LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: In their last game before Christmas break, Ethan Burroughs and Dallas Farrell put on a clinic, combining for five goals and seven points as the X-Men overpowered the UPEI Panthers 6-1. It was Burroughs’ first hat trick for St. FX. Although the Panthers outshot the X-Men 31-19, the X-Men’s ability to convert chances, coupled with solid goaltending from Patrick Leaver was the difference. Jacob Maillet scored the other X-Men goal.
The St. FX Basketball teams are in Wolfville in their last games before the Christmas break. The X-Women tip off with Acadia at 6, followed by the men at 8.
Junior B: Two local teams got shutouts on Friday night: the Bulldogs blanked the Scotians 8-0 at the Arena, while the Strait Pirates shut down Eskasoni 5-0. Tonight, the Bulldogs take on the Junior Miners in Membertou at 7:30.
U18 Major: On Friday, The Weeks Majors skated past the Halifax Macs 4-3. This afternoon, the Majors host Steele Subaru at the Wellness Centre at 4, while the CB West Islanders are in Cole Harbour to face off with the Hunters at 7:30 tonight.
High School Boys: On Friday, the North Nova Gryphons won 2-1 in overtime versus the Hants East Tigers. Tonight, the Northumberland Nighthawks host Dalbrae Academy at 6:30 in Westville.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Crushers visit Edmundston tonight at 7:30.
U15: This afternoon, the Wearwell Bombers host Dartmouth at the Wellness Centre at 2 pm, then at 5 it’s the Novas versus the Harbour Rage at the Antigonish Arena.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host the Armada at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre –puck drops at 6 pm.
Maritime Major Female League: Two of the top teams in the league tangle, as the Greenfoot Capitals host the Northern Subway Selects at 2 pm. The second-place Selects are two points ahead of the Capitals, and just one point behind the Stars.
Rural League: Tonight at the Arena, on Saturday, the County Outlaws play the Heatherton Warriors at 7, followed by the Pleasantdale Panthers versus the St. Croix Angels at 8:30.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored 78 seconds into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers took a 4-3 victory from their first visit to the Utah Hockey Club. Leon Draisaitl contributed a goal and two assists in regulation while Connor McDavid supplied one of each. Vasily Podkolzin also scored for an Edmonton squad that got 28 saves from Calvin Pickard.
A two-goal performance from Brett Howden helped the Golden Knights to a 4-3 win over the league-leading Jets. Cole Perfetti scored twice for Winnipeg, while Neal Pionk added a goal and Eric Comrie made 26 saves. The Jets have now lost three of their last four outings.
Mason Marchment scored twice — including an empty-net strike — as the Stars downed the Avalanche 5-3. Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Roope Hintz also found the back of the net for Dallas. Colorado rallied in the third, with goals from Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen, but couldn’t complete the comeback after falling behind 4-1 in the middle frame.
A triple-double from Scottie Barnes wasn’t enough for the Raptors. Toronto dropped a 121-111 decision to the Miami heat, despite getting 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists from Barnes. Miami hit 21 of the 54 three-pointers it attempted and moved back over .500 with the win.
Jayson Tatum scored 35 points and reeled in 14 rebounds, leading the Boston Celtics past the Chicago Bulls 138-129. Reserve Payton Pritchard added a season-best 29 points, including 11 straight during a fourth-quarter fun that gave the Celtics the lead for good. Zach LaVine poured in 29 points for the Bulls, including four 3-pointers, and became the franchise’s career leader in made 3s.
Mike McEwen remains perfect at the Kioti National after taking an 8-1 victory over Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers. McEwen, who’s also from Winnipeg, scored three in the first end and never trailed. He went 4-0 across round-robin play to finish as the No. 1 seed heading into Saturday’s quarterfinals, where he’ll face the winner of a tiebreaker between Switzerland’s Marco Hoesli (2-2) and Marc Muskatewitz (2-2) of Germany. Quarterfinal action will also see Calgary’s Brad Jacobs (4-0) take on hometown hero Brad Gushue (2-2) while Scotland’s Ross Whyte (3-1) battles Joel Retornaz (2-2) of Italy and Bruce Mouat (3-1) of Scotland goes up against American John Shuster (3-1). The women’s playoffs will begin with tiebreakers between Halifax’s Christina Black (2-2) and South Korea’s Eun-ji Gim, and Silvana Tirinzoni (2-2) of Italy and Seung-youn Ha of South Korea (2-2). Later in the day, top seed Anna Hasselborg (4-0) of Sweden will go up against the winner of one tiebreak while No. 2 seed Eun-jung Kim of South Korea takes on the other victor. The women’s quarterfinals will also feature Kerri Einarson (3-1) of Gimli, Man., battling Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa (3-1), and Ottawa’s Rachel Homan (4-0) facing Sayaka Yoshimura (2-2), who’s also from Japan. The finals are set to go Sunday. The event is the third of five stops on the Grand Slam of Curling circuit.
The Buffalo Bills have issued a call for prospective snow shovellers ahead of tomorrow’s game against the 49ers. A lake-effect snowstorm is threatening to dump more than 50 centimetres of white stuff in the Buffalo area over a 12-to-16 hour period, starting this afternoon. Plows and backhoes arrived at Highmark Stadium yesterday and a dump truck spread salt on parking lots and roads in anticipation of the storm.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Columbus 5 Calgary 2
Vancouver 4 Buffalo 3 (OT)
Vegas 4 Winnipeg 3
Edmonton 4 Utah 3 (OT)
Philadelphia 3 N.Y. Rangers 1
Minnesota 3 Chicago 2
Florida 6 Carolina 3
Washington 5 N.Y. Islanders 4 (OT)
New Jersey 5 Detroit 4
Tampa Bay 3 Nashville 2 (OT)
Los Angeles 2 Anaheim 1
San Jose 8 Seattle 5
Pittsburgh 2 Boston 1
Dallas 5 Colorado 3
NBA
Miami 121 Toronto 111
New York 99 Charlotte 98
Atlanta 117 Cleveland 101
Memphis 120 New Orleans 109
Minnesota 93 L.A. Clippers 92
Orlando 123 Brooklyn 100
Boston 138 Chicago 129
Detroit 130 Indiana 106
Oklahoma City 101 L.A. Lakers 93
Portland 115 Sacramento 106
NFL
Kansas City 19 Las Vegas 17
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Montreal at N.Y. Rangers, 1 p.m.
Carolina at Florida, 4 p.m.
Calgary at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Ottawa at Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at St. Louis, 7 p.m.
Washington at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Nashville at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Edmonton at Colorado, 10 p.m.
San Jose at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Utah at Vegas, 10 p.m.
PWHL (start of regular season)
Boston at Toronto, 2 p.m.
Ottawa at Montreal, 5 p.m.
NBA
Atlanta at Charlotte, 6 p.m.
Philadelphia at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Washington at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
Golden State at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
Dallas at Utah, 9:30 p.m.