LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: The Saint Mary’s Huskies are headed to the AUS football championship after a 21-17 semifinal victory over the X-Men at St. FX Stadium. Huskies receiver Brycen Mayoh was named player of the game for the Huskies, after catching the game winning touchdown, with X-Men quarterback Silas Fagnan getting player of the game honors for the home team. The Huskies will be in Sherbrooke, Quebec next Saturday, to take on the Bishop’s Gaiters for the AUS banner. The Gaiters shut down Acadia 59-0 in the other semifinal.
The X-Men hockey squad made it a four-point weekend with a 2-1 victory over the visiting Acadia Axemen. St. FX goalie Lucas Pfeil made 33 saves in the win, netting Gabriel Pizza Player of the Game honours. Ben Mercer notched the game winner late in the third period. Meanwhile, the X-Women made it three wins in a row as they shutout the Mount Allison Mounties 4-0 Saturday afternoon. Jorja Burrows made 12 saves for the shutout victory, her first regular season win in her X-Women career. The X-Women are back on home ice this afternoon at 3 against Dalhousie.
Junior B: The Pictou County Scotians skated to a 5-2 over the Brookfield Elks. In action tonight, the Antigonish Bulldogs host Sackville at the Arena, while the Strait Pirates face the Junior Eagles in Eskasoni. Both games start at 7.
Maritime League: A win on the road for the Pictou County Weeks Crushers, 5-2 over the Miramichi Timberwolves.
U15: It was both a blowout and a shutout for the Bombers, 7-0 over the Rangers. The Novas lost 4-1 to the Bandits. This morning, the Bombers are on the road to play the Cougars at 11 am, then the Novas host the Western Hurricanes at the Arena at 11:30.
U16 AAA: In Port Hawkesbury, the Cabot Highlanders suffered a 3-1 loss to the Fundy Thunder. The teams play again at the Civic Centre at 12:15 pm.
U18 Major: The CB West Islanders lost 6-1 at home to the Macs, while the Weeks Majors lost 6-5 to the South Shore Mustangs. The Majors and Mustangs have a rematch in Lunenburg, while the Islanders host Steele Subaru: both games begin at 1.
High School Boys: The Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals were shut out 2-0 by the Hants East Tigers. In Westville, Northumberland poured in 8 goals to get the win 8-5 over CEC. The North Nova Gryphons also scored high in a 8-0 shutout of the Tatamagouche Mustangs.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Selects garnered another victory in Pictou, 5-2 over the Western Wolves. They remain tied atop the standings with the Greenfoot Capitals, who beat the Rockets 6-4. The Selects and Wolves meet again at the Hector Arena at Noon.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Pius Suter’s second goal of the game, scored with 26 seconds left in the third period, lifted the visiting Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Jake DeBrusk also scored for the Canucks, who improved to 5-2-and-3. Nico Sturm and Mikael Granlund scored for the Sharks, who had their three-game win streak snapped and slipped to 3-8-and-2.
The Toronto Raptors outscored the visiting Sacramento Kings 11-8 in overtime to post a 131-128 victory. R-J Barrett led the Raptors with 31 points, while Chris Boucher chipped in with 24. DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 33 points for the Kings, who overcame a 13-point deficit in the final quarter to force overtime. The Raptors improved to 2-and-5, while the Kings slipped to 3-and-3.
N-B-A Commissioner Adam Silver says the league is considering changing the format for the All-Star Game being played in San Francisco later this season. Silver, speaking before the Miami-Washington game in Mexico City, has wanted a more competitive All-Star event for some time. The Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference 211-186 last season, marking the first time a team eclipsed 200 points.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points including a jumper with three-tenths of a second left and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten with a 114-113 N-B-A victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. The 7-and-0 Cavaliers are one win away from matching their best start in franchise history. They won their first eight games in 1976-77. Milwaukee has lost five straight since winning its opener.
The Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders have advanced to the Final Four in the C-F-L playoffs. The Argonauts defeated the Ottawa Redblacks 58-38 in the East Division semifinal and will face the host Montreal Alouettes in the East final. The Roughriders defeated the B.C. Lions 28-19 in the West Division semifinal and will play the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West final. Both finals are scheduled for next Saturday.
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will miss today’s game against the host Atlanta Falcons for reasons the team didn’t disclose. Elliott will miss a game for the first time in eight seasons over two stints with the Cowboys for reasons other than injury or suspension. Sources told E-S-P-N the absence was for disciplinary reasons.
The World Series averaged 12.9-million viewers in Japan as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto made their first appearance. Those ratings made the Fall Classic the most-watched baseball event in the nation’s history. The five-game series between the L-A Dodgers and the New York Yankees saw combined ratings of 28.7-million viewers, when counting Japan and the U-S. With a time difference of 19 hours between Tokyo and New York and 16 hours with Los Angeles, games started around 9 a-m in Japan.
Saturday’s Games
CFL Playoffs – Division Semifinals
Toronto 58 Ottawa 38
Saskatchewan 28 B.C. 19
NHL
Vancouver 3 San Jose 2
Ottawa 3 Seattle 0
Pittsburgh 3 Montreal 1
St. Louis 4 Toronto 2
Florida 4 Dallas 2
Boston 3 Philadelphia 0
Washington 7 Columbus 2
Detroit 2 Buffalo 1
Nashville 5 Colorado 2
Chicago 4 Los Angeles 3 (SO)
Vegas 4 Utah 3 (OT)
NBA
Toronto 131 Sacramento 128 (OT)
Boston 113 Charlotte 103
Memphis 124 Philadelphia 107
Cleveland 114 Milwaukee 113
Golden State 127 Houston 121 (OT)
San Antonio 113 Minnesota 103
Miami 118 Washington 98
Phoenix 103 Portland 97
Denver 129 Utah 103
Oklahoma City 105 L.A. Clippers 92
MLS Playoffs – First Round
New York City 3 Cincinnati 1 (Best-of-three series tied 1-1)
Atlanta 2 Miami 1 (Best-of-three series tied 1-1)
Minnesota 1 Salt Lake 1 (* Minnesota wins 3-1 on penalty kicks. Minnesota wins best-of-three series 2-0)
Sunday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
N.Y. Islanders at N.Y. Rangers, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Winnipeg, 3 p.m.
Seattle at Boston, 5 p.m.
Washington at Carolina, 5 p.m.
Toronto at Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Chicago at Anaheim, 8 p.m.
Edmonton at Calgary, 8 p.m.
NBA
Detroit at Brooklyn, 3:30 p.m.
Atlanta at New Orleans, 7 p.m.
Orlando at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
NFL
Dallas at Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Denver at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
L.A. Chargers at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Las Vegas at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Miami at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
New England at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
New Orleans at Carolina, 1 p.m.
Washington at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m.
Chicago at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
Jacksonville at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m.
Detroit at Green Bay, 4:25 p.m.
L.A. Rams at Seattle, 4:25 p.m.
Indianapolis at Minnesota, 8:20 p.m.
MLS Playoffs – First Round
Columbus at New York, 4:40 p.m. (New York leads best-of-three series 1-0)
Seattle at Houston, 6:30 p.m. (Seattle leads best-of-three series 1-0)
Los Angeles FC at Vancouver, 8:55 p.m. (LAFC leads best-of-three series 1-0)