LOCAL SPORTS
At the Don Johnson Memorial Cup in Liverpool, the Antigonish Junior B Bulldogs came out strong, scoring three times in the first period en route to a 5-2 win over the CBN Junior Stars. The 3-1 Bulldogs face the Kent Koyotes in the semifinals today at 4 pm.
The Northern Subway Selects were shut out 3-0 by Ontario’s Stoney Creek Sabres on Friday in Esso Cup semifinal action in Saskatchewan. The Selects will tangle with the Regina Rebels for the bronze medal at 3 pm Atlantic time.
At the Telus Cup in Quebec, the Pictou County Weeks Majors are out of playoff contention, finishing the preliminary round with a 1-4 record following a 5-2 loss to the Saskatchewan Blazers.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Toronto Blue Jays won their fifth consecutive game and improved to 17-and-9 by squeezing past the visiting Seattle Mariners 3-2. Alejandro Kirk had three hits, including a solo homer for the Blue Jays, who will play the Mariners on Saturday afternoon in the second game of their three-game series. The Mariners have lost three in a row.
The Boston Bruins, who set wins and points records during the N-H-L regular season, will have to win a Game 7 on Sunday to keep their superb season going. The Florida Panthers scored four times in a wild third period to beat the Bruins 7-5 to even their best-of-seven series at 3-3. Matthew Tkachuk led the winners with two goals and an assist. Brad Marchand had four assists for the Bruins.
The New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild are the first two teams eliminated from the N-H-L playoffs. The Wild lost 4-1 at home to Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars, losing their best-of-seven series in six games. The Islanders were also eliminated in six games, losing 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Carolina Hurricanes. Paul Stastny scored six minutes into overtime to send the Isles packing.
The Seattle Kraken were unable to polish off the Avalanche at Climate Pledge Arena, dropping a 4-1 decision to the defending Stanley Cup champions to force a winner-take-all Game 7 showdown on Sunday in Denver. Artturi Lehkonen scored two goals for Colorado.
Malik Monk scored 28 points, De’Aaron Fox added 26 points and 11 assists, and the Sacramento Kings staved off elimination in their first-round N-B-A playoff series by beating the Golden State Warriors 118-99 in Game 6. Now, a winner-takes-all Game 7 is back in Sacramento on Sunday afternoon.
Matthew Bergeron of Victoriaville, Quebec was the first Canadian selected in this year’s N-F-L draft. The Atlanta Falcons selected the 23-year-old offensive tackle in the second round of Friday’s draft, 38th overall. Bergeron started 11 games last season at Syracuse. Then in the third round, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Illinois safety Sydney Brown of London, Ontario, with the third pick, 66th overall.
Martine Roenning and Mathias Braenden of Norway stole singles in the fourth, fifth and eighth ends to defeat Team Canada 6-2 in the bronze-medal final at the world mixed doubles curling championship today in South Korea. The Canadian combo of Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing finished the round robin portion of the 20-country event on top of Group A with an 8-1 record. Norway finished tied for second in Group B with a 7-2 record.
Friday’s scoreboard
NHL Playoffs
Carolina 2 N.Y. Islanders 1 (OT) (Carolina wins best-of-seven series 4-2)
Dallas 4 Minnesota 1 (Dallas wins best-of-seven series 4-2)
Florida 7 Boston 5 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
Colorado 4 Seattle 1 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
NBA Playoffs
Sacramento 118 Golden State 99 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
L.A. Lakers 125 Memphis 85 (Los Angeles wins best of seven series 4-2)
MLB
American League
Toronto 3 Seattle 2
Texas 5 N.Y. Yankees 2
Tampa Bay 3 Chicago White Sox 2
Minnesota 8 Kansas City 6
Cleveland 5 Boston 2
National League
Miami 3 Chicago Cubs 2
Atlanta 4 N.Y. Mets 0
Arizona 9 Colorado 1
L.A. Dodgers 7 St. Louis 3
Interleague
Milwaukee 2 L.A. Angels 1
Philadelphia 3 Houston 1
Cincinnati 11 Oakland 7
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL Playoffs
Toronto at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. (Maple Leafs lead best-of-seven series 3-2)
New Jersey at N.Y. Rangers, 8 p.m. (Devils lead best-of-seven series 3-2)
Edmonton at Los Angeles, 10 p.m. (Oilers lead best-of-seven series 3-2)
NBA Playoffs
Phoenix at Denver, 8:30 p.m. (Game 1, best-of-seven second-round series)
MLB
Interleague
Cincinnati (Greene 0-1) at Oakland (Muller 0-2), 4:07 p.m.
Philadelphia (Wheeler 2-1) at Houston (Javier 2-0), 5:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Detmers 0-1) at Milwaukee (Burnes 2-1), 7:10 p.m.
American League
Baltimore (Kremer 2-0) at Detroit (Boyd 1-1), 1:10 p.m.
Kansas City (Keller 2-2) at Minnesota (Gray 3-0), 2:10 p.m.
Seattle (Flexen 0-4) at Toronto (Gausman 2-2), 3:07 p.m.
Cleveland (Plesac 1-1) at Boston (Whitlock 1-2), 4:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Brito 2-2) at Texas (Eovaldi 2-2), 7:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Chirinos 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (Lynn 0-3), 7:10 p.m.
National League
Pittsburgh (Velasquez 3-2) at Washington (Corbin 1-3), 1:05 p.m.
Atlanta (Strider 3-0) at N.Y. Mets (Megill 3-1), 4:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (TBD) at Miami (Cabrera 1-2), 4:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Manaea 0-1) at San Diego (Musgrove 1-0), 6:05 p.m.
Arizona (Henry 0-0) at Colorado (Davis 0-0), 8:10 p.m.
St. Louis (Montgomery 2-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 4-1), 9:10 p.m.
MLS
Atlanta at Nashville, 1:30 p.m.
New York City FC at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m.
Miami at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte FC at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at New England, 7:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m.
CF Montreal at Sporting Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
San Jose at Austin FC, 8:30 p.m.
New York at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Portland at Saint Louis City SC, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m.
Colorado at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m.
Houston at Los Angeles FC ppd.