LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: The UPEI Panthers skated away with a 4-2 win over the X-Men at the Keating Centre. The Panthers picked up an important two points as they look to move up in the standings with five games left in the season. Zack Trott & Connor Roberts scored for the X-Men. STFX entered the game in a three-way tie for second place alongside Moncton and Saint Mary’s. The top ranked UNB REDS have already locked up a bye in the first playoff round, with the team finishing second also earning a bye. Tonight at the Keating Centre, it’s the X-Women’s turn to take on UPEI: Game time is 7 pm. Meanwhile in Charlottetown, the Panthers face St. FX on the Basketball court: the women tip off at 6 pm, the men at 8.
Junior B: Tonight, the Strait Pirates face off with the Junior Miners in Membertou – puck drops at 7:30.
U15: Play begins at the Wellness Centre at 2 pm, as the Wearwell Bombers host the Wolverines. The Novas are in Bedford to play the Bandits at 5 pm.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host the Cape Breton Jets at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre. Play starts at 5.
U18 Major: The Weeks Majors and the CB West Islanders are both on the road tonight: the Majors play the Mustangs at 4, while the Islanders are in Dartmouth to play Steele Subaru at 5:45.
High School Boys: The North Nova Gryphons face off with the Northumberland Nighthawks in Westville at 6:30 tonight, then Dalbrae Academy plays the Tigers in East Hants at 7:30.
Rural League: It was Game 2 of the playoff series at the Arena. Heatherton defeated Pleasantdale 6-4 to lead 2-0, while St Croix tied their series, beating the Outlaws 5-2. Game 3 will be this coming Friday.
NATIONAL SPORTS
A busy night for the Vancouver Canucks. The team dealt forward J-T Miller to the New York Rangers in a five-player trade. Filip Chytil and Victor Mancini are Vancouver-bound. The Canucks dropped a 5-3 decision to Dallas. Afterwards, Vancouver acquired defenceman Marcus Pettersson from Pittsburgh.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves for the shutout in Colorado’s 5-0 win over St. Louis. Jonathan Drouin scored twice and had an assist. Buffalo edged Nashville 4-3 and Columbus edged Utah 3-2. Zach Werenski scored the overtime winner for the Blue Jackets.
An impressive return by guard Immanuel Quickley wasn’t enough to extend the Toronto Raptors’ win streak. He had 14 points over 15 minutes in a 122-106 loss to Chicago. Quickley had missed the last eight games due to injury. The Raptors have won five of their past six games.
Canada’s Jamal Murray had 31 points in Denver’s 137-134 win over Philadelphia. The Kitchener, Ontario guard also had 11 assists. Nikola Jokic made the tiebreaking three-pointer with 39 seconds left for the Nuggets.
The New Orleans Pelicans are preparing to be without guard Dejounte Murray for an extended period. He left the Pelicans’ 118-116 loss to Boston with an injury to his lower right leg. The team says it will have more details once an imaging exam is complete.
More hardware for Canadian freestyle skier Mikael Kingsbury. He won gold at a moguls World Cup in Quebec. Kingsbury was coming off back-to-back wins in New Hampshire last week. Canada’s Maia Schwinghammer took gold in the women’s competition.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Dallas 5 Vancouver 3
Buffalo 4 Nashville 3
Colorado 5 St. Louis 0
Columbus 3 Utah 2 (OT)
PWHL
Boston 3 New York 2 (SO)
NBA
Chicago 122 Toronto 106
Detroit 117 Dallas 102
L.A. Clippers 112 Charlotte 104
Denver 137 Philadelphia 134
Boston 118 New Orleans 116
San Antonio 144 Milwaukee 118
Phoenix 130 Golden State 105
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Chicago at Florida, 1 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Boston, 3:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles at Carolina, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Nashville at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Winnipeg at Washington, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Calgary, 10 p.m.
PWHL
Ottawa at Toronto, 2 p.m.
NBA
Atlanta at Indiana, 5 p.m.
Orlando at Utah, 5 p.m.
Denver at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Brooklyn at Houston, 8 p.m.
Sacramento at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
Washington at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at New York, 8:30 p.m.
Miami at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Portland, 10 p.m.