LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: Ekaterina Karchevskaya put up 18 points and five rebounds as the X-Women basketball team picked up their third victory of the season with a 67-53 win over the Memorial Sea-Hawks at Coach K Court. Katie Upham added 16 points, six assists, and six rebounds for the X-Women, while Lauren Neeve netted 11 points and five rebounds. In a match featuring the top two teams in the AUS, the X-Men had a dominant 89-65 win over the Sea-Hawks, now tied with the X-Men for first place. Dondre Reddick dropped in 21 points with five rebounds, with Gatluak James adding 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Bennett Grumbach had 11 points and five rebounds. The teams have a short turnaround as they will square-off again on Coach K Court tonight – the women at 6, the men at 8.
The UNB REDS scored goals on the first two shots of the game on route to a 6-2 win over the X-Men at Fredericton’s Aitken Centre. The X-Men visit Moncton tonight at 7. On the women’s side, forward Ireland McCloskey scored the game-winning goal as St. FX defeated the St. Thomas Tommies 3-2 in an overtime thriller.
NS Junior: The Strait Pirates lost 6-5 in overtime to the Membertou Miners.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers host Yarmouth tonight at 7 in the Wellness Centre.
U15: Play resumes with the Novas playing the Wildcats in Berwick at 5, then the Wearwell Bombers face the Whalers at 5:30 in Dartmouth.
U16AAA: The Cabot Highlanders are on the road to play the Buccaneers at 3:30.
U18: The Weeks Majors were defeated 5-4 by the Wildcats. In action today, The CB West Islanders host the Cole Harbour Wolfpack at 6pm. The Islanders are holding a Food Bank Drive this weekend, accepting monetary and non-perishable food donations before and during Saturday’s and Sunday’s games. Tonight is also First Responders Appreciation Night.
High School: The Northumberland Nighthawks are in East Hants to face the Tigers at 7:30.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects host the Western Flames at 4 pm at the Hector Arena in Pictou.
Rhyah Stewart of Antigonish is at the Women’s World U18 Hockey Championship in Switzerland. Their first game is this afternoon at 3 pm local time against Germany.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Nate Schmidt and Cole Perfetti scored in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 to extend their point streak to 11 games. Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for Winnipeg, and Laurent Brossoit made 37 saves. The Jets earned their fifth consecutive win and improved to 9-0-and-2 in their last 11 games overall to move atop the Western Conference.
Connor Bedard departed a 4-2 Chicago Blackhawks loss at New Jersey after he was levelled by Devils defenceman Brendan Smith in the first period. Bedard, the first-overall pick in last year’s draft, has 15 goals and 18 assists in 39 games to lead all rookies in scoring. Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson says the 18-year-old centre will be evaluated after the team returns to Chicago.
Brent Burns scored twice and Andrei Svechnikov registered his sixth consecutive multi-point game as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 6-2. The Hurricanes have won five in a row. The Capitals allowed five goals in the third period as they lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Emma Maltais scored a short-handed game-winning goal in the third period as Toronto’s Professional Women’s Hockey League squad recorded its first win in franchise history with a 3-2 victory over New York. Toronto lost to New York in the league’s inaugural game on New Year’s Day.
Domantas Sabonis had 24 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for his second consecutive triple-double, and the Sacramento Kings held off the Toronto Raptors 135-130. The Raptors made it a two-point game with under three minutes to play on a three-pointer by new acquisition Immanuel Quickley. But with Toronto down by three with nine seconds to go, Quickley missed a long three and that sealed it for the Kings. Quickley and Scottie Barnes paced Toronto with 20 points apiece.
Tyrese Haliburton had 18 of Indiana’s franchise-record 50 assists and the Pacers routed the Atlanta Hawks 150-116 for their sixth straight victory. Haliburton also had 10 points and eight rebounds in just over 25 minutes. Indiana reached 150 points against the Hawks for the second time this season after setting an N-B-A season-high in a 157-152 victory in Atlanta on November 21st.
Paolo Banchero hit a pair of go-ahead free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining on a night he recorded his first career triple-double, and the Orlando Magic rallied for a 122-120 win over the Denver Nuggets. Banchero finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Winnipeg 3 Anaheim 1
Carolina 6 Washington 2
New Jersey 4 Chicago 2
World Junior Hockey Championship at Gothenburg, Sweden
Gold Medal Game
United States 6 Sweden 2
Bronze Medal Game
Czechia 8 Finland 5
PWHL
Toronto 3 New York 2
NBA
Sacramento 135 Toronto 130
Indiana 150 Atlanta 116
Boston 126 Utah 97
New York 128 Philadelphia 92
Brooklyn 124 Oklahoma City 115
Cleveland 114 Washington 90
Chicago 104 Charlotte 91
L.A. Clippers 111 New Orleans 95
Minnesota 122 Houston 95
Dallas 139 Portland 103
Phoenix 113 Miami 97
Orlando 122 Denver 120
Golden State 113 Detroit 109
Memphis 127 L.A. Lakers 113
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Calgary at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Florida at Colorado, 4 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Toronto at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Boston, 7 p.m.
Nashville at Dallas, 8 p.m.
St. Louis at Carolina, 8 p.m.
Ottawa at Edmonton, 10 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Vegas, 10 p.m.
PWHL
Montreal at Minnesota, 2:30 p.m.
NBA
Boston at Indiana, 7 p.m.
New York at Washington, 7 p.m.
Utah at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee at Houston, 8 p.m.
NFL
Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 4:30 p.m.
Houston at Indianapolis, 8:15 p.m.