LOCAL SPORTS
University Sport:
On Coach K Court, the UNB REDS earned an 80-71 victory over the X-Women. The X-Men used a dominant fourth quarter to secure a 92-77 win over UNB. These games were the last before the holiday break – play resumes January 6th as St. FX hosts Cape Breton.
Yesterday’s game between the X-Women Hockey team and UPEI was postponed due to the weather and poor travel conditions for the Panthers. The match will be rescheduled.
NS U15: The Wearwell Bombers defeated the Whalers in Dartmouth 3-1. This morning, the Bombers host the Storm at the Wellness Centre at 11am. The Novas have postponed both their weekend games due to illness.
NS U16AAA: The Cabot Highlanders suffered a 6-0 rout at the hands of the Thunderbirds. The teams meet again at 12:30 at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.
NS U18: The Weeks Majors shut out the Wolfpack 3-0 in Cole Harbour, while the Islanders fell 4-2 to Steele Subaru in Port Hood. The teams play again at 1 pm, while the Weeks Majors host the Mustangs at the Wellness Centre, also at 1.
NS Juniors: The Pictou County Scotians were defeated 5-2 by the Junior Miners in Membertou. The teams meet again at 6 tonight in Trenton. Also this evening, the Bulldogs host Eskasoni at 7:30 at the Antigonish Arena.
Maritime Juniors: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers lost 4-1 to Yarmouth. The Crushers’ road trip continues with a 3 pm match against the Valley Wildcats.
High School Hockey: The Royals are in Truro to face CEC at 1:30 at the Rath Eastlink Centre.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects face the Western Flames – location & time TBA
A team of local curlers has medaled at the Everest Club Curling Championships in Edmonton. The foursome, skipped by Meredith Harrison out of Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow, including second Gilda Chisholm of Antigonish, lost their semi-final match 8-2 to Ontario, but rebounded with a 6-5 win over Quebec to take bronze.
NATIONAL SPORTS
J-T Miller had a goal and two assists to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Vancouver won its second straight on a three-game trip that ends Sunday in San Jose. The Canucks have won four of five after a three-game skid. Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Andrei Kuzmenko and Bo Horvat also scored for the Canucks. Spencer Martin made 26 saves.
Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves, Nathan MacKinnon and Josh Manson scored first-period goals and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 4-1. Logan O’Connor and Dryden Hunt also scored for the Avalanche, and Manson added an assist. Colorado was called for five minor penalties in the second period, but was able to kill off four of them. Jamie Benn got the lone power-play goal for Dallas.
Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier scored 22 seconds apart early in the third period, Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves and the New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 for their fourth straight victory. Zach Parise scored twice for the Islanders and Adam Pelech also scored to help New York improve to 8-3-and-0 at home. The injury-depleted Flyers are 0-7-and-3 in their last 10 contests and haven’t won since November 8th.
LeBron James had a season-high 39 points along with 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers escaped with a 143-138 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio has lost eight straight, tied for the fourth-longest skid in franchise history. While James was playing in his second game following a five-game absence, Los Angeles centre Anthony Davis sat out with a bruised left calf he sustained in Friday’s victory over San Antonio.
Jalen Green had 28 points and a career-high nine assists, Alperen Sengun added 21 points, a career-best 18 rebounds and seven assists, and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-105. The Rockets have won back-to-back games for the first time since last season. Canada’s Shai Gilgeous Alexander scored 32 points for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 13 of the Thunder’s first 22 points of the game and has scored 30 or more in four straight games.
Deandre Ayton scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, Devin Booker added 27 points and the Phoenix Suns held on for a hard-fought 113-112 win over the Utah Jazz. Utah was led by Jordan Clarkson’s 22 points. Collin Sexton added 20 points while Lauri Markkanen had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Soccer fans across the country are gearing up to watch Canada’s World Cup match against Croatia — a do-or-die game for the team in its first tournament appearance in 36-years. Both the 41st-ranked Canadians and Number 12 Croatia need to get points out of the match to preserve any chance of moving on. The Canadian men shone in their first game at the international soccer showcase last week but failed to convert a slew of chances in a 1-0 loss to Belgium.
Saturday’s Scoreboard
World Cup – Group Stage
Australia 1 Tunisia 0
Poland 2 Saudi Arabia 0
France 2 Denmark 1
Argentina 2 Mexico 0
NHL
Edmonton 4 N.Y. Rangers 3
Carolina 3 Calgary 2
Toronto 4 Pittsburgh 1
Vancouver 5 Vegas 1
St. Louis 5 Florida 4 (OT)
New Jersey 5 Washington 1
N.Y. Islanders 5 Philadelphia 2
Colorado 4 Dallas 1
Columbus at Nashville, ppd.
NBA
Toronto 105 Dallas 100
L.A. Lakers 143 San Antonio 138
Houston 118 Oklahoma City 105
Phoenix 113 Utah 112
Sunday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
World Cup – Group Stage
Japan vs. Costa Rica, 5 a.m.
Belgium vs. Morocco, 8 a.m.
Canada vs. Croatia, 11 a.m.
Spain vs. Germany, 2 p.m.
NHL
Arizona at Minnesota, 2 p.m.
Winnipeg at Chicago, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose, 8 p.m.
Seattle at Anaheim, 8 p.m.
Ottawa at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
NBA
Portland at Brooklyn, 3 p.m.
Golden State at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m.
Indiana at L.A. Clippers, 4 p.m.
Miami at Atlanta, 5 p.m.
Cleveland at Detroit, 6 p.m.
Memphis at New York, 6 p.m.
Philadelphia at Orlando, 6 p.m.
Washington at Boston, 6 p.m.
Dallas at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
NFL
Denver at Carolina, 1 p.m.
Atlanta at Washington, 1 p.m.
Houston at Miami, 1 p.m.
Cincinnati at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Chicago at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Baltimore at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
L.A. Chargers at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
Las Vegas at Seattle, 4:05 p.m.
New Orleans at San Francisco, 4:25 p.m.
L.A. Rams at Kansas City, 4:25 p.m.
Green Bay at Philadelphia, 8:20 p.m.