WEDNESDAY SPORTS PAGE: BEDARD LIGHTS UP DUCKS

NHL

CHICAGO (AP) — Connor Bedard had a goal and four assists to set his single-game high in points, Philipp Kurashev scored twice and had two assists, and Chicago beat Anaheim 7-2 on Tuesday night in the NHL.

Bedard, the top overall pick in last year’s draft, got his fifth point when he assisted on Johnson’s power-play goal midway through the third period.

Elsewhere in the NHL Tuesday:

CALGARY (AP) – Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon were a deadly duo once again on Tuesday night. Rantanen had two goals and two assists to extend his point streak to 10 games while MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to stretch his point streak to 13 games as the Colorado Avalanche cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Calgary Flames. MacKinnon is up to a league-leading 113 points (41 goals, 72 assists) on the season, a career-high. He is six points up on Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves for his second consecutive shutout, and the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in a matchup of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division.

DALLAS (AP) — Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the third period, including the decisive goal with 5:22 left, and Eastern Conference-leading Florida rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat Dallas 4-3.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Newly acquired defenseman Bowen Byram scored twice and Zach Benson had a goal and two assists as Buffalo handed Detroit its sixth straight loss, 7-3.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals and assisted on another, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves as Minnesota beat Arizona 4-1.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Owen Tippett scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, Morgan Frost had a goal and an assist, and Philadelphia beat San Jose 3-2.

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Drake Batherson scored 3:13 into overtime, and Ottawa beat Pittsburgh 2-1 to stop a seven-game winless streak.

MONTREAL (AP) — Cayden Primeau made 41 saves for his second career shutout as Montreal beat Columbus 3-0.

SEATTLE (AP) – Jack Eichel scored on a breakaway at 3:01 of overtime, his 200th career NHL goal, as the Vegas Golden Knights rallied to defeat the host Seattle Kraken 5-4.

NHL EXPANSION

Atlanta is making a third bid to land an NHL team after losing both the Flames and the Thrashers. Former player Anson Carter heads a group that made a formal request to begin the process of adding an expansion team in the Atlanta area. Carter’s group is the second to express serious interest in bringing another team to Georgia. It was home to the Flames from 1972 to 80 and the Thrashers from 1999 to 2011.

WHL

BRONCOS 4 RAIDERS 2

Conor Geekie had two goals and two assists as the Swift Current Broncos defeated the Prince Albert Raiders 4-2 on Tuesday night in the Western Hockey League. Luke Mistelbacher and Peyton Kettles also scored for Swift Current (36-20-6) while Connor Hvidston and Clarke Caswell pitched in with two assists.

Elsewhere in the Dub on Tuesday:

BLADES 4 WHEAT KINGS 0

SASKATOON — Austin Elliott earned an 18-save shutout as the Saskatoon Blades topped the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-0. Egor Sidorov scored three goals while John Babcock scored once for Saskatoon (46-12-5).

WINTERHAWKS 3 CHIEFS 2

SPOKANE, Wash. — James Stefan knocked in the game-winning goal at 5:34 in the second period as the Portland Winterhawks edged the Spokane Chiefs 3-2. Luca Cagnoni scored twice for Portland (44-15-3). Winterhawks netminder Jan Špunar stopped 25 of 27 shots.

GIANTS 5 AMERICANS 1

LANGLEY, B.C. — Jaden Lipinski scored twice and Ty Halaburda had three assists as the Vancouver Giants defeated the Tri-City Americans 5-1. Connor Levis, Mazden Leslie and Adam Titlbach also scored for Vancouver (30-29-4). Brett Mirwald made 24 saves.

MLB

Justin Turner, Daulton Varsho and Santiago Espinal each had two R-B-I’s as the Toronto Blue Jays earned their second straight win, defeating the New York Yankees 8-1 in spring training action. Starting pitcher Jose Berrios struck out three batters, walked one and gave up three hits and a single run in three-and-a-third innings of work for Toronto. The Blue Jays host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

NFL

So far, 10 quarterbacks will be signing with new teams when the league’s Free Agency period officially opens on Wednesday: Kirk Cousins (Atlanta), Russell Wilson (Pittsburgh), Jacoby Brissett (New England), Jameis Winston (Cleveland), Gardner Minshew (Las Vegas), Tyrod Taylor (NY Jets), Drew Lock (NY Giants), Marcus Mariota (Washington), Mitchell Trubisky (Bills) and Sam Darnold (Minnesota) all agreed to deals with new teams over the league’s 48-hour “legal tampering” period which began on Monday.

At least a dozen veteran running backs, led by Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard, are all getting deals with new teams as well.

They’re joined by Aaron Jones, D’Andre Swift, Austin Ekeler, Devin Singletary, Antonio Gibson, Zack Moss, Gus Edwards and Nyheim Hines, among others.

CURLING

Briane Harris’s absence from Canada’s national women’s curlingchampionship has officially been explained.

The 31-year-old from Winnipeg was declared ineligible to compete in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary hours before her team skipped by Kerri Einarson played its opening game Feb. 16. The Einarson rink, Harris’s lawyer, Curling Canada, and the World Curling all issued separate statements on Tuesday confirming that she had been banned due to a doping violation.

“Curling Canada was deeply disappointed to receive the news of Briane Harris’s adverse analytical finding on the opening day of the Tournament of Hearts,” reads a statement from CurlingCanada. “Our organization is committed to the values of clean and safe sport, as outlined by both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. 

“We respect the integrity of the testing process and accept the results of the test, as well as Briane’s right to appeal the findings.”

Harris tested positive for trace amounts of Ligandrol in an out-of-competition doping control test conducted on Jan. 24. She got her positive results on the evening of Feb. 15 and informed Curling Canada of the violation the following morning as she headed to practice.

She asked the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports, the body that conducts doping testing both in competition and outside of competition, to open her B sample and re-test, but again it was found to be positive. 

Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen said in a video conference on Tuesday that at this point in the process the sport’s national governing body is a bystander and will abide by any legal ruling on the issue.

“She has her right to due process and the right to appeal,” said Thiessen. “We totally support all of our athletes in any of these situations.”

Ligandrol is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited substances. It is used to increase energy and muscle growth.

(Canadian Press)

NLL

The greatest goal scorer in Rush history is staying in green. 

Saskatchewan Rush GM Derek Keenan announced that Robert Church has signed a one-year extension, taking him through the 2024/2025 season. 

“Robert Church is a cornerstone of the Rush offence and the entire team. This signing illustrates Robert’s long term commitment to the Rush organization. He’s never wanted to play anywhere else and that sentiment is mutual,” said Keenan. “I personally would like to thank Robert and our ownership for that continued commitment! We are excited about the push to the playoffs and beyond.”

Church, who started his career with the Rush in 2014, has scored 371 goals in his career, the most in team history. 

(SaskRush.com)