MONDAY SPORTS: BRIER RACE HEATING UP

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen, Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers emerged from the Canadian men’s curling championship’s opening weekend as front-runners.

Those three are 3-0 heading into Monday’s action at the Montana’s Brier in Regina.

McEwen’s 3-0 start includes wins over four-time champion Kevin Koe and five-time winner Brad Gushue.

“I think it shows what we’re capable of,” McEwen said after Sunday’s 6-5 win over Koe.

“We can definitely hang with these teams. It’s still a long week ahead of us. We saw P.E.I. take us right to a last-shot victory on Friday night, so I’m not taking anybody for granted.

“I would have taken two and one out of this opening weekend, so three and oh even better.”

Carruthers and Bottcher topped Pool A, while McEwen was alone atop Pool B.

The top three teams in each pool of nine at the end of pool play Thursday advance to Friday’s six-team playoff, which determines Saturday’s four Page playoff teams.

Sunday’s Brier winner represents Canada at the world championship March 30 to April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and returns to the 2025 Brier in Kelowna, B.C., as defending champion. The victor also gets a berth in the 2025 Olympic curling trials, pending a top-six result at the world championship.

Ontario’s two-loss day dropped Howard (1-2) into a tie in Pool A with B.C.’s Caitlin Schneider, who was a 7-2 winner over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Symonds (0-3).

Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin downed New Brunswick’s James Gratton 11-7 to get to 1-1 alongside Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone. Grattan fell to 0-2.

Gushue and Jamie Koe of Northwest Territories improved to 2-1 and Alberta’s Aaron Sluchinski to 2-0 with Pool B victories Sunday afternoon. Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith (1-1) had the day off.

NHL

WILD 4 SHARKS 3

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov posted his second hat trick in less than two weeks, scoring the go-ahead goal with 3:59 left to lift the Minnesota Wild past the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Sunday night.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Sunday:

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CANUCKS 2 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Conor Garland scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and Vancouver snapped a two-game skid, beating Anaheim 2-1.

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JETS 5 SABRES 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Morgan Barron scored the tiebreaking goal on a partial breakaway with 6:05 remaining and Winnipeg got its ninth win in 11 games, downing Buffalo 5-2.

Josh Morrissey had a goal and an assist, and Nino Niederreiter also scored in helping the Jets move into a tie with idle Dallas atop the Central Division standings. Laurent Brossoit stopped 17 shots to improve to 10-4-2.

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COYOTES 5 CAPITALS 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dylan Guenther had a goal and two assists, Jason Zucker and Nick Schmaltz each had a goal and an assist, and Arizona dealt Washington a significant defeat in the playoff race.

After wasting a valuable opportunity against one of the NHL’s bottom five teams, Washington sits six points back of the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division, and seven behind Tampa Bay and Detroit for one of the two Eastern Conference wild cards.

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KINGS 5 DEVILS 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Phillip Danault scored three goals for his second career hat trick, Kevin Fiala had a goal and two assists, and Los Angeles beat New Jersey.

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OILERS 6 PENGUINS 1

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Zach Hyman scored two goals and Leon Draisaitl had three assists as Edmonton beat Pittsburgh 6-1 for its fourth straight win.

Ryan McLeod and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist, and Corey Perry and Cody Ceci also scored for the Oilers, who are 31-8-1 in their last 40 games. Calvin Pickard stopped 22 shots.

WHL

GIANTS 5 THUNDERBIRDS 2

LANGLEY, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants shook off a tough 3-2 road loss in Kamloops on Saturday by beating the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 5-2 on Sunday in Western Hockey League action at Langley Events Centre.

Elsewhere in the WHL on Sunday:

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WARRIORS 3 WILD 0

WENATCHEE, Wash. — Jagger Firkus had a goal and two assists as the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors knocked off the Wenatchee Wild 3-0. Atley Calvert and Brayden Yager also scored for the Warriors (40-19-0-2), who got a 35-save performance from netminder Jackson Unger.

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HITMEN 2 TIGERS 0

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Oliver Tulk and Carson Wetsch scored second-period goals as the visiting Calgary Hitmen blanked the Medicine Hat Tigers 2-0.

MLB

Nathan Hickey hit the go-ahead RBI single followed by a run of his own later in the eighth inning as the Boston Red Sox handed the Toronto Blue Jays their fourth straight pre-season loss on Sunday, 3-1. Andrew Bash (1-1) took the loss for the Blue Jays. He pitched the seventh and eighth innings, giving up three hits and two runs with only one strikeout. Alejandro Kirk homered in the top of the sixth to open the scoring. Toronto fell to 2-7 in Grapefruit League play.

NBA

Immanuel Quickley scored 22 points and matched his season high with 11 assists, R-J Barrett had 23 points and the Toronto Raptors held on to beat the visiting Charlotte Hornets 111-106 on Sunday in NBA action. Gary Trent Junior added 17 points for the Raptors, who snapped a two-game losing skid. Brandon Miller had 26 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who lost their fourth in a row.

NFL

Chris Mortensen, the award-winning journalist who covered the NFL for close to four decades, including 32 as a senior analyst at ESPN, died Sunday morning. He was 72. There was no immediate word on the cause or place of death. Mortensen announced in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer. Even while undergoing treatment, he was the first to confirm the retirement of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Mortensen announced his retirement after the NFL draft last year.

(Canadian Press)