THURSDAY SPORTS: PATS NOTCH HUGE WIN
Calgary, Alta. – The Regina Pats received goals from five different players and 38 saves from Ewan Huet in a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday inside the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Tanner Howe led the way up front with three points (1G-2A) while Zach Moore (1G-1A), Sam Oremba (1G-1A) and Tye Spencer (2A) chipped in with multi-point games. Jaxsin Vaughan and Anthony Wilson rounded out the scoring and Ewan Huet grabbed his 10th win of the season, and second against the Hitmen, stopping 13 of 15 in the third period and 38 overall.
The Pats are now 19-26-4-2 with 44 points, and are currently five points back of the Hitmen for eighth in the East after the win, which was the Pats fifth road victory of the season. Regina is now 3-0 against Calgary this season with the final meeting set for February 19 at the Brandt Centre.
(ReginaPats.com)
Elsewhere in the DUB on Wednesday:
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Max Hildebrand earned an 18-save shutout as the Prince Albert Raiders blanked the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0. Niall Crocker, Brayden Dube and Harrison Lodewyk supplied the offence for Prince Albert (23-24-4).
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ROCKETS 2 ROYALS 0
KELOWNA, B.C. — Jari Kykkanen stopped all 21 shots he faced as the Rockets shut out Victoria 2-0.
Tij Iginla and Hiroki Gojsic all scored once for Kelowna (22-24-3).
Jayden Kraus made 39 saves in net for the Royals (25-17-8).
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AMERICANS 4 WILD 1
WENATCHEE, Wash. — Jake Sloan scored twice as Tri-City topped the Wild. Brandon Whynott and Thomas Tien had the other goals for the Americans (19-28-3).
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BLAZERS 4 THUNDERBIRDS 1
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Matteo Koci had a goal and an assist as the Blazers downed Seattle. Ashton Ferster, Harrison Brunicke and Emmitt Finnie also found the back of the net for Kamloops (14-29-5).
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WHEAT KINGS 7 OIL KINGS 2
BRANDON, Man. — Dominik Petr and Nolan Flamand both had two goals and an assist as the Wheat Kings routed Edmonton. Matteo Michels, Jayden Wiens and Joby Baumuller added singles for Brandon (25-19-6).
NHL
RANGERS 3 LIGHTNING 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Vesey scored twice and Jonathan Quick made 19 saves as the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.
Brandon Hagel scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves. The Lightning had won three straight and eight of their previous nine.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, STARS 4
TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner and William Nylander scored 20 seconds apart midway through the third period, Auston Matthews had his NHL-leading 41st goal and Toronto beat Dallas 5-4.
Nylander had two goals and an assist, Matthews added an assist and John Tavares had a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves. Toronto scored three times on the power play.
WILD 2, BLACKHAWKS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Marcus Foligno snapped a third-period tie and Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves, helping Minnesota beat Nick Foligno and Chicago 2-1. Each of the Foligno brothers scored in the first game for the Central Division foes after the All-Star break, but Marcus Foligno’s ninth of the season lifted Minnesota to its 11th consecutive victory over Chicago. Marcus Foligno also fought with Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi in the second period.
SUPER BOWL
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The underdog Kansas City Chiefs are playing for history against the San Francisco 49ers. No team has been the underdog in consecutive Super Bowls and won both games. The two previous defending champions to return as an underdog both lost. But the Chiefs have been defying the odds throughout the postseason. They were underdogs in victories at Buffalo and Baltimore. Now, they’ve got to do it again to become the first repeat champions in 19 years. The 49ers are 2 1/2-point favorites on Sunday, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. They’re quite familiar with that role having been favored to win each game this season.
MLB
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won his arbitration case on Wednesday and will receive a salary of US$19.9 million this season.
Several media outlets reported that Guerrero won his case.
It’s the highest salary awarded in Major League Baseball arbitration since it began in 1974. The Blue Jays had filed at $18.05 million.
Former Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez had the previous record. He lost his case with the Seattle Mariners last year and received $14 million instead of his requested $16 million.
Guerrero, 24, hit .264 last season with 26 homers and 94 RBIs. He earned $14.5 million in 2023.
The three-time all-star had his best season at the plate in 2021, when his salary was $7.9 million. He hit .311 with 48 homers and 111 RBIs that year and finished second in American League MVP voting.
NBA
Canadian R-J Barrett scored 23 points and the Toronto Raptors overcame a career-high 45 points from Miles Bridges to beat Charlotte 123-117 last night and hand the Hornets their ninth straight loss. The N-B-A’s trade deadline is this afternoon (3 p-m Eastern) and the Raptors are expected to be active as the team continues to retool its roster and build for the future.
(Canadian Press)