SUNDAY SPORTS PAGE: CFL, USPORTS, NHL, WHL, NBA, MLB

MONTREAL – A single point following a missed field goal was enough to give the Toronto Argonauts a 24-23 win over the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday in CFL action at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

The result means the Argonauts have clinched first place in the East Division and home field advantage in the playoffs.

Toronto’s (11-6) Mcleod Bethel-Thompson threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns and had one interception.

Trevor Harris led Montreal (8-9), picking up 413 passing yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

The Alouettes found lots of success through the air on their opening drive, gaining 52 yards in only three plays and finding themselves on the Toronto 15 yard-line.

All the progress would be undone when Montreal went for it on third down. They turned the ball over when Harris’s pass was intercepted by Jonathan Jones.

(The Canadian Press/Photo: Toronto Argonauts)

USPORTS

The University of Regina Rams locked up second place in the Canada West standings and clinched a home game in the Canada West semifinals with a 30-7 win over Calgary on Saturday afternoon at a snowy McMahon Stadium.

• The Rams led 9-0 at halftime thanks to a pair of Aldo Galvan field goals, an early rouge off a punt, and a conceded safety.
• Regina pulled away in the second half with three touchdowns in the span of four offensive possessions, first on a 24-yard pass from Noah Pelletier to Ethan Marshall eight minutes into the third quarter.
• Pelletier aired out a long 35-yard pass to Emmett Steadman on the next possession to put the Rams up 23-0.
• Playing in his first Canada West game, Marshall Erichsen capped the scoring for the Rams with an 11-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
• Calgary’s lone points of the game came on a two-yard touchdown run by Gob Deng later on in the fourth

• The Rams will host Manitoba next Saturday afternoon (2:00) at Mosaic Stadium. The Bisons (3-4) need a win to clinch the fourth and final playoff berth, which will go to either Manitoba or Alberta depending on next week’s results. Alberta would hold the tiebreaker over Manitoba if the two teams finish the year tied.

USPORTS

VANCOUVER – It went right down to the wire, but in the end it was the UBC Thunderbirds who prevailed, handing the No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies their first loss of the season — a 35-29 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Thunderbird Stadium.

With just 44 seconds remaining, the Huskies drove 71 yards in search of a go-ahead score. With the ball spotted at the Thunderbirds 17-yard-line and the clock reading 0:02 — a Mason Nyhus heave to the end zone on the final play of the game fell incomplete and UBC moved to 4-3.

In a losing effort, Nyhus continued his sensational fifth-year campaign. The Regina, Sask. product threw for 441 yards and three touchdowns on 33-49 passing in what was the final away game of his Canada West career.

UBC will take on the Regina Rams, who clinched second place in the conference earlier in the day with a win over the Dinos, in the Hardy Cup semifinal at Mosaic Stadium

Saskatchewan will meet Calgary in the final week of the regular-season next Saturday at Griffiths, before starting their own postseason journey. 

The Huskies will either play host to the Manitoba Bisons or Alberta Golden Bears. If the Bisons win, they clinch the fourth-and-final playoff spot. The Golden Bears need a win, paired with a Bisons loss, in order to make the November trip to Saskatoon.

NHL SCOREBOARD

Toronto 4 Winnipeg 1

Ottawa 6 Arizona 2

St. Louis 2 Edmonton 0

Calgary 3 Carolina 2 (OT)

Dallas 5 Montreal 2

Buffalo 5 Vancouver 1

Boston 4 Minnesota 3 (OT)

New Jersey 2 San Jose 1

Washington 4 Los Angeles 3

Tampa Bay 5 N.Y. Islanders 3

Pittsburgh 6 Columbus 3

Philadelphia 3 Nashville 1

Colorado 3 Vegas 2

WHL

RED DEER, Alta. – The unbeaten Red Deer Rebels, listed 10th in this week’s Canadian Hockey League Top 10 rankings, won their 10th game of the Western Hockey League season in style on Saturday, blanking the Prince Albert Raiders 3-0 at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Jayden Grubbe, Jace Isley and Jhett Larson scored for the Rebels, who improved their record to 10-0-0-0.

Rhett Stoesser made 23 saves for the shutout.

The Raiders slipped to 3-7-2-0 with the loss.

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GIANTS 6 ROYALS 5 (OT)

VICTORIA, B.C. – A goal by Zack Ostapchuk 1:09 into overtime gave the Vancouver Giants a 6-5 victory against the Victoria Royals.

Ty Thorpe and Samuel Honzek scored twice for the Giants (2-5-1-2), while Ethan Semeniuk netted a single.

Jake Poole scored three goals for the Royals (2-9-1-0), with singles added by Riley Gannon and Teague Patton.

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TIGERS 5 WHEAT KINGS 1

MEDICINE HAT, ALTA. – Pavel Bocharov scored a goal and added two assists as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1.

Brayden Boehm, Reid Andresen, Owen MacNeil and Brendan Lee also scored for the Tigers (4-5-1-0).

Brett Hyland scored for the Wheat Kings (6-5-1-0).

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HURRICANES 3 BRONCOS 2

SWIFT CURRENT, SASK. – Cole Shepard scored two goals, including the winner at 10:34 of the third, as the Lethbridge Hurricanes edged the Swift Current Broncos 3-2.

Joe Arntsen also scored for the Hurricanes (5-7-0-0) who were outshot 35-32.

Adam McNutt and Owen Pickering scored for the Broncos (2-7-0-0).

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THUNDERBIRDS 8 CHIEFS 3

SEATTLE, WASH. – Reid Schaefer scored twice and Jordan Gustafson had three assists as the Seattle Thunderbirds won their eighth game in as many starts by rolling over the Spokane Chiefs 8-3.

Jared Davidson, Coster Dunn, Lucas Ciona, Sam Popowich, Jeremy Hanzel and Sawyer Mynio also scored for the T-Birds (8-0-0-0).

Ty Cheveldayoff, Chase Bertholet and Kooper Gizowski scored for the Chiefs (3-6-0-0).

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AMERICANS 7 WINTERHAWKS 3

KENNEWICK, WASH. – Tyson Greenway scored three goals and added two assists as the Tri-City Americans handed the Portland Winterhawks their first defeat of the season.

Adam Mechura, Deagan McMillan, Jake Sloan and Parker Bell also scored for the Americans (5-5-0-0).

Marek Alscher, Markus Nguyen and Gabe Klassen scored for the Winterhawks (7-1-0-0)

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COUGARS 4 BLAZERS 3 (OT)

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Koehn Ziemmer’s goal at 1:39 of overtime capped off a spirited Cougars’ comeback as Prince George recorded a 4-3 road win.

Chase Wheatcroft tied the game 3-3 at 19:19 of the third period to force overtime.

Hudson Thornton also chipped in with two goals for the Cougars (5-5-0-0).

Logan Stankoven scored all three goals for the Blazers (5-3-0-1).

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ICE 5 ROCKETS 4

KELOWNA, B.C. – Conor Geekie scored two goals and Zach Benson added two assists as the Winnipeg ICE won their 11th game of the season with a 5-4 decision over the Kelowna Rockets.

Ben Zloty, Ty Nash and Vladislav Shilo also scored for the ICE (11-1-0-0).

Rilen Kovacevic, Gabriel Szturc, Turner McMillen and Adam Kydd scored for the Rockets (3-6-1-0).

SPORTS SHORTS

Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Max Strus added 20 off the bench and the Miami Heat tripped the Toronto Raptors 112-109 to stop a season-opening two-game slide. The N-B-A teams meet again Monday in Miami. Miami’s Kyle Lowry had 17 points against his former club, Tyler Herro had 14 and Bam Adebayo added 10. Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Junior each scored 23 points for Toronto, who have lost two of their first three games.

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The Philadelphia Phillies hit four home runs to beat the San Diego Padres 10-6 on Saturday and take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven N-L Championship Series. Rhys Hoskins homered twice and Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto also connected. The Phillies trailed 4-0 in the first inning before they rallied for the win. The Phillies send ace Zack Wheeler to the mound Sunday in Game 5 at home to try and clinch their first N-L pennant since 2009.

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Aaron Judge and the Yankees generated more boos than base hits in New York on Saturday. One more punchless performance and their season is over. Handcuffed again by Cristian Javier and Houston’s stingy pitching staff, the Yankees went down meekly on three harmless hits in a 5-0 defeat that left them on the brink of a four-game sweep by the Astros in the A-L Championship Series. New York must find a way to bust out of its playoff slump Sunday or it will be 13 years and counting without a World Series appearance.

(RP.com Wire Services)