Saturday Sports: Dub Final Four Set, Mustangs Strike First

WHL PLAYOFFS

Three Western Hockey League second round playoff series wrapped up on Friday, setting up the conference finals.

Jan Spunar stopped all 27 shots he faced as the Portland Winterhawks shut out the Everett Silvertips 5-0 to sweep their best-of-seven series in four games.

Zac Funk had a hat trick and Riley Heidt had two goals and two assists as the Prince George Cougars doubled the Kelowna Rockets 6-3 to win their series 4-1.

Jagger Firkus scored three consecutive goals as the Moose Jaw Warriors downed the Swift Current Broncos 4-2 for their fourth consecutive win and a 4-1 series victory.

Moose Jaw will face the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference final.

Prince George and Portland will meet in the Western Conference final.

SJHL CHAMPIONSHIP

FLIN FLON, MB – Seven different Mustangs found the back of the net as Melfort downed the Bombers 9-2 in Game 1 of the SJHL Championship series Friday at the Whitney Forum.

Aidyn Hutchinson led the way with three assists, and Logan Cox, and Ryan Duguay added two goals apiece to take a 1-0 lead in the Canterra Seeds Cup Final. James Venne was sharp in net for Melfort, and made 39 saves in the victory.

Game 2 goes Saturday

(SJHL.ca)

NHL

The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday night with a pair of Eastern Conference matchups. First up, the New York Islanders visit the Carolina Hurricanes (at 5 p-m Eastern) in Game 1 of their first-round series. Later, a classic rivalry is renewed as the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to the Boston Bruins to begin their best-of-seven series.

MLB

Justin Turner hit a solo homer and drove in another run with a single as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 for their fifth win in six games. Toronto reliever Bowden Francis picked up the win, allowing one hit and no runs in two innings.

NBA

• Tyler Herro scored 24 points and was an assist shy of a triple-double and the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 112-91 to advance out of the Eastern Conference’s play-in tournament. The Heat head to Boston for a rematch of the last two East finals against the Celtics. It’s Round 1 this time, with the Heat set to be huge underdogs against the runaway favourite to win the NBA title. 
• Brandon Ingram scored 24 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans booked a spot in the NBA playoffs with a 105-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings in a play-in tournament elimination game. The Pelicans won without leading scorer Zion Williamson, who strained his left hamstring in a play-in loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

(Canadian Press)