Good Friday Sports Page: Upset!

WHL

The underdog Prince Albert Raiders spotted the Saskatoon Blades a 2-0 lead on Thursday then stormed back to register a 4-3 victory in the opening game of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

Ryder Ritchie had a goal and assist for the visitors, who were outshot 44-20 at SaskTel Centre in the first game of the best-of-seven series.

Aiden Oiring, Easton Kovacs and Niall Crocker also scored for the Raiders, who trailed 1-0 after the first period but led 3-2 heading into the third.

Egor Sidorov scored twice for the Blades, while Alexander Suzdalev added a single. The Blades went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Raiders were 2-for-3.

Game 2 in the series is Friday night.

NHL

PENGUINS 3 BLUE JACKETS 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin scored twice to reach the 20-goal milestone for the 15th time and Pittsburgh extended their mastery over Columbus with a 3-2 win on Thursday night.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Thursday:

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ISLANDERS 3 PANTHERS 2

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period to help lift the New York Islanders past Florida. Aleksander Barkov became the first player in Panthers history to reach 700 points with the franchise with his second-period goal.

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CANADIENS 4 FLYERS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — Montreal captain Nick Suzuki reached 30 goals for the first time in his NHL career and added an assist to help the Canadiens beat Philadelphia.

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SENATORS 2 BLACKHAWKS 0

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Claude Giroux and Parker Kelly scored, and Ottawa beat Chicago for their fourth consecutive victory. Fans piled near the glass during warm-ups to see Chicago rookie Connor Bedard, but the 18-year-old centre was kept off the scoresheet.

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MAPLE LEAFS 5 CAPITALS 1

TORONTO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice to give him six goals in seven games, Joseph Woll made 24 saves in a bounceback performance and Toronto beat Washington.

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HURRICANES 4 RED WINGS 0

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Frederik Andersen made 24 saves, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and two assists, and Carolina clinched a playoff berth with a win over Detroit.

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WILD 3 SHARKS 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Matt Boldy broke a tie 18 seconds into the third period and Minnesota beat NHL-worst San Jose to pick up a couple points in their slim playoff bid.

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BLUES 5 FLAMES 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Saad scored his sixth winning goal of the season, lifting St. Louis to a 5-3 victory over Calgary.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored two goals and Jonathan Huberdeau had the other for the Flames, who have lost five in a row and eight of their last 10 games. Dustin Wolf made 14 saves.

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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 JETS 1

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Ivan Barbashev broke a late tie and added an empty-netter, Logan Thompson made 39 saves and Vegas beat Winnipeg 4-1. The Jets have lost five in a row.

Barbashev made it 2-1 with a high backhander past Connor Hellebuyck with 5:29 left, then scored into the empty net with 1:45 remaining.

Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring late in the first period, and Jack Eichel also had an empty-net goal. Defending champion Vegas improved to 40-25-8, going 7-3-1 in its last 11 and 2-0-1 on a four-game trip.

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RANGERS 3 AVALANCHE 2 (SO)

DENVER (AP) — Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck scored shootout goals, Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves through overtime and two more in the shootout to lead the NHL-leading New York Rangers to a win over Colorado.

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OILERS 4 KINGS 1

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and Edmonton beat Los Angeles in a matchup of teams jostling for home ice in a possible first-round playoff clash.

Leon Draisaitl had three assists, Evan Bouchard had a goal and an assist, and Adam Henrique and Cody Ceci also scored for the Oilers. They are 44-23-4, going 15-2-2 at home since Jan. 1 to move five points up on the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand.

Stuart Skinner made 32 saves, allowing only Arthur Kaliyev’s goal.

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COYOTES 8 PREDATORS 4

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Logan Cooley had his first NHL hat trick, Clayton Keller added a goal and three assists and Arizona snapped Nashville’s point streak at 18 games with a victory.

Nashville had been 16-0-2 since its last loss Feb. 15 at home against Dallas. It was the longest points streak in Predators history and the longest in the NHL this season.

Arizona won its second straight and went 3-0-1 against the Predators this season. Connor Ingram made 30 saves for the Coyotes.

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KRAKEN 4 DUCKS 2

SEATTLE (AP) — Tye Kartye scored the go-ahead goal with 6:57 left in the third period and Seattle rallied to beat Anaheim to sweep a two-game set.

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STARS 3 CANUCKS 1

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Roope Hintz had a goal and two assists and Western Conference-leading Dallas wrapped up a playoff spot, beating Vancouver for their sixth straight victory.

MLB

George Springer, Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Junior homered to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a season-opening 8-2 victory over the host Tampa Bay Rays. Alejandro Kirk and Bo Bichette, drove in two runs apiece for the Jays. Toronto starter Jose Berríos gave up a leadoff homer to Yandy Díaz before settling down to strike out six batters over six innings.
Shohei Ohtani reached base three times in his home debut for the Dodgers, and Los Angeles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 in the Dodger Stadium opener today to a season of sky-high expectations. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman homered in the third inning, and Tyler Glasnow pitched six innings of two-hit ball for the Dodgers.

NLL

Philadelphia, PA – In the rare Thursday night NLL game, the Saskatchewan Rush rolled to a 16-12 win over the Philadelphia Wings.

Clark Walter, Robert Church and Zach Manns all netted hat tricks in Saskatchewan’s sixth win of the season, putting them just one game back of a playoff spot.

(SaskRush.com)

March Madness

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Grant Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, and Alabama beat top-seeded North Carolina 89-87 to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. Nelson finished with a season-high 24 points, 19 in the second half, and he blocked RJ Davis’ attempt at a tying layup after giving Alabama the lead. The Tide face sixth-seeded Clemson on Saturday for a berth in the Final Four. Armando Bacot finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for North Carolina. Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada scored 19 points each for Alabama and Mark Sears scored 18.

PGA

Scottie Scheffler is off to a solid start in his bid for a third straight PGA Tour victory. The world’s Number 1 player shot a 65 in the Houston Open today and trails Taylor Moore and Wilson Furr by one shot at Memorial Park. Adam Svensson of Surrey, B-C, and Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ontario, both shot 66s and are just two shots back of the leaders.

(Canadian Press)