LOCAL SPORTS
University Sport:
At the U SPORTS men’s soccer championship in BC, the No. 2 seeded Montreal Carabins defeated the No. 7 seeded X-Men 3-0 in the first quarterfinal game. With the loss, the X-Men are relegated to the consolation side of the tournament bracket and play the consolation semifinal at 3:15 Atlantic time against Toronto Metropolitan.
Tonight in Charlottetown, it’s St. FX versus the UPEI Panthers in Basketball – the women play at 6, and the men at 8.
In Hockey, the X-Men are in Halifax to take on the Dal Tigers, while the X-Women host St. Thomas at the Keating Centre. Both games begin at 7.
Maritime Hockey League: Pictou County Weeks Crushers lost at the Wellness Centre 6-2 to Edmundston. Tonight, they face off with the Bearcats in Truro.
NS Junior B: Strait Pirates host Cumberland County Blues tonight at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre and the Bulldogs host the Membertou Junior Miners at the Antigonish Arena, both at 7:30.
NS U18: CB West Islanders fell to the Rush 6-1 last night in Port Hood. Today, the Pictou County Weeks Majors are in the Valley to play the Wildcats at 2:30.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Nico Hischiers scored his second goal of the game in overtime to lead New Jersey past the Ottawa Senators 4-3 and extended the Devils’ winning streak to eight games. Miles Wood and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Devils. Shane Pinto had two goals and Travis Hamonic added one for Ottawa.
Andrei Svechnikov had a hat trick as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the high-powered Edmonton Oilers 7-2. Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers, who lost for the fourth time in five games. Also, Charlie McAvoy scored the go-ahead goal in his season debut and the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins beat the skidding Calgary Flames 3-1.
Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk is a Silver Slugger for the first time of his career. The Silver Slugger is the top offensive award in Major League Baseball, with the season’s best players at each position selected in a vote by coaches and managers. Kirk was also named an all-star for the first time this year.
D’Onta Foreman carried 31 times for 130 yards and a touchdown and the Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons 25-15 on a rainy night. The Panthers piled up a season-high 232 yards on the ground, and Eddy Pineiro kicked four field goals after he missed two critical kicks in a 37-34 overtime loss to the Falcons 11 days earlier.
Canada is going to the FIBA World Cup. Kassius Robertson’s 16-point performance helped Canada’s men’s basketball team past Venezuela 94-56 to clinch a berth in next summer’s major international tournament. The win improved Canada’s record to 9-0 in Americas zone qualifying.
N-B-A commissioner Adam Silver says he has “no doubt” that suspended Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving is not anti-Semitic. Silver made those remarks to attendees at a conference in Washington. Meanwhile, LeBron James took to Twitter to defend his former teammate. Irving’s status with the Nets remains a mystery.
Thursday’s Scoreboard
NHL
N.Y. Rangers 8 Detroit 2
Carolina 7 Edmonton 2
Boston 3 Calgary 1
New Jersey 4 Ottawa 3 (OT)
Vegas 7 Buffalo 4
Columbus 5 Philadelphia 2
Arizona 2 N.Y. Islanders 0
St. Louis 5 San Jose 3
Colorado 5 Nashville 3
Los Angeles 2 Chicago 1 (OT)
NBA
Washington 113 Dallas 105
Atlanta 104 Philadelphia 95
Miami 117 Charlotte 112 (OT)
Portland 106 New Orleans 95
NFL
Carolina 25 Atlanta 15
Friday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Pittsburgh at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Washington, 7 p.m.
San Jose at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Seattle, 10 p.m.
NBA
Denver at Boston, 7 p.m.
Phoenix at Orlando, 7 p.m.
Detroit at New York, 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
Toronto at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Memphis, 9:30 p.m.
Cleveland at Golden State, 10 p.m.
Sacramento at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m.