Saturday Sports: Argos Upset Bombers, NHL, WHL, MLB Round-Up
Jake Ceresna credited a collective defensive effort for the Toronto Argonauts’ 14-11 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday.
The veteran defensive lineman notched one of seven sacks on Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros in a win that secured a playoff spot for Toronto and denied Winnipeg’s attempt to clinch first place in the CFL West Division.
“The (defensive backs), the linebackers and the D-line, I think we played together,” Ceresna said. “Any time the DBs are out there covering well and we get a lot of sacks, it’s a tribute to them.”
Toronto’s victory (9-7) eliminated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from post-season play and moved the Argonauts into second place in the East Division, one point up on the Ottawa Redblacks (8-6-1), who play the Alouettes in Montreal on Monday.
The loss halted the Blue Bombers’ (10-7) win streak at eight games in front of a fourth consecutive sellout crowd of 32,343 at Princess Auto Stadium.
Winnipeg could still secure first place if the Saskatchewan Roughriders lose or tie at home against the B.C. Lions on Saturday.
Collaros blamed himself for some of the takedowns.
“Got to watch the tape,” he said. “I’m sure there was a couple times that I was trying to do too much and extend plays. I feel bad because I know that number’s an important thing for the offensive line and they take pride in that. When you give up one on your own, it sucks.”
Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly completed 16 of 23 pass attempts for 203 yards, including a touchdown throw to Dave Ungerer. He wasn’t sacked once.
Toronto running back Ka’Deem Carey rushed five times for 39 yards, giving him 1,005 yards on the season. He left in the second half with what head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said were back spasms.
“For us to get into the playoffs, we’ve got to beat the best teams in the league,” Dinwiddie said. “We showed we can do that and now we’ve got to play better.”
NHL
LIGHTNING 4 HURRICANES 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored a third-period hat trick to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in Friday night’s season opener for both teams.
JETS 2, BLACKHAWKS 1, OT
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mark Scheifele scored the tying goal with 1:04 left in regulation and scored the winner 38 seconds into overtime to lift Winnipeg to a win over Chicago. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots to help Winnipeg win its home opener two nights to improve to 2-0 on the season.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, BLUES 3
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Shea Theodore each had a goal and an assist to lead Vegas to a victory over St. Louis. Nicolas Roy, playing in his 300th career game, scored the other Golden Knights goal, and Mark Stone had two assists. Adin Hill made 19 saves.
FLYERS 3, CANUCKS 2. SO
VANCOUVER, Britsih Columbia (AP) — Morgan Frost scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout and Philadelphia opened their season with a victory over Vancouver.
WHL
Gavin McKenna scored a goal and an assist as the Medicine Hat Tigers downed the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-1 in Western Hockey League play on Friday night.
Niilopekka Muhonen, Marcus Pacheco, Kadon McCann, Oasiz Wiesblatt and Hunter St. Martin had the other goals for the Tigers.
WARRIORS 4 SILVERTIPS 2
MOOSE JAW – Lynden Lakovic scored twice as the Moose Jaw Warriors defeated the Everett Silvertips.
Brayden Yager and Rilen Kovacevic also tallied for Moose Jaw.
BLADES 2 CHIEFS 1
SASKATOON – Tanner Molendyk knocked in the game-winning goal at 10:35 in the third period as the Blades edged the Chiefs.
Ben Saunderson had the other goal for Saskatoon.
PATS 4 BRONCOS 1
REGINA – Four different players scored for the Regina Pats in a win over the Swift Current Broncos.
Connor Bear, Jaxsin Vaughan, Zach Moore and Tyson Buczkowski tallied for Regina.
GIANTS 4 HURRICANES 3
LETHBRIDGE – Cameron Schmidt had the overtime winner as the Giants edged the Hurricanes.
Tyler Thorpe, Tyson Zimmer and Aaron Obobaifo scored in regulation for Vancouver.
THUNDERBIRDS 3 BLAZERS 1
SEATTLE – Sawyer Mynio scored twice as the Seattle Thunderbirds downed the Kamloops Blazers.
Thunderbirds goaltender Scott Ratzlaff kicked out 41 of 42 shots.
ROCKETS 9 WINTERHAWKS 4
KELOWNA – Tij Iginla had a hat trick to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a rout of the Portland Winterhawks.
Caden Price, Andrew Cristall, Max Graham, Jakub Stancl, Jaxon Kehrig and Hiroki Gojsic had the other goals for Kelowna.
WILD 4 ROYALS 3
VICTORIA – The Wenatchee Wild scored on both of their shootout attempts in a victory over the Victoria Royals.
Luka Shcherbyna, Miles Cooper and Zane Saab tallied in regulation for Wenatchee. The Royals missed both attempts in the shootout.
MLB
The Battle of California goes to the L-A Dodgers. Kike Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez hit solo homers in a 2-0 win over San Diego. The victory in the decisive Game 5 gives the Dodgers a berth in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
The start of the upcoming Game 5 of the A-L Division Series has been moved to an afternoon start instead of the evening due to potential bad weather. The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers have won two games apiece. The winner will advance to play the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
(Canadian Press)
