LOCAL SPORTS
NS Junior: The Membertou Junior Miners completed the sweep of the Strait Pirates in the Sid Rowe division semi-final series with a 2-1 victory in Port Hawkesbury. The Miners will face the winner of the Bulldogs/Scotians series which resumes Sunday night at 6 in Trenton, with the Bulldogs holding a 3-0 lead.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers wrap up their regular season with a pair of road games this weekend, beginning with a crucial match against the Bearcats tonight at 7 in Truro. The Crushers are just one point behind Truro in the battle for the final playoff spot in the EastLink South division.
U15: The Wearwell Bombers are also in Truro, playing the Bearcats at 4 pm. Later, it’s the Novas vs Dartmouth at 5 at the Antigonish Arena.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host the Wildcats at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre. Puck drops at 4:30.
U18: The CB West Islanders take on the Halifax Macs at the Forum at 7 tonight. It’s Game 1 of their best-of-five playoff series.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects are back to their dominating ways, shutting out the Penguins 5-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. Game Four goes in Bedford at 3 pm.
Rural League: It’s Game 2 of the Finals, with Pleasantdale looking to even the series with Heatherton. Puck drops at 7 at the Arena.
Nashville recording artist James Barker Band is set to headline the inaugural Country Rocks Riverside concert at Riverside International Speedway on Friday, June 28. With the concert on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will see on-track action featuring the NASCAR Canada Series, East Coast International Pro Stock Tour, and Hot Rod Classics Vintage Race Series. The festivities will conclude Sunday evening with a spectacular Canada Day Eve fireworks display. The concert is an all-ages event with age restrictions in place for licensed and front-of-stage areas. Once the show ends, crews will work overnight to prepare for racing on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets and camping reservations for June 28-30 will be available later in March. Spectator parking for personal vehicles is free.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Third-period goals by Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry and Nikolaj Ehlers lifted the visiting Winnipeg Jets to a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Laurent Brossoit made 17 saves for the shutout. The Kraken had their two-game win streak halted.
The Arizona Coyotes scored three times in the first period and then coasted to a 4-0 win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings. Nick Bjugstad scored his 15th goal for the Coyotes and Connor Ingram made 28 saves to post the shutout. In Denver, Colorado, Valeri Nichushkin scored at 2:32 of overtime as the Avalanche edge-out the visiting Minnesota Wild 2-1.
Hannah Miller, Rebecca Leslie and Emma Maltais supplied the goals and netminder Kristen Campbell stopped 23 shots for her third shutout of the season as Toronto defeated visiting Montreal 3-0 in Professional Women’s Hockey League action. It was the ninth straight win for Toronto.
They are down to the Final Four at the Canadian men’s curling championship in Regina. Mike McEwen’s Saskatchewan foursome eliminated Jamie Koe’s Northwest Territories team with a 7-0 victory in one playoff game Friday night, while Matt Dunstone eliminated Reid Carruthers 6-2 in an all-Manitoba matchup. The other two teams still alive at the Brier are defending champion Brad Gushue’s Team Canada and Brendan Bottcher of Alberta. Playoffs continue today with the final on Sunday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton, Ontario, scored 23 of his 37 points in the second half and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Miami Heat 107-100 and take the N-B-A’s Western Conference lead. The Thunder moved a half-game ahead of Minnesota for the West lead.
Kyle Kuzma scored 28 points, Deni Avdija added 18 and the Washington Wizards snapped their 16-game losing streak with a 112-100 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Washington had matched a team record of 16 consecutive losses set during the 2009-10 season. Charlotte now has the N-B-A’s longest active skid at six games despite a 32-point effort from Miles Bridges.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Winnipeg 3 Seattle 0
Arizona 4 Detroit 0
Colorado 2 Minnesota 1 (OT)
Dallas 6 Anaheim 2
PWHL
Toronto 3 Montreal 0
NBA
Washington 112 Charlotte 100
New Orleans 103 Philadelphia 95
New York 98 Orlando 74
Cleveland 113 Minnesota 104
Atlanta 99 Memphis 92
Oklahoma City 107 Miami 100
Houston 123 Portland 107
L.A. Lakers 123 Milwaukee 122
MLB Spring Training
Toronto 2 N.Y. Yankees 1
Philadelphia 6 Houston 3
Pittsburgh (ss) 6 Minnesota 3
Atlanta 6 Pittsburgh (ss) 6
Chicago Cubs (ss) 9 Seattle 5
Cleveland 2 Chicago White Sox 1
Kansas City 4 Texas 2
L.A. Angels 8 Colorado 7
Milwaukee (ss) 7 Oakland (ss) 4
Arizona 7 Chicago Cubs (ss) 5
Baltimore 4 Detroit 3
N.Y. Mets 3 Miami 1
St. Louis 7 Washington 6
Milwaukee (ss) 5 Oakland (ss) 4
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Edmonton at Buffalo, 12:30 p.m.
Carolina at New Jersey, 12:30 p.m.
Nashville at Columbus, 12:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Boston, 3 p.m.
Calgary at Florida, 4 p.m.
Toronto at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Ottawa at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Chicago at Washington, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at N.Y. Rangers, 7:30 p.m.
Winnipeg at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Detroit at Vegas, 10 p.m.
Dallas at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
NBA
Chicago at L.A. Clippers, 4 p.m.
Brooklyn at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Boston at Phoenix, 8:30 p.m.
San Antonio at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
Toronto at Portland, 10 p.m.
Utah at Denver, 10 p.m.
MLS
Portland at New York City FC, 2 p.m.
Charlotte FC at Toronto FC, 2 p.m.
New England at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
FC Dallas at New York, 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m.
Seattle at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
St Louis City at Austin FC, 8:30 p.m.
Colorado at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m.
Sporting Kansas City at Los Angeles FC, 10:30 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
MLB Spring Training
Houston vs Washington (ss) at West Palm Beach, Fla., 12:05 p.m.
Philadelphia vs Toronto at Clearwater, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Atlanta vs Baltimore at North Port, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Detroit vs Pittsburgh at Lakeland, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Minnesota vs N.Y. Yankees at Fort Myers, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
St. Louis vs N.Y. Mets at Jupiter, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Cleveland vs L.A. Angels at Goodyear, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Kansas City vs Arizona (ss) at Surprise, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers vs Texas at Phoenix, 3:05 p.m.
Oakland (ss) vs Milwaukee (ss) at Las Vegas, 3:05 p.m.
San Francisco vs Oakland (ss) at Scottsdale, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs vs Colorado at Mesa, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Milwaukee (ss) vs Seattle at Phoenix, 3:10 p.m.
San Diego vs Chicago White Sox at Peoria, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Arizona (ss) vs Cincinnati at Scottsdale, Ariz., 3:10 p.m.
Tampa Bay vs Boston at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 5:05 p.m.
Washington (ss) vs Miami at West Palm Beach, Fla., 6:05 p.m.