LOCAL SPORTS
Maritime Hockey League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers defeated the Valley Wildcats 7-4.
U15: The Novas & the Wearwell Bombers are on the road: The Novas take on the Western Hurricanes at 4, with the Bombers vs the Wolverines in Halifax at 6.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host the Wildcats at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre at 6.
U18: The Weeks Majors host the Rush at the Wellness Centre at 6, followed by the CB West Islanders in Dartmouth to face off with Steele Subaru at 7:45.
High School: The Millennium Cup concludes today in Antigonish. Last night, The Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals fell 3-2 to Northumberland. In this morning’s semi-finals, it’s Glace Bay vs Parkview at the Antigonish Arena, with Northumberland vs CEC at the Keating Centre. Both games begin at 10, with the winners advancing to the final at the Arena beginning at 3 pm.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects take on the Penguins in the first half of a home-and-home series today at the Hector Arena in Pictou. Puck drops at 4.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Miro Heiskanen and Matt Duchene scored 44 seconds apart in the third period, and the Dallas Stars beat the visiting Ottawa Senators 5-4. Joe Pavelski, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley also scored for Dallas, which trailed 4-2 midway through the second. Drake Batherson scored two goals for Ottawa, and Jakob Chychrun had three assists.
The visiting Buffalo Sabres scored four goals in the third period to upset the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2. Casey Mittelstadt scored twice for the Sabres, while Zach Benson, Dylan Cozens and Alex Tuch added singles. Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel scored for the Golden Knights, who had their four-game win streak snapped.
David Pastrnak scored in the third round of a shootout to give the Boston Bruins a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders. Linus Ullmark made 34 saves to help Eastern Conference-leading Boston improve to 19-5-4. Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Alexander Romanov and Simon Holmstrom scored for New York. The Islanders had won four in a row.
Filip Forsberg scored his third overtime goal of the season 35 seconds into the extra session to give the visiting Nashville Predators a 6-5 N-H-L victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Preds overcame a two-goal deficit to win for the sixth time in seven games. Roman Josi had a goal and two assists for Nashville. Stefan Noesen and Martin Necas each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes.
Trae Young scored 38 points and added 11 assists to lead the visiting Atlanta Hawks past the Toronto Raptors 125-104. Atlanta snapped a five-game losing skid. Scottie Barnes’s 23-point performance led Toronto, while Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam had 15 points apiece.
San Antonio Spurs Devin Vassell had a career-high 36 points, rookie Victor Wembanyama had 13 points and 15 rebounds, and the Spurs snapped an 18-game losing skid by defeating the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 129-115. LeBron James had 23 points and 10 rebounds in his return after missing Wednesday’s Lakers game with a bruised left calf.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Dallas 5 Ottawa 4
Buffalo 5 Vegas 2
N.Y. Rangers 5 Anaheim 1
Boston 5 N.Y. Islanders 4 (SO)
Nashville 6 Carolina 5 (OT)
Arizona 1 San Jose 0
NBA
Atlanta 125 Toronto 104
Philadelphia 124 Detroit 92
New Orleans 112 Charlotte 107
Washington 137 Indiana 123
San Antonio 129 L.A. Lakers 115
Boston 128 Orlando 111
Houston 103 Memphis 96
New York 139 Phoenix 122
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Vancouver at Minnesota, 2 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Colorado at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Columbus, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Boston, 7 p.m.
Washington at Nashville, 8 p.m.
Dallas at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Buffalo at Arizona, 9 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Calgary, 10 p.m.
Florida at Edmonton, 10 p.m.
Los Angeles at Seattle, 10 p.m.
NBA
Detroit at Milwaukee, 6 p.m.
Philadelphia at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.
Indiana at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Chicago at Miami, 8 p.m.
Brooklyn at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Denver, 9 p.m.
Dallas at Portland, 9 p.m.
Utah at Sacramento, 10 p.m.
New York at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.
NFL
Minnesota at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis, 4:30 p.m.
Denver at Detroit, 8:15 p.m.