LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: The X-Women Hockey team is at the USPORTS championship in Saskatoon, where they face Saskatchewan in the Consolation Semifinal beginning at 1 pm Atlantic time. Winner plays in the Consolation Final Sunday afternoon.
NS Junior: The Antigonish Bulldogs took the first game in their semi-final, defeating the Junior Miners 5-2. Game 2 is tonight in Membertou at 7:30.
The Antigonish Bulldogs U11B teams are hosting the Fundy Highland Strait Championship. The round robin continues through the day at the Antigonish Arena, beginning at 11 with the Bulldogs White Squad vs Truro, followed by the Bulldogs Black team vs the CB West Islanders at 12:30. The Semi-finals and final are tomorrow.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Crushers visit the Amherst Ramblers at 7 pm. It’s Game 1 of their division semi-final.
U15: The league wraps up its regular season this weekend. The Novas visit the Valley Wildcats today at 1. The WearWell Bombers host the Western Hurricanes at 2 at the Pictou County Wellness Centre, then visit the Wildcats on Sunday at 12:50.
U18: The Halifax Macs gained some ground on the Cape Breton West Islanders, winning 4-0 in Game 3. The Islanders lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is at 2 pm in Port Hood.
Rural League: The Pleasantdale Panthers square off with the Heatherton Warriors tonight in game 3 of the finals. The series is tied 1-1.
The Antigonish Stoirm Volleyball Club is commemorating its 25th year and the club’s founder by hosting the 1st Annual Joe Duggan Invitational Volleyball Tournament at Dr. JH Gillis Regional High.
The event is two tournaments in one, with a U16 girls 4-team division and a U15 girls 5-team division. The Stoirm will be represented by the U16 Girls, U15 Blue and U15 Black squads. Teams from across the province are taking part. The championship and consolation rounds begin at 2:20pm this afternoon for the U16 division and 3:30pm for the U15 division. The full schedule can be found on Antigonish Stoirm’s social media pages.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Tyler Toffoli scored his first two goals for the Jets and Laurent Brossoit made 21 saves to record the shutout as Winnipeg whipped the visiting Anaheim Ducks 6-0. Kyle Connor, Nate Schmidt, Dylan DeMelo and Mason Appleton also scored for the Jets. Winnipeg moved into a three-way tie for top spot in the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.
Anze Kopitar scored twice, Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield each had two assists, and the visiting Los Angeles Kings dispatched the Chicago Blackhawks 5-0. Alex Laferriere, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jordan Spence also scored for the Kings. Cam Talbot made 28 saves to post the shutout.
Franz Wagner scored 19 points, Paolo Banchero had 17 and the visiting Orlando Magic beat the short-handed Toronto Raptors 113-103. Jalen Suggs added 16 points for the Magic, who have won seven of the past nine. Gary Trent Junior scored a season-high 31 points for the Raptors, who have lost six games in a row. Immanuel Quickley had 10 points and 10 assists for Toronto.
Nikola Jokic scored 31 points and the Denver Nuggets beat San Antonio 117-106 in a game played in Austin, Texas, as the Spurs drew a record crowd in their bid to broaden their regional fan base. Jamal Murray added 15 points for Denver, which won its fifth straight game. Jeremy Sochan scored 19 points and Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama each had 17 points for San Antonio, which lost its third straight.
The women’s world curling championship gets underway today in Sydney, and Team Canada, skipped by Rachel Homan, will play twice. Homan’s Ontario-based team, which went undefeated in last month’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, plays Anna Hasselborg of Sweden and Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland.
Wyndham Clark of Denver, Colorado, is leading The Players Championship with another sizzling round of 65 on Friday at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Clark is at 14-under-par, four shots better than Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B-C, and Xander Schauffele of San Diego, California. Tied at 9-under are Matt Fitzpatrick and Maverick McNealy. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario, is at 8-under.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Winnipeg 6 Anaheim 0
Los Angeles 5 Chicago 0
NBA
Orlando 113 Toronto 103
Miami 108 Detroit 95
Phoenix 107 Charlotte 96
New Orleans 112 L.A. Clippers 104
Denver 117 San Antonio 106
Utah 124 Atlanta 122
MLB Spring Training
Detroit (ss) 9 Toronto 6
Detroit (ss) 6 Atlanta 1
Baltimore 7 Tampa Bay 2
Chicago White Sox 3 Chicago Cubs 2
Cleveland 6 Kansas City (ss) 1
Washington 7 N.Y. Mets 3
Miami 8 St. Louis 4
Houston 5 Philadelphia 3
Boston 8 Minnesota 5
Pittsburgh 6 N.Y. Yankees 2
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Buffalo at Detroit, 12:30 p.m.
Ottawa at N.Y. Islanders, 12:30 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh, 3 p.m.
New Jersey at Arizona, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Florida, 6 p.m.
Carolina at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Montreal at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Boston, 7 p.m.
San Jose at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles at Dallas, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Colorado at Edmonton, 10 p.m.
Nashville at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Washington at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
PWHL
New York at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m.
Ottawa at Boston, 6 p.m.
NBA
Cleveland at Houston, 5 p.m.
Brooklyn at Indiana, 7 p.m.
Charlotte at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Portland at New Orleans, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Memphis, 8 p.m.
Washington at Chicago, 8 p.m.
Golden State at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Utah, 9:30 p.m.
New York at Sacramento, 10 p.m.
MLB Spring Training
Washington vs St. Louis at West Palm Beach, Fla., 12:05 p.m.
Baltimore vs Boston at Sarasota, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Minnesota vs Tampa Bay at Fort Myers, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees vs Toronto at Tampa, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Miami vs Philadelphia at Jupiter, Fla., 1:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (ss) vs Kansas City at Mesa, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (ss) vs San Francisco (ss) at Phoenix, 4:05 p.m.
Cincinnati vs Seattle (ss) at Goodyear, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Oakland (ss) vs Milwaukee (ss) at Mesa, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh (ss) vs Detroit at Bradenton, Fla., 4:05 p.m.
San Francisco (ss) vs Cleveland at Scottsdale, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Texas (ss) vs Arizona at Surprise, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Colorado vs Oakland (ss) at Scottsdale, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels vs Chicago Cubs (ss) at Tempe, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
Milwaukee (ss) vs Texas (ss) at Phoenix, 4:10 p.m.
Seattle (ss) vs Chicago White Sox (ss) at Peoria, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
Houston vs N.Y. Mets at West Palm Beach, Fla., 6:05 p.m.
Atlanta vs Pittsburgh (ss) at North Port, Fla., 6:05 p.m.
Kiwoom Heroes vs L.A. Dodgers at Seoul, South Korea, 11 p.m.
Major League Soccer
CF Montréal at Chicago, 2 p.m.
Miami at D.C. United, 2 p.m.
Colorado at Seattle, 3:30 p.m.
New York at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
Toronto FC at New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Austin FC, 8:30 p.m.
Vancouver at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Portland at Houston, 8:30 p.m.
San Jose at Sporting Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
Los Angeles FC at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.
Charlotte FC at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
St Louis City at LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m.