LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: In a battle of two top teams, the UNB Reds defeated the X-Men 5-3 at the Antigonish Arena in front of over 1000 fans. St. FX drops to 10-7-1-0 on the season as the X-Men take their Christmas break. Meanwhile, X-Women forward Maggy Burbidge scored a pair of goals including the overtime winner, leading St. FX to a 3-2 overtime win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies. The X-Women improve their record to 11-2-2-0 heading into the winter break.
NS Junior: The Strait Pirates fell 7-4 to the Capstone Colts in Port Hawkesbury. In action today, the Antigonish Bulldogs face off with Elks in Brookfield at 4, and the Pictou County Scotians travel to Membertou to tangle with the Miners at 7:30 tonight.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Yarmouth Mariners.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host the Rebels at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre at 6.
U18 Majors: The Weeks Majors and CB West Islanders are on the road: the Majors play the Mustangs at 3 this afternoon, then tonight it’s the Islanders vs the Macs in Halifax.
High School Hockey: The Northumberland Nighthawks host Dr. J. H. Gillis in Westville at 6:30, followed by the North Nova Gryphons in East Hants against the Tigers at 7:30.
Rural League: A double-header at the Antigonish Arena tonight: it’s St. Croix vs Pleasantdale at 7, followed by Heatherton vs the Outlaws at 8:30.
The Northern Subway Selects are in Brampton, Ontario this weekend at the 2Nations College Prep Series Tournament. On Friday, they played Carlton Place Cyclones and won 4-1. Hali Rose MacLean had a hat trick, Reece Murray scored the other goal. In their game against Clarington Flames, the Selects won 3-0. Goals scored by Mya MacDonald, Hali Rose MacLean and Lily LeBlanc. This morning they battle the Belleville Bearcats at 10:45 local time. The live stream link can be found on the Selects Facebook page.
A number of local schools are participating in Volleyball Provincials this weekend. Dr. JH Gillis is competing at the Division One Girls championship in Bridgewater, Ecole Beau-Port is at the Division Two Boys Provincials in Halifax, Dalbrae and SAERC are in Brookfield for the Division Two Girls Provincials, while Ecole Beau-Port, Inverness and East Antigonish are the Division 3 Girls Provincials in Bridgetown. Pool Games continue this morning, with Championship matches this afternoon.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Ottawa Senators’ losing streak is up to three games after a 4-2 loss to Columbus. The Senators jumped out to an early two-goal lead but the Blue Jackets responded with four unanswered goals. Ottawa is in last place in the N-H-L’s Eastern Conference standings. San Jose beat New Jersey 6-3 in the only other game on the schedule.
Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes is the N-H-L’s third star of the month. He had 17 assists and 22 points last month. Hughes set a franchise record for points in a calendar month by a blue-liner. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov is the first star. The second star goes to Colorado’s Cale Makar.
The Toronto Raptors remain below the .500 mark after a 119-106 loss to New York. Scotties Barnes had 29 points for the Raptors. The Knicks have won three games in a row. Josh Hart scored 15 of his 17 points in the third quarter for the Knicks. Julius Randle chipped in with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is moving into the N-B-A’s top 10 in all-time scoring. He scored on a layup late in the second quarter to pass Moses Malone for the 10th spot. The layup gave Durant 27-thousand-411 career points. The Suns went on to drop a 119-111 decision to the Denver Nuggets.
The Canadian women’s soccer team opened a two-game set of friendlies against Australia with a 5-0 victory. It was the penultimate game for Christine Sinclair’s international career. Nichelle Prince scored twice in the evening matchup at Langford, B-C. The teams will play against Tuesday in Vancouver.
Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth are tied for the lead at the midway point of the Hero World Challenge. They’re at nine-under-par 135 after two rounds. Tiger Woods is 10 strokes off the pace. It’s his first tournament since withdrawing from the Masters in April.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Columbus 4 Ottawa 2
San Jose 6 New Jersey 3
NBA
New York 119 Toronto 106
Orlando 130 Washington 125
Memphis 108 Dallas 94
Boston 125 Philadelphia 119
New Orleans 121 San Antonio 106
Denver 119 Phoenix 111
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Tampa Bay at Dallas, 2 p.m.
Chicago at Winnipeg, 3 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Nashville, 4:30 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Florida, 6 p.m.
Boston at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Arizona, 9 p.m.
Vancouver at Calgary, 10 p.m.
Colorado at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Washington at Vegas, 10 p.m.
NBA
Golden State at L.A. Clippers, 4 p.m.
Minnesota at Charlotte, 5 p.m.
Cleveland at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Orlando at Brooklyn, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
Indiana at Miami, 8 p.m.
New Orleans at Chicago, 8 p.m.
Memphis at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Dallas, 9 p.m.
Portland at Utah, 9:30 p.m.
Denver at Sacramento, 10 p.m.
Houston at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m.
MLS Conference Finals
Columbus at Cincinnati, 6 p.m.
Houston at Los Angeles FC, 9:30 p.m.