LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: At the USports Track & Field Championships in Winnipeg, Eileen Benoit came third in the Women’s 3000m final, Caroline Ash was 7th in the Women’s 1000m, and the team of Caroline Ash, Caden Lee, Poppy Moon and Sarah Watson finished 9th in the Women’s 4×800 m relay. This afternoon, Eileen Benoit, Caroline Ash & Caden Lee compete in the Women’s 1500m.
Junior B: The Bulldogs shut out the Strait Pirates 4-0 to take a 2-0 lead in their quarterfinal series. Game 3 is in Port Hawkesbury tonight at 7:30. In Eskasoni, the Pictou County Scotians look for a win tonight against the Junior Eagles, who lead 2-0 in their series. Puck drops at 7.
Rural League: St Croix took the first game of the finals, winning 6-3 over Heatherton.
Seniors League: On Friday, the CB West Blackstone Knights defeated the Glace Bay Miners 9-3 and lead their series 2-1. The teams face off again at 7:30 in Glace Bay. Tonight, the Bulldogs host the Truro Bearcats at 7:30, with their series tied 1-1. At the PC Wellness Centre, the Pictou County Pipers look for their first win against the East Hants Penguins, who lead the series 2-0. Game time is 8 pm.
U18 Major: The Weeks Majors defeated Steele Subaru 4-3, and take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 goes this afternoon at 3 pm at the Wellness Centre.
U15: The Wearwell Bombers take on the Dartmouth Whalers at 9:30 this morning at the Wellness Centre.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders play a road match against the Buccaneers tonight at 6:15.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers wrap up their regular season with a road game in Summerside tonight at 7 p.m.
Maritime Major Girls U18 League: The Northern Subway Selects begin their playoff series with the CB Lynx at the Hector Arena in Pictou this afternoon at 4:30.
The Antigonish U15AA Bulldogs are hosting the North Conference playoffs this weekend at the Arena, beginning with the Bulldogs vs Cumberland at 10 am. Teams from Pictou, Truro and Cumberland are also taking part. Play continues through the day and Sunday morning, with the final set for 2:30 pm on Sunday.
Baddeck is hosting the School Sports NS division 3 girls championships this weekend. Cape Breton Highlands, Baddeck, and Ecole Beau Port are taking part.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Brock Boeser scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, leading the visiting Vancouver Canucks to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Drew O’Connor, Jake DeBrusk, Teddy Blueger and Max Sasson also scored for the Canucks, who snapped a seven-game losing skid. The Canucks’ last win was on January 29th. The Blackhawks have lost four of five since the Olympic break.
Jackson Blake scored twice, K ‘Andre Miller had three assists and the visiting Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3. Nikolaj Ehlers, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal also scored for the Canes, while Zach Hyman scored twice for the Oilers, who have lost six of their last eight.
Chris Kreider scored the tying goal with 42 seconds left in regulation and Alex Killorn scored in the sixth round of the shootout, sending the Anaheim Ducks to a 6-5 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Cole Caufield scored two of Montreal’s three goals in the third period and Lane Hutson had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who have lost four of six.
The Brier’s ‘Battle of the Brads’ will highlight today’s playoff games at the Canadian men’s curling championship in St. John’s. Hometown favourite Brad Gushue will play Team Canada’s Brad Jacobs in the Page 3 versus 4 playoff game, with the loser heading home. Saturday’s later game features Alberta’s Kevin Koe and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone, playing in the Page 1 versus 2 game with the winner earning a berth in Sunday’s final.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ontario, bounced Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 in an Indian Wells Masters tournament match on Friday that took two hours, 39 minutes to play. The Canadian will face the second-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy in the round of 32 men’s singles.
O-G Anunoby scored 34 points to power the visiting New York Knicks to a 142-103 win over the Denver Nuggets, who lost Canadian all-star guard Jamal Murray to a sprained ankle. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks. Nikola Jokic led Denver with 38 points but the Nuggets suffered their biggest loss of the season with Murray’s injury.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Vancouver 6 Chicago 3
Anaheim 6 Montreal 5 (SO)
Carolina 6 Edmonton 3
Colorado 5 Dallas 4 (SO)
Minnesota 4 Vegas 2
Florida 3 Detroit 1
St. Louis 3 San Jose 2 (OT)
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League
Halifax 3 Cape Breton 2 (SO)
Moncton 4 Blainville-Boisbriand 1
Charlottetown 5 Baie-Comeau 3
Sherbrooke 9 Rimouski 2
Drummondville 3 Shawinigan 0
NBA
Boston 120 Dallas 100
Miami 128 Charlotte 120
Houston 106 Portland 99
Phoenix 118 New Orleans 116
New York 142 Denver 103
San Antonio 116 L.A. Clippers 112
L.A. Lakers 128 Indiana 117
MLB Pre-season
Toronto 9 Pittsburgh (ss) 2
Philadelphia 14 Pittsburgh (ss) 10
St. Louis 10 Baltimore 2
Detroit 11 Boston 3
Houston 7 Washington 1
Colorado 11 Athletics 6
Cleveland 5 L.A. Angels 3
Seattle 5 Texas 1
San Francisco 6 Cincinnati 3
Chicago White Sox 6 Arizona (ss) 0
Milwaukee 6 Arizona (ss) 2
Atlanta 4 Minnesota 1
N.Y. Yankees 3 Tampa Bay 0
Miami 2 N.Y. Mets 0
L.A. Dodgers 6 Kansas City 0
San Diego 3 Chicago Cubs 0
World Baseball Classic
at Tokyo
Japan 13 Taiwan 0
Taiwan 14 Czechia 0
at San Juan, Puerto Rico
Cuba 3 Panama 1
Puerto Rico 5 Colombia 0
at Miami
Venezuela 6 Netherlands 2
Dominican Republic 12 Nicaragua 3
at Houston
United States 15 Brazil 5
Mexico 8 Britain 2
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Washington at Boston, 12:30 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at New Jersey, 3 p.m.
Nashville at Buffalo, 5:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 5:30 p.m.
Montreal at Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
Utah at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Carolina at Calgary, 10 p.m.
Ottawa at Seattle, 10 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at San Jose, 10 p.m.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League
Victoriaville at Baie-Comeau, 4 p.m.
Charlottetown at Chicoutimi, 4 p.m.
Shawinigan at Quebec, 4 p.m.
Rimouski at Sherbrooke, 4 p.m.
Newfoundland at Val-d’Or, 4 p.m.
NBA
Orlando at Minnesota, 3 p.m.
Brooklyn at Detroit, 6 p.m.
Philadelphia at Atlanta, 6 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Memphis, 8 p.m.
Utah at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
Golden State at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m.
MLS
Orlando City at New York City FC, 2:30 p.m.
Miami at D.C. United, 4:30 p.m.
Real Salt Lake at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Austin FC at Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
San Jose at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
San Diego FC at Sporting Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle at St Louis City, 8:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy at Colorado, 9:30 p.m.
FC Dallas at Los Angeles FC, 10:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Portland, 10:30 p.m.
Houston at New England ppd.
MLB Pre-season
Houston vs Miami at West Palm Beach, Fla., 12:05 p.m.
Philadelphia vs Toronto at Clearwater, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Atlanta vs Baltimore (ss) at North Port, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Baltimore (ss) vs Minnesota at Sarasota, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Boston vs Tampa Bay at Fort Myers, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Detroit vs Pittsburgh at Lakeland, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
St. Louis vs N.Y. Mets at Jupiter, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs vs Athletics (ss) at Mesa, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Cleveland vs San Diego at Goodyear, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Kansas City vs Cincinnati at Surprise, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
San Francisco (ss) vs Texas at Scottsdale, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
L.A. Angels (ss) vs Milwaukee at Tempe, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Seattle vs Chicago White Sox at Peoria, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Arizona vs San Francisco (ss) at Scottsdale, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Athletics (ss) vs L.A. Angels (ss) at Las Vegas, 4:05 p.m.
Washington vs N.Y. Yankees at West Palm Beach, Fla., 6:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers vs Colorado at Phoenix, 8:05 p.m.
World Baseball Classic
at Tokyo
South Korea vs. Japan, 5 a.m.
Chinese Taipei vs. South Korea, 10 p.m.
at San Juan, Puerto Rico
Colombia vs. Canada, 11 a.m.
Panama vs. Puerto Rico, 6 p.m.
at Miami
Nicaragua vs. Netherlands, 12 p.m.
Israel vs. Venezuela, 7 p.m.
at Houston
Brazil vs. Italy, 1 p.m.
Britain vs. United States, 8 p.m.