LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: Led by a monster performance from forward Ekaterina Karchevskaya, the visiting X-Women scored an impressive 77-60 victory over the CBU Capers. Karchevskaya finished with 29 points, adding three rebounds and three assists, while veteran point guard Katie Upham had nine points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. On the men’s side, the Capers defeated the X-Men 85-77. Dondre Reddick was player of the game for the X-Men with 26 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
At the Keating Centre, the X-Women extended their win streak to five with a 4-3 victory over the Moncton Aigles Bleues. Maggy Burbidge had two goals on the night, the second of which was her 50th goal in a St. FX uniform. The X-Women continue their weekend home stand with a game versus St. Thomas tonight at 7 at the Keating Centre. Meanwhile, in Charlottetown, the UPEI Panthers were stung by five goals in a 10 minute span as the X-Men went on to win 6-3. It was UPEI’s fourth loss to St. FX this season.
Six members of the X-Men Track team were in Boston to compete at the BU John Thomas Terrier Classic, featuring numerous NCAA and U SPORTS competitors. All six X-Men posted personal best times in their events as St. FX was represented in three different races. Jack Wierzbicki competed in the 1000m race and posted a time of 2:28.74, placing him 15th out of 52 racers. In the one mile event that featured a large field of 340, Liam Patterson was 108th with a 4:14.83 result on the board. In the 3000m race, St. FX had four racers in the field of 192. Joel Gallant (8:31.51) and Luc Gallant (8:31.97) came 94th and 96th, followed by teammates Liam McCullagh (8:33.01) in 101st and Griffin Gamble (8:41.81) in 121st. The X-Women Track team will be competing in Boston the weekend of February 9-10. Prior to that, both squads will race at the UNB SJ Invitational February 2-3 in Saint John.
NS Junior: The Strait Pirates defeated the Eagles 2-1 in Port Hawkesbury. Tonight, the Pirates visit the Membertou Junior Miners – game time 7:30.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers doubled West Kent 6-3. The Crushers face off with the Bearcats on Sunday in Truro.
At the Leroy MacDonald Memorial Tournament, all of today’s games will be played at the Antigonish Arena, beginning with Halifax Red vs Glace Bay at 8am. Antigonish – which has a 2-0 record – plays twice, taking on Pictou Red at 9:30, then facing Halifax Red at 3:30 this afternoon. Playoffs are on Sunday.
Results from Friday at the Tiger MacKie Oldtimers hockey tournament: In the Greg MacRae division, the Pirate Alumni got the 4-2 win over High & Dry. In the Female Division, the Cheticamp Shooting Stars shut out the Port Hawkesbury Blue Lobsters 2-0. In the first two games of the Over 35 division, Antigonish beat the Strait Pirate Oldtimers 5-1, while the Louisdale Tigers got past the Raiders 7-6. Play continues through the weekend at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.
U15: The Wearwell Bombers host the Novas this morning at the Wellness Centre – puck drops at 11.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders travel to Sackville to take on the Kings at 5:30.
U18: The Weeks Majors face off with the Halifax Macs at 4 pm at the Wellness Centre, while the CB West Islanders are at home versus the Wolfpack beginning at 5:15.
Rural League: In the first games of the semi-finals, Pleasantdale got past St Croix 3-2, while Heatherton got the win in overtime 8-7 over the Outlaws.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Jonathan Marchessault scored three times to power the Vegas Golden Knights past the New York Rangers 5-2. The Knights improved to 5-0-and-1 in their last six games. Elsewhere, Florida edged Pittsburgh 3-2 in a shootout, Colorado dispatched the L-A Kings 5-1 and St. Louis got past Seattle 4-3 in overtime.
A costly hit for Brendan Gallagher. The N-H-L suspended the Montreal forward five games for an illegal hit to the head of defenceman Adam Pelech in the Canadiens’ 4-3 win over the New York Islanders. Gallagher will forfeit over 169 thousand dollars U-S in salary as a result of the suspension.
A nice deal for Owen Tippett. The forward has agreed to an eight-year, 49-point-6 million dollar U-S extension with the Philadelphia Flyers. Tippett, currently on injured reserve with a lower-body ailment, could’ve become a restricted free agent at season’s end.
Natalie Spooner’s two-goal effort led Toronto to its first home win in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, a 2-0 shutout of New York.
James Harden was too much for the Toronto Raptors. Harden had 22 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his 75th career triple-double to lead the L-A Clippers past Toronto 127-107. Scottie Barnes scored 23 points as the Raptors suffered a fourth consecutive defeat.
A record-breaking performance by Luka Doncic. He scored a club-record 73 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Atlanta Hawks 148-143. Doncic’s performance tied him for the fourth-most points in a game in league history.
San Francisco receiver Deebo Samuel has been cleared to play in the N-F-C championship game against the Detroit Lions. He left last weekend’s playoff win over Green Bay with a shoulder injury. Samuel was a full participant in practice Friday and had no injury designation for Sunday’s contest.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Vegas 5 NY Rangers 2
Florida 3 Pittsburgh 2 (SO)
Colorado 5 Los Angeles 1
St. Louis 4 Seattle 3 (OT)
PWHL
Toronto 2 New York 0
NBA
LA Clippers 127 Toronto 107
Houston 138 Charlotte 104
Indiana 133 Phoenix 131
Dallas 148 Atlanta 143
Oklahoma City 107 New Orleans 83
Memphis 107 Orlando 106
Cleveland 112 Milwaukee 100
San Antonio 116 Portland 100
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Boston at Philadelphia, 12:30 p.m.
Washington at Dallas, 2 p.m.
Nashville at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
Buffalo at San Jose, 4 p.m.
Montreal at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
Arizona at Carolina, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Florida at N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Vegas at Detroit, 8 p.m.
Anaheim at Minnesota, 9 p.m.
Chicago at Calgary, 10 p.m.
Columbus at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
PWHL
Ottawa at Montreal, 3:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Boston, 4 p.m.
NBA
Washington at Detroit, 12 p.m.
Miami at New York, 3 p.m.
Philadelphia at Denver, 5:30 p.m.
Houston at Brooklyn, 6 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Boston, 7 p.m.
Utah at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.
Sacramento at Dallas, 9 p.m.