Saturday Sports: Latvia Stuns Canada

WORLD JUNIORS

Latvia recorded the first major upset of this year’s world junior hockey championship when it shocked host Canada 3-2 in an eight-round shootout. Eriks Mateiko scored the lone goal of Friday’s shootout. He and teammate Peteris Bulans scored power-play goals in regulation time and netminder Linards Feldbergs stopped 55 shots over 65 minutes and all eight in the shootout. Calum Ritchie and Jett Luchanko scored for Canada, which has a win and shootout loss after two games.

WHL

Caden Brown scored twice and Tye Spencer had a goal and assist as the visiting Regina Pats beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-3 in Western Hockey League action on Friday at Westoba Place.

Zach Pantelakis, Braxton Whitehead, Aleksey Chichkin and Zachary Lansard also scored for the Pats (9-17-4-2), who led 3-1 after the first period and 4-2 heading into the third. Zackary Shantz, Cameron Kuzma and Keets Fawcett all had two assists.

Matteo Michels, Nolan Flamand and Caleb Hadland scored for the Wheat Kings (15-10-3-2), who were outshot 38-27. Dylan Ronald chipped in with two assists.

The Pats went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Wheaties were 0-for-2.

Elsewhere in the WHL on Friday:

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RAIDERS 2 BRONCOS 1

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Luke Moroz scored at 15:04 of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and lifted the Prince Albert Raiders to a 2-1 win over the visiting Swift Current Broncos.

Dayce Derkatch also scored for the Raiders (16-11-3-0), who were outshot 32-27 by the visitors.

Luke Mistelbacher scored for the Broncos (17-14-0-1), who went 1-for-4 on the power play.

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BLADES 5 WARRIORS 2

SASKATOON, Sask. — Brandon Lisowsky had two goals and an assist and the Saskatoon Blades battled back from an early two-goal deficit to beat the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 5-2.

Morgan Tastad, Rowan Calvert and Ben Riche also scored for the East Division-leading Blades (18-10-2-2), who were outshot 30-27. Tyler Parr and Grayden Siepmann each had two assists.

Ethan Semeniuk and Lynden Lakovic scored for the Warriors (8-20-3-1), who led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 heading into the third. Rilen Kovacevic chipped in with two assists.

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HURRICANES 4 HITMEN 1

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Tristen Doyle had two goals and an assist and the Lethbridge Hurricanes blew by the visiting Calgary Hitmen 4-1.

Logan Wormald and Brayden Edwards, both with a goal and assist, also scored for the Hurricanes (18-11-1-1). Cameron Norrie chipped in with two assists.

Brandon Gorzynski scored for the Hitmen (17-10-3-1), who outshot the hosts 32-31.

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OIL KINGS 5 REBELS 1

RED DEER, Alta. — Kayden Stroeder had two goals and an assist and the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings drilled the Red Deer Rebels 5-1.

Blake Fiddler, Landon Hanson and Jack Toogood also scored for the Oil Kings (17-13-1-1), who outshot the Rebels 34-25.

Jaxon Fuder scored a power-play goal for the Rebels (15-15-1-2), who were tied 1-1 after the first period but trailed 4-1 heading into the third.

CFL

American defensive back Tyrique McGhee has signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

McGhee signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft, spending the season on the practice roster. 

He joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers practice roster in 2023 and suited up for three games over the last two seasons. 

The five-foot-nine, 185-pound McGhee played four seasons of U.S. collegiate football (2016-19) at Georgia, appearing in 49 games as a Bulldog. 

NFL

The LA Rams can punch their ticket to the playoffs with a win today against the visiting Arizona Cardinals in one of three NFL games on Saturday’s schedule. The Rams, who lead the NFC West by a game over the Seattle Seahawks, can take the division title with a win. In other games, the New England Patriots host the LA Chargers, and the Denver Broncos visit the Cincinnati Bengals.

NBA

There are nine games in the NBA Saturday, but the Toronto Raptors don’t play until Sunday. The 7-and-24 Raptors have lost nine straight games and host the 16-and-15 Atlanta Hawks, who have won two in a row. The Raptors have a 6-and-10 record at home, and 1-and-14 on the road.

(CP)