FRIDAY SPORTS: WARRIORS WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT

WHL

WARRIORS 4 WHEAT KINGS 2

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Jagger Firkus scored his 41st goal of the season in helping lift the Moose Jaw Warriors past the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-2 on Thursday in Western Hockey League action.

Firkus is third in the WHL in goals behind Saskatoon’s Egor Sidorov (42) and Prince George’s Zac Funk (49).

Pavel McKenzie, Lynden Lakovic, and Atley Calvert also chipped in a goal apiece for Moose Jaw (34-16-0-2), which extended its winning streak to six games. Jackson Unger made 28 saves.

Jayden Wiens and Caleb Hadland replied for Brandon (26-21-5-1), which dropped its second in a row. Carson Bjarnason stopped 33 shots.

NHL

LEAFS 4 FLYERS 3

TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews had a natural hat trick in the second period and William Nylander scored 54 seconds into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

CANUCKS 4, RED WINGS 1

VANCOUVER, Britsh Columbia (AP) — Elias Lindholm scored twice, Thatcher Demko made 27 saves and NHL-leading Vancouver beat Detroit 4-1 for the team’s third straight victory.

RANGERS 7, CANADIENS 4

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Kreider scored a hat trick, Adam Fox had four assists and Jonathan Quick made 31 saves as New York downed Montreal to match a season high with its sixth straight victory.

SHARKS 6, FLAMES 3

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Filip Zadina had two goals and two assists for a career-high four points in San Jose’s 6-3 victory over Calgary.

Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and Andrei Kuzmenko scored for Calgary and rookie Dustin Wolf stopped 25 shots. The Flames have dropped two straight and have lost five of their last six at home.

PANTHERS 4, SABRES 0

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Anthony Stolarz stopped 45 shots for his seventh career shutout and Florida became the 11th NHL team to win 10 consecutive road games with a 4-0 win over Buffalo.

Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring midway through the first period and added an empty-netter. Anton Lundell scored by tipping in Matthew Tkachuk’s point shot on a delayed penalty with 2:44 left in the second period.

KRAKEN 4, BRUINS 1

BOSTON (AP) — Matty Beniers had a goal and two assists as Seattle concluded a five-game road trip with a 4-1 win over Eastern Conference-leading Boston.

STARS 9, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sam Steel scored 35 seconds after the puck dropped, and Dallas scored four goals in the first 16 minutes on the way to a 9-2 rout of Nashville.

BLUES 6, OILERS 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours each had a goal and two assists and St. Louis beat Edmonton 6-3 for the team’s eighth win in 10 games.

Jordan Binnington made 36 saves, highlighted by two dazzling saves on Zach Hyman during an Edmonton power play in the first period.

PENGUINS 4, BLACKHAWKS 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored twice, Reilly Smith and Bryan Rust added goals, and Pittsburgh beat Chicago 4-1 to snap a three-game losing streak.

Blackhawks star rookie Connor Bedard had an assist in his return after a 14-game absence because of a broken jaw. After a sluggish first period, he set up Phillipp Kurashev with a nifty pass through traffic midway through the second. Kurashev dumped it past sprawling goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.

DUCKS 5, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Mason McTavish scored twice against his hometown team to help Anaheim beat Ottawa. The 21-year-old McTavish grew up in nearby Carp, Ontario. He has 15 goals this season, his third with the Ducks.

LIGHTNING 6, AVALANCHE 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist as Tampa Bay beat Colorado 6-3.

KINGS 2, DEVILS 1

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Quinton Byfield scored on a power play with 5:37 left and Los Angeles rebounded from a seven-goal loss to beat New Jersey 2-1.

CFL

It’s the end of an era for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Star linebacker Simoni Lawrence announced his retirement from football yesterday. The 35-year-old American spent 12 seasons in the CFL, the last 11 with Hamilton after starting his career in Canada with the Edmonton Elks. Lawrence was a three-time league all-star and five times an East Division all-star. Three times Lawrence was the East Division’s top defensive player.

NBA

The NBA all-star weekend kicks off tonight, with the celebrity game and rising stars game. Canadian sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin will be in the Rising Stars event, while London, Ontario’s, Shaedon Sharpe is still out due to injury. Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes will be in Sunday’s all-star game.

MLB

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Eager to look forward after another quick post-season exit last year, the Toronto Blue Jays opened camp Thursday with a sense of optimism and a belief that they have the ability to contend again in the always-tough American League East.

“This group is hungry,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “There’s guys that definitely want to do more things than they did last year.”

It was the first formal workout day for pitchers and catchers at the team’s Florida development complex. Some position players were on hand for training but they don’t have to formally report until early next week.

The Blue Jays squeaked into the playoffs last year after an 89-win campaign but were eliminated after back-to-back losses in Minnesota. It was the third time in four years that Toronto was swept in the opening round.

CURLING

Kerri Einarson agrees with a saying in sport that it is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.

Winner of four straight Canadian women’s curling championships, the Manitoba skip says each title has been progressively harder to claim. The fifth could be the toughest yet.

Einarson opens her quintuple bid Friday against Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges at WinSport International Arena at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park.

The 18-team Scotties Tournament of Hearts concludes Feb. 25 with the victor representing Canada at the world championship March 16-24 in Sydney, N.S.

(Canadian Press)