SATURDAY SPORTS PAGE: DUB, SJ ROUND-UP
Photo: Winnipeg Ice
WINNIPEG – Matthew Savoie scored once and added two assists as the Winnipeg ICE defeated the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 5-3 in the opening game of their Western Hockey League Eastern Conference semifinal series on Friday.
Zach Benson, Owen Pederson, Connor McClennon and Graham Sward also scored for the ICE, who outshot the Warriors 37-29. Conor Geekie chipped in with two assists.
Brayden Yager, Jagger Firkus and Maximus Wanner scored for the Warriors, who trailed 3-1 after the first period. The teams were tied 3-3 heading into the third. Ryder Korczak chipped in with two assists.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg.
REBELS 3 BLADES 1
Red Deer leads best-of-seven series 1-0
SASKATOON, Sask. – Jace Isley scored at 14:19 of the third period to give the visiting Red Deer Rebels a 2-0 lead and some breathing room and they managed to hang on for a 3-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades in the opening game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Jhett Larson and Christoffer Sedoff (empty-netter) also scored for the Rebels, who were outshot 24-20 in the tight defensive game.
Jake Chiasson scored at 18:08 of the third period for the Blades to reduce the deficit to 2-1 but the Blades couldn’t get any closer. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Game 2 is Sunday at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.
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BLAZERS 6 WINTERHAWKS 4
Kamloops leads best-of-seven series 1-0
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Jakub Demek scored twice and Olen Zellweger chipped in with two assists as the Kamloops Blazers rolled over the visiting Portland Winterhawks 6-4 in the opening game of their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
Emmitt Finnie, Fraser Minten, Matthew Seminoff and Logan Stankoven also scored for the Blazers, who outshot the Winterhawks 38-32.
James Stefan scored three times and Marcus Nguyen netted a single for the Winterhawks, who were tied 1-1 with the Blazers after the first period, but trailed 4-2 heading into the third. Kyle Chyzowski chipped in with two assists.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops.
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THUNDERBIRDS 4 COUGARS 1
Seattle leads best-of-seven series 1-0
SEATTLE, Wash. – Dylan Guenther scored twice and Brad Lambert chipped in with two assists as the Seattle Thunderbirds edged the visiting Prince George Cougars 4-1 in the opening game of their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
Lucas Ciona and Nico Myatovic (empty-netter) also scored for the T-Birds, who outshot the Cougars 44-24.
Koehn Ziemmer scored for the Cougars, who trailed 2-1 after the first period and the second period was scoreless.
Game 2 in the series is scheduled for Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.
SJHL FINAL
The SJHL Final kicked off Friday night in a raucous Access Communications Centre in North Battleford as the Battlefords North Stars hosted Game One of the best of seven series against Flin Flon. Jake Southgate and Colby Bear each netted a pair for the home team as the Stars would earn a 5-2 win over the Bombers and take a 1-0 series lead. Game 2 goes Saturday night.
THE REST
Nathan MacKinnon’s third goal of the game and his 50th of the season at 18:18 of the third period snapped a 3-3 deadlock Friday night and lifted the visiting Colorado Avalanche to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. With the win, the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche clinched the NHL’s Central Division and earned themselves a first-round playoff date with the Seattle Kraken, who finished fourth in the Pacific Division. That series starts Tuesday in Denver, Colorado.
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The Buffalo Sabres came up just short of making the NHL playoffs, missing the final wild-card berth by one point. They closed their season Friday night with a 5-2 win over the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets. Jeff Skinner scored his 35th goal of the year and added an assist for the Sabres, who won five of their final six games.
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George Springer hit a leadoff homer and Bo Bichette had five hits as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Tampa Bay 6-3 tonight to end the Rays’ season-opening 13-game winning streak. Jose Berrios threw five strong innings in his best start of the year as Toronto won for the eighth time in 10 games. Tampa Bay was looking to set a modern-day Major League Baseball record for most consecutive victories to start a season.
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The Miami Heat scored 35 points in the final quarter and knocked off the visiting Chicago Bulls 102-91 in tonight’s NBA play-in game. Jimmy Butler and Max Strus each scored 31 points for the Heat, while DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 26. Chicago knocked off the Toronto Raptors 109-105 on Wednesday to earn a do-or-die ticket to Miami.
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Rory McIlroy is not getting the remaining three-million dollars of his Player Impact Program bonus after pulling out of the RBC Heritage. McIlroy has not spoken publicly since missing the cut at the Masters and then withdrawing from Hilton Head. The PGA Tour confirms that he won’t be getting the balance of his 12-million-dollar bonus from finishing second in the P-I-P. Among the obligations to get the bonus is playing in all but one of the designated events. McIlroy already missed the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
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The Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks will square off in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Max Strus and Jimmy Butler scored 31 points apiece, and the Heat got into the playoffs by rallying in the final minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in an Eastern Conference play-in game on Friday. Tyler Herro added 12 points for Miami, which trailed by six points midway through the final quarter.
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Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota into the NBA playoffs, as the Timberwolves muscled and hustled their way past Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 to finish the play-in tournament. Rudy Gobert had 21 points in his return from exile for swinging at teammate Kyle Anderson, and the Wolves filled out the NBA playoff bracket by seizing the Number 8 seed in the Western Conference. They will now face the Number-1 seed Denver Nuggets in a best-of-seven series starting on Sunday night.
(Canadian Press)
