SATURDAY EYE-OPENER

BRIER:  Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs is a win away from his second Canadian men’s curling championship in three years.

His Sault Ste. Marie foursome downed Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador 7-5 in Friday’s Page playoff between the top two seeds.

Jacobs, third Ryan Fry and the front end of E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden earned an express ticket to Sunday’s championship game.

Gushue drops to Saturday’s semifinal to face the winner of the playoff between Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock and Team Canada’s John Morris. The semifinal winner faces Jacobs on Sunday.

—

NHL:  The Minnesota Wild have been the NHL’s hottest team since the All-Star break, allowing them to build a five-point cushion for a Western Conference playoff berth.

The Wild picked up their fifth straight win as Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise scored in a two-minute span of the third period to push Minnesota past the Hurricanes 3-1 in Carolina. Devan Dubnyk turned back 37 shots for the Wild, who improved to 16-2-1 since the break.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

– Patric Hornqvist scored back-to-back goals to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead in the second period of a 5-2 triumph at Anaheim. Thomas Greiss stopped 27 shots as the Penguins climbed to within four points of the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders. The Ducks still pace the Western Conference by two points over Nashville.

– Corey Crawford stopped 46 shots and Antoine Vermette notched the lone shootout goal in Chicago’s 2-1 win against Edmonton. Brent Seabrook tied the game withi 7:02 left in regulation before the Blackhawks moved six points behind the Central Division-leading Nashville Predators.

– Jiri Hudler scored twice as Calgary downed Detroit 5-2 to climb into third place in the Pacific Division. Justin Abdelkader scored twice, but the Red Wings blew the 2-0 lead and stayed five points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens.

– Mika Zibanejad and Mark Stone scored 94 seconds apart early in the third period to send Ottawa past Buffalo 3-2. Andrew Hammond made 24 saves for the Senators, who are 7-0-1 in their last eight to climb within three points of Boston for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.

– Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and an assist to help Columbus beat New Jersey 3-2 and end a seven-game losing streak. Recent pickup Justin Falk got his first points of the season with a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets.

—

MLB:  R.A. Dickey tossed hitless ball for two scoreless innings in his first start of the spring and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 Friday.

Dickey struck out three and walked one on 16 pitches. He was 14-13 with a 3.71 ERA in a career-high 34 starts last season.

The 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner said he’s trying to lessen his workload during the spring to avoid fatigue going into April, where he is a combined 4-7 with a 4.80 ERA since coming to Toronto from the Mets two years ago.

“It’s something that I’m going to do in an effort to peak at the right time at the end of spring as we’re going into the (opening) series, so we’ll see how it goes,” Dickey said. “It would be folly for me not to try to change something up. . I need to try and make an improvement and, hopefully, I can do that.”

Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista was a late scratch from the lineup as a precaution because of tightness in his right hamstring. The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 40 minutes because of rain.

“He’ll be fine,” manager John Gibbons said.

Chris Colabello hit a two-run homer for Toronto off starter Mike Wright.

Alejandro De Aza homered for Baltimore in the fourth.

—

NFL:  The New York Jets were pretty busy Friday.

A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that the Jets have agreed to acquire Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall, pending a physical exam. The trade is the first by new Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan (muh-KAG’-nahn) and will send the Bears an unspecified draft pick. The trade cannot become official until the NFL’s new league year begins next Tuesday.

Marshall amassed 721 receiving yards and scored eight touchdowns last season, but his 61 receptions were his fewest since his rookie year.

Also, the Jets are keeping middle linebacker David Harris, who has more than 1,000 tackles in eight seasons with the team. A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that it is a three-year, $21.5 million contract, with $15 million guaranteed through the first two years.

In other NFL moves:

– Free agent safety LaRon Landry has been suspended for 10 games by the NFL for violating the performance-enhancing drug policy. The former Indianapolis Colt missed four games in 2014 with a previous league suspension for the same reason.

– A person familiar with the situation says New Orleans Saints all-time leading receiver Marques Colston has agreed to contract changes and will remain with the club next season and save the Saints some salary cap space. Without restructuring, Colston would have cost New Orleans $9.7 million against the cap.

– The Indianapolis Colts say they will not re-sign wide receiver Reggie Wayne. The 14-year veteran has been part of a club-record 143 wins and ranks second in franchise history with 1,070 receptions, 14,345 yards receiving and 80 touchdown catches. Wayne will become a free agent.

– Bears quarterback Jimmy Clausen has agreed to a one-year contract extension through the 2015 season. Clausen appeared in four games and made one start for Chicago late last season, throwing for 223 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

– The Chiefs are bringing back linebacker Josh Mauga on a three-year deal. That’s what a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Friday. The move to retain Mauga, a pending free agent, came one day after the Chiefs parted ways with veteran linebacker Joe Mays. Mauga will likely start at middle linebacker.