SATURDAY SPORTS PAGE: PATS WIN AGAIN

BRANDON, Man. – Connor Bedard scored with less than two minutes remaining in the third period to lift the visiting Regina Pats past the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-3 in Western Hockey League action on Friday night.

The Wheat Kings did a superb job of checking Bedard during the game, but the WHL scoring leader jumped on the late opportunity to post the win for his squad, despite being outshot 47-19.

Alexander Suzdalev, Matteo Michels and Stanislav Svozil also scored for the Pats (28-24-2-1).

Nolan Ritchie, Matthew Henry and Nate Danielson scored for the Wheat Kings (22-25-8-0).

Elsewhere in the WHL:

BLAZERS 6 HURRICANES 2

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Logan Stankoven had a goal and two assists as the visiting Kamloops Blazers blew by the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-2.

Fraser Minten, Len Zellweger, Kyle Masters, Caedan Bankier and Ashton Ferster also scored for the Blazers (38-10-4-2), who are 11-0-0-0 in their last 11 games.

Tyson Zimmer and Blake Swetlikoff scored for the Hurricanes (30-21-3-3).

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ICE 2 REBELS 1

RED DEER, Alta. – Mattew Savoie scored at 4:38 of the third period to snap a 1-1 deadlock and lift the visiting Winnipeg ICE past the Red Deer Rebels 2-1.

Zack Ostapchuk also scored for the ICE (46-7-1-0).

Jace Isley scored for the Rebels (37-15-1-3), who were outshot 31-30 in the battle between the top two Eastern Coference squads.

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RAIDERS 6 BLADES 5 (OT)

SASKATOON, Sask. – Sloan Stanick scored 49 seconds into overtime as the visiting Prince Albert Raiders rallied late in the game to edge the Saskatoon Blades 6-5.

Ryder Ritchie, Hayden Pakkala, Landon Kosior, Niall Crocker and Aiden Oiring also scored for the Raiders (24-28-3-0), who erased a 5-2 third-period deficit to register the win.

Jake Chiasson scored twice for the Blades (37-13-4-1), while Brandon Lisowsky, Vaughn Watterodt and Aidan De La Gorgendiere netted singles.

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WARRIORS 4 BRONCOS 3

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Ryder Korczak had a goal and assist as the Moose Jaw Warriors edged the visiting Swift Current Broncos 4-3.

Tate Schofer, Martin Rysavy and Atley Calvert also scored for the Warriors (35-19-0-3).

Caleb Wyrostok, Brady Birnie and Josh Filmon scored for the Broncos (25-27-1-2).

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ROCKETS 4 OIL KINGS 0

EDMONTON, Alta. – Dylan Wightman scored twice and netminder Talyn Boyko stopped all 27 shots fired his way as the visiting Kelowna Rockets scorched the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-0.

Carson Golder and Trae Johnson also scored for the Rockets (21-30-3-0).

The Oil Kings (8-44-3-0) trailed 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 heading into the third.

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COUGARS 5 GIANTS 4 (OT)

LANGLEY, B.C. – Chase Wheatcroft’s second goal of the game, at 3:09 of overtime, lifted the visiting Prince George Cougars past the Vancouver Giants 5-4.

Viliam Kmec, Ondrej Beche and Cole Dubinsky also scored for the Cougars (27-23-4-0), who outshot the Giants 39-27.

Skyler Bruce scored twice for the Giants (21-26-5-2), while Ty Thorpe and Jaden Lipinski netted singles. Mazden Leslie chipped in with two assists.

The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and the Cougars led 4-3 heading into the third.

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THUNDERBIRDS 6 AMERICANS 1

SEATTLE, Wash. – Reid Schaefer scored twice and added two assists as the Seattle Thunderbirds bounced the visiting Tri-City Americans 6-1.

Brad Lambert, Kevin Korchinski, Sam Popowich and Tij Iginla also scored for the Western Conference-leading Thunderbirds (44-9-1-1). Dylan Guenther chipped in with three assists.

Jalen Luypen scored for the Americans (27-22-5-2).

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CHIEFS 4 WINTERHAWKS 1

SPOKANE, WASH. – Carter Streek scored twice as the Spokane Chiefs upset the visiting Portland Winterhawks 4-1.

Kooper Gizowski and Ty Cheveldayoff also scored for the Chiefs (12-36-3-4), who led 2-0 after the first period and 4-1 heading into the final frame.

Marek Alscher scored for the Winterhawks (36-15-2-3).

SCOTTIES

If Kerri Einarson hopes to win her fourth consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts title, the skip from Gimli, Manitoba will have to do it the hard way, again. Einarson will play Christina Black’s Nova Scotia team in the Page 3 versus 4 game Saturday in Kamloops, B-C, and the loser is eliminated. The winner will face the loser of the Jennifer Jones of Manitoba and Krista McCarville of Northern Ontario Page 1 versus 2 game. The winner of that game advances to Sunday afternoon’s semifinal, with a chance to go to the final later that day.

NHL

The Colorado Avalanche buried the Winnipeg Jets with a four-goal first period on Friday night then rolled to an easy 5-1 road win. Nathan MacKinnon, J.T. Compher and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and assist for the Avs, who are 5-0-and-1 in their last 6 NHL games. Mason Appleton scored for the Jets, who have lost 4 of their last 5.

Phillip Danault, Arthur Kaliyev and Gabriel Vilardi scored in the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings ended a two-game skid by edging the visiting New York Islanders 3-2. Jonathan Quick made 16 saves for his 370th victory, moving into 19th place on the NHL’s career wins list. Quick also surpassed Tom Barrasso for third place on the victories list by a U.S.-born goaltender.

Jeff Skinner scored twice and Craig Anderson made 53 saves against his former team to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night. The 41-year-old Anderson spent three seasons with the Panthers. He helped Buffalo get to 64 points and pull into a three-way tie for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with Detroit and Florida. The Sabres have not been to the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2011 – the longest drought in the NHL.

NBA

ATLANTA – Trae Young scored 34 points and Atlanta beat Cleveland 136-119 in its first game under interim coach Joe Prunty.

The Hawks played their first game since coach Nate McMillan was fired on Tuesday. The team had three practices, including a shootaround session on Friday morning, under Prunty, who had been McMillan’s lead assistant.

CFL

VANCOUVER – Dane Evans and Vernon Adams Jr. are together again.

The two quarterbacks became teammates Thursday night when the B.C. Lions acquired Evans from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick. Back in 2018, they attended the Ticats training camp before Adams, who was being converted to receiver, was released and Evans became incumbent Jeremiah Masoli’s backup.

This time, though, Adams Jr. is entrenched as B.C.,’s starter, Evans, 29, expects to battle newcomer Dominque Davis for backup duties and is good with that.

The trade came just over a year after Hamilton committed to Evans as its starter – signing him to a two-year deal – and allowed Masoli to join the Ottawa Redblacks as a free agent. Evans had started the Ticats’ consecutive Grey Cup losses to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2019, 2021).

However Evans’ fate in Steeltown was sealed last month when Hamilton signed Mitchell, twice the CFL’s outstanding player and a two-time Grey Cup champion, to a three-year deal.

“The biggest thing is it was a surprise to me, like everybody else,” Evans said. “I was informed the day it happened and it wasn’t really like being asked, it was like, ‘This is going to happen.’ I remember I got the phone call in the car with my wife and I didn’t really say anything because it was so out of left field, I didn’t see it.

“But at the end of the day I’m very happy with where I am now. They did what they did, they felt like it was what they needed to do and it’s done.”

While Evans’ focus remains fixed on winning a Grey Cup with B.C., the 2023 championship game will be at Tim Hortons Field.

“I’ll just let my play do the talking,” Evans said. “(Winning Grey Cup in Hamilton) would be pretty sweet.”

(RP.com Wire Services/Photo: Brandon Wheat Kings)