LOCAL SPORTS
The Nova Scotia Regional Acadian Games continue in the town and county. This morning, play concludes in mixed mini handball, women’s soccer & mixed Ultimate Frisbee at Dr. J.H. Gillis High School, men’s soccer & women’s volleyball at St. Andrews, and Men’s volleyball at Antigonish Education Centre. Closing ceremonies are set for the Dr. J.H. Gillis Regional Gym at 1:30 this afternoon. There’s a link to the schedule and results on the 989XFM Facebook page.
The East Coast International Pro Stock Tour kicked-off the 2023 season with a first-time winner at the Cummins 150. Jarrett Butcher of Porter’s Lake took the lead just before the half-way point and never looked back. Butcher has 62 career starts on the Series, with 18 top-five finishes. Nicholas Naugle came second, while reigning series champ Craig Slaunwhite took third. The tour’s next stop is Speedway 660 in Geary, New Brunswick next Saturday.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Matthew Tkachuk’s goal at 1:51 of overtime lifted the visiting Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Panthers, who grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final series, won Thursday’s opener 3-2 when Tkachuk scored the winner in the fourth overtime period. Aleksander Barkov also scored for Florida on Saturday. Jalen Chatfield scored for the Hurricanes. Game 3 is Monday in Sunrise, Florida.
The Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars play Game 2 of their N-H-L Western Conference final series this afternoon in Sin City. The Golden Knights won Friday’s opener 4-3 when Brett Howden scored in overtime.
Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24 points and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nuggets have never been this close to the N-B-A Finals in 47 years in the league. Anthony Davis had 28 points for the Lakers, who hadn’t lost 3 straight games since early February. Game 4 is Monday in L-A.
The Toronto Blue Jays dropped their third straight game Saturday by blowing a 5-2 lead against the visiting Baltimore Orioles en route to a 6-5 setback in 10 innings. Ryan O’Hearn went 3-for-5 and had 4 R-B-Is, including a 3-run homer in the eighth inning off Jordan Romano that tied the game 5-5. George Springer hit a 2-run homer for the Jays and Danny Jansen hit a solo shot. The teams play again Sunday.
The Vancouver Whitecaps got a first-half goal from Pedro Vite and a second-half own goal to defeat the visiting Seattle Sounders 2-0 on Saturday night in Major League Soccer action. Elsewhere, the visiting Toronto F-C surrendered a goal to Gyasi Zardes in second-half stoppage time to lose 1-0 to Austin F-C, while the New York Red Bulls scored twice in the first half to beat the visiting C-F Montreal 2-1.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario, was one of three players to manage the rain and tough Oak Hill golf course on Saturday, and he’ll have a legitimate shot to win the P-G-A Championship on Sunday. Brooks Koepka of Florida has the 54-hole lead at 6-under, one stroke ahead of Conners and Viktor Hovland of Norway. American Bryson DeChambeau is at 3-under.
Saturday’s Scoreboard
NHL Playoffs Conference Finals
Florida 2 Carolina 1 (OT) (Florida leads best-of-seven series 2-0)
World Hockey Championship Preliminary Round
At Riga, Latvia
Switzerland 3 Canada 2
Czechia 2 Norway 0
Latvia 7 Kazakhstan 0
At Tampere, Finland
United States 3 Denmark 0
Finland 3 Austria 1
Sweden 4 France 0
NBA Playoffs Conference Finals
Denver 119 Los Angeles 108 (Denver leads best-of-seven series 3-0)
Major League Baseball
American League
Baltimore 6 Toronto 5 (10 innings)
Kansas City 5 Chicago White Sox 1
Houston 3 Oakland 2
Minnesota 6 L.A. Angels 2
National League
Miami 1 San Francisco 0
Arizona 4 Pittsburgh 3
Philadelphia 12 Chicago Cubs 3
St. Louis 6 L.A. Dodgers 5
Interleague
Washington 5 Detroit 2
Texas 11 Colorado 5
Tampa Bay 8 Milwaukee 4
N.Y. Yankees 7 Cincinnati 4 (10 innings)
Seattle 7 Atlanta 3
Boston 4 San Diego 2
Cleveland at N.Y. Mets, ppd.
MLS
Vancouver 2 Seattle 0
N.Y. Red Bulls 2 CF Montreal 1
Austin 1 Toronto 0
Minnesota 1 Portland 0
Nashville 2 Charlotte FC 1
Cincinnati 3 Columbus 2
D.C. United 3 L.A. Galaxy 0
Orlando City 3 Miami 1
Philadelphia 3 New England 0
Atlanta 3 Chicago 3
Houston 1 FC Dallas 1
Real Salt Lake 3 Colorado 2
St. Louis 4 Sporting KC 0
Los Angeles FC 2 San Jose 1
Sunday’s games (All times Eastern)
NHL Playoffs Conference Finals
Dallas at Vegas, 3 p.m. (Vegas leads best-of-seven series 1-0)
World Hockey Championship Preliminary Round
At Riga, Latvia
Slovakia vs. Slovenia, 9:20 a.m.
Czechia vs. Switzerland, 1:20 p.m.
At Tampere, Finland
Hungary vs. Germany, 9:20 a.m.
United States vs. France, 1:20 p.m.
NBA Playoffs Conference Finals
Boston at Miami, 8:30 p.m. (Miami leads best-of-seven series 2-0)
MLB
American League
Baltimore (Kremer 5-1) at Toronto (Gausman 2-3), 1:37 p.m.
Kansas City (TBD) at Chicago White Sox (Lynn 2-5), 2:10 p.m.
Oakland (Kaprielian 0-3) at Houston (Valdez 3-4), 2:10 p.m.
Minnesota (Lopez 2-2) at L.A. Angels (Ohtani 5-1), 4:07 p.m.
National League
Arizona (Kelly 4-3) at Pittsburgh (Contreras 3-4), 1:35 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Steele 6-1) at Philadelphia (Walker 3-2), 1:35 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 6-3) at St. Louis (Flaherty 3-4), 2:15 p.m.
Miami (Luzardo 3-2) at San Francisco (Wood 0-0), 4:05 p.m.
Interleague
N.Y. Yankees (Severino 0-0) at Cincinnati (Greene 0-3), 11:35 a.m.
Detroit (Wentz 1-3) at Washington (Gray 3-5), 1:35 p.m.
Seattle (Kirby 5-2) at Atlanta (Shuster 0-2), 1:35 p.m.
Cleveland (Bibee 1-1) at N.Y. Mets (TBD), 1:40 p.m., 1st game
Milwaukee (Peralta 4-3) at Tampa Bay (Beeks 1-2), 1:40 p.m.
Colorado (Seabold 1-0) at Texas (Heaney 2-3), 2:35 p.m.
Boston (Kluber 2-5) at San Diego (Wacha 4-1), 4:10 p.m.
Cleveland (Bieber 3-2) at N.Y. Mets (TBD), 7:10 p.m., 2nd game