LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: The X-Men hockey team dropped the Saint Mary’s Huskies 3-1 at the Keating Centre. Scoring for the X-Men were rookie forward Antionio Pugliese, Ben Mercer & Cole Stewart. The win puts STFX in a three-way tie for second place in the AUS standings, alongside the Huskies and Moncton Aigles Bleus.
At the Leroy MacDonald Memorial U11AA Tournament, the Antigonish Bulldogs advanced to this morning’s semi-finals at 10 am at the Antigonish Arena. Their record improved to 3-1 after defeating Truro 7-5 in their last game on Saturday. The other semi-final is being played at 10 at the Keating Centre – winners advance to the final this afternoon at the Arena at 1 pm.
Playoff action continues at the Ice Jam Tournament in Bedford, with two local teams still in the hunt: the Wearwell Bombers take on the Bandits at 8:30 this morning, while the Cabot Highlanders face the Eastern Dukes at 11 am.
Junior B: In action tonight, the Pictou County Scotians host Membertou in Trenton at 6 pm, followed by the Antigonish Bulldogs facing the Junior Eagles at 7:30 in Eskasoni.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers thrashed the Yarmouth Mariners 8-2. The Crushers’ road trip continues with a 4 pm match in the Valley against the Wildcats.
Rural League: St Croix 3 Pleasantdale 2 (OT) Outlaws 6 Heatherton 2
NATIONAL SPORTS
Jonathan Huberdeau’s power-play goal at 4:36 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted the Calgary Flames to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings. Matt Coronato also scored for the Flames, who won their second straight game. Jacob Moverare scored for the Kings, who had their five-game win streak halted.
Adam Edstrom’s goal at 5:57 of the third period snapped a 1-1 deadlock and the visiting New York Rangers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1. Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Rangers, while Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season and added an assist as the visiting Washington Capitals beat the Nashville Predators 4-1. Ovechkin, who is just 22 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals, scored into an empty net as the Capitals are 5-2-and-3 in their last 10 games.
Tyler Herro scored 32 points and Nikola Jovic added 21 and eight rebounds as the visiting Miami Heat torched the Portland Trail Blazers 119-98. Anfernee Simons led the Trail Blazers with 28 points.
Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns, Derrick Henry scored twice while leading Baltimore’s devastating running game, and the Ravens beat the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14 on Saturday to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The Ravens move on to face either Buffalo or Houston. Baltimore outrushed the Steelers 299 to 29. It was the most yards rushing allowed by Pittsburgh in a playoff game.
Eric Murray returned one of Justin Herbert’s career-high four interceptions for a touchdown, C-J Stroud threw a T-D pass and the Houston Texans whipped the visiting Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 in a wild-card playoff game. It’s the second straight year Stroud and the Texans won in the first round. Herbert threw only three interceptions during the regular season.
Saturday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Vancouver 3 Toronto 0
Calgary 2 Los Angeles 1
Winnipeg 3 Colorado 0
Ottawa 5 Pittsburgh 0
Edmonton 4 Chicago 3
Dallas 2 Montreal 1 (SO)
Boston 4 Florida 3 (OT)
New Jersey 3 Tampa Bay 2 (OT)
Seattle 6 Buffalo 2
Philadelphia 6 Anaheim 0
Columbus 2 St. Louis 1
Washington 4 Nashville 1
N.Y. Islanders 2 Utah 1
Minnesota 3 San Jose 1
N.Y. Rangers 2 Vegas 1
PWHL
Boston 2 Ottawa 1 (OT)
U-18 Women’s World Hockey Championship Semifinals at Finland
Canada 4 Czechia 2
United States 2 Sweden 1
NBA
Detroit 123 Toronto 114
Phoenix 114 Utah 106
Memphis 127 Minnesota 125
Miami 119 Portland 98
Houston at Atlanta, ppd.
Sacramento at L.A Lakers, ppd.
Charlotte at L.A. Clippers, ppd.
NFL Playoffs Wild-Card Round
Houston 32 L.A. Chargers 12
Baltimore 28 Pittsburgh 14
Sunday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Seattle at Detroit, 3 p.m.
Anaheim at Carolina, 5 p.m.
Dallas at Ottawa, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m.
Minnesota at Vegas, 8 p.m.
PWHL
Toronto at New York, 12 p.m.
Montreal at Minnesota, 1 p.m.
U-18 World Hockey Championship in Finland
Gold-medal Final: Canada vs. United States, 12 p.m.
Bronze-medal Final: Czechia vs. Sweden, 8 a.m.
NFL Wild-Card Round
Denver (7) at Buffalo (2), 1 p.m.
Green Bay (7) at Philadelphia (2), 4:30 p.m.
Washington (6) at Tampa Bay (3), 8 p.m.
NBA
Denver at Dallas, 3 p.m.
Milwaukee at New York, 3 p.m.
Sacramento at Chicago, 3:30 p.m.
Indiana at Cleveland, 6 p.m.
New Orleans at Boston, 6 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Washington, 6 p.m.
Philadelphia at Orlando, 6 p.m.
Brooklyn at Utah, 8 p.m.
Charlotte at Phoenix, 9 p.m.