Mississippi 70
Auburn 78 Michigan 65
At Indianapolis
Tennessee 78 Kentucky 65
Houston 62 Purdue 60
NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Regional Semifinals
At Spokane, Wash.
LSU 80 NC State 73
UCLA 76 Mississippi 62
At Birmingham, Ala.
Duke 47 North Carolina 38
South Carolina 71 Maryland 67
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Buffalo at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Tampa Bay, 2 p.m.
St. Louis at Colorado, 4:30 p.m.
New Jersey at Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Vegas at Nashville, 6:30 p.m.
Columbus at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
Boston at Detroit, 8 p.m.
Calgary at Edmonton, 10 p.m.
Dallas at Seattle, 10:30 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
PWHL
Ottawa at Boston, 2 p.m.
MLB
American League
Milwaukee (Cortes 0-0) at N.Y. Yankees (Fried 0-0), 1:05 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Soriano 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (Cannon 0-0), 2:10 p.m.
Minnesota (Ryan 0-0) at St. Louis (Fedde 0-0), 2:15 p.m.
Baltimore (Kremer 0-0) at Toronto (Scherzer 0-0), 3:07 p.m.
Cleveland (TBD) at Kansas City (Lugo 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
Boston (Buehler 0-0) at Texas (Mahle 0-0), 7:05 p.m.
Athletics (Bido 0-0) at Seattle (Miller 0-0), 9:40 p.m.
National League
Milwaukee (Cortes 0-0) at N.Y. Yankees (Fried 0-0), 1:05 p.m.
Minnesota (Ryan 0-0) at St. Louis (Fedde 0-0), 2:15 p.m.
Philadelphia (Luzardo 0-0) at Washington (Irvin 0-0), 4:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Falter 0-0) at Miami (Bellozo 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
San Francisco (Verlander 0-0) at Cincinnati (Lodolo 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
Atlanta (Schwellenbach 0-0) at San Diego (Vásquez 0-0), 7:15 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Imanaga 0-0) at Arizona (Pfaadt 0-0), 8:10 p.m.
Interleague
Colorado (Senzatela 0-0) at Tampa Bay (Littell 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Canning 0-0) at Houston (Arrighetti 0-0), 7:15 p.m.
Detroit (Olson 0-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Sasaki 0-0), 9:10 p.m.
NBA
Sacramento at Orlando, 5 p.m.
Brooklyn at Washington, 7 p.m.
Miami at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Boston at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
Dallas at Chicago, 8 p.m.
Indiana at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Memphis, 8 p.m.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Regional Championships
East Regional – Duke vs. Alabama, 8:49 p.m.
West Regional – Florida vs. Texas Tech, 6:09 p.m.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Regional Semifinals
At Spokane, Wash.
UConn vs. Oklahoma, 5:30 p.m.
Southern Cal vs. Kansas St., 8 p.m.
At Birmingham, Ala.
TCU vs. Notre Dame, 1 p.m.
Texas vs. Tennessee, 3:30 p.m.
Major League Soccer
New York at New England, 2:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Toronto FC, 2:30 p.m.
Charlotte FC at Colorado, 4:30 p.m.
New York City FC at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Columbus at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Miami, 7:30 p.m.
CF Montréal at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Sporting Kansas City at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Real Salt Lake at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
Orlando City at LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m.
Los Angeles FC at San Diego FC, 10:30 p.m.
Seattle at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.