SUNDAY SPORTS: GOING FOR GOLD

CURLING

Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team will be playing for a gold medal on Sunday at the world women’s curling championship in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Her opponent will be Silvana Tirinzoni of Switerzland, who has won four consecutive world titles. Homan defeated Korea 9-7 in one semifinal Saturday, while Tirinzoni beat Italy 6-3 in the other. Korea and Italy play for bronze today.

NHL

NEW YORK (AP) — Cal Clutterbuck scored twice, Mathew Barzal and Hudson Fasching each had a goal and two assists and the New York Islanders snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-3 win against Winnipeg Saturday.

Vladislav Namestnikov, Mason Appleton and Cole Perfetti scored for Winnipeg, which has lost two in a row after an impressive win over the Rangers on Tuesday. Connor Hellebuyck gave up five goals on 26 shots before being relieved by Laurent Brossoit halfway through the second period.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:

FLYERS 3, BRUINS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyson Foerster scored with 1:29 left and Philadelphia snapped a seven-game losing streak to Boston, beating the Bruins 3-2.

BLUES 5, WILD 4, OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A banged-up Jordan Kyrou scored a hat trick and Brandon Saad tallied 2:05 into overtime to give St. Louis Blues a 5-4 victory over Minnesota.

PREDATORS 1, RED WINGS 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored with 5:14 remaining in the third period and Juuse Saros made 22 saves to lead Nashville to a 1-0 victory over Detroit, extending Nashville’s franchise record streak of games unbeaten in regulation to 17 at 15-0-2.

SENATORS 5, DEVILS 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Thomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph each scored and had an assist to help Ottawa snap a three-game skid with a victory over New Jersey.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, OILERS 3

TORONTO (AP) — Bobby McMann had two goals and an assist, Auston Matthews added his NHL-leading 58th goal into an empty net and Toronto beat Edmonton 6-3 on Saturday night.

Pontus Holmberg also scored twice, William Nylander had a goal and an assist, and Matthews added assist. Ilya Samsonov made 31 saves before leaving because of an injury with 3:39 left. Martin Jones stopped five shots in relief.

Toronto has won two straight to improve to 40-20-9. Edmonton dropped to 42-22-4. The Oilers were 9-1-2 over their previous 12.

Former Maple Leafs winger Zach Hyman scored his 49th for Edmonton. Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl also connected for the Oilers, and Connor McDavid had three assists. Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on 23 shots in two periods, and Calvin Pickard made five stops in relief.

RANGERS 4, PANTHERS 3, SO

NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored twice in regulation and added the decisive goal in the shootout, Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves and the New York Rangers rallied to beat Florida Panthers 4-3, who lost their fourth straight game.

CANUCKS 4, FLAMES 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Nils Hoglander scored twice, Casey DeSmith stopped 22 shots and Vancouver beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 for a share of the NHL lead.

KINGS 4, LIGHTNING 3, OT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vladislav Gavrikov scored 25 seconds into overtime and Los Angeles snapped Tampa Bay’s five-game winning streak, 4-3.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jack Eichel scored two goals for his 500th and 501st career points and Vegas maintained their playoff position with a victory over struggling Columbus, but Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill left early in the third period.

BLACKHAWKS 5, SHARKS 4, OT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Seth Jones scored his second goal of the game 18 seconds into overtime and Chicago overcame a four-goal deficit to beat San Jose.

WHL

WARRIORS 11 PATS 1

MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Jagger Firkus and Martin Rysavy each scored three goals as the Moose Jaw Warriors blitzed the visiting Regina Pats 11-1.

Matthew Savoie, Vojtech Port, Aiden Ziprick, Pavel McKenzie and Atley Calvert also scored for the Warriors (44-21-0-3).

Braxton Whitehead scored for the Pats (22-40-4-2).

Elsewhere in the WHL on Saturday:

HITMEN 6 BRONCOS 3

Oliver Tulk scored two goals and added two assists, while teammate Reese Hamilton had a goal and four assists as the Calgary Hitmen knocked off the visiting Swift Current Broncos 6-3 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Keets Fawcett, Connor Dale and Carter Yakemchuk also scored for the Hitmen (28-31-8-1), who outshot the Broncos 37-24.

Conor Geekie, Clarke Caswell and Dawson Gerwing scored for the Central Division-leading Broncos (40-22-4-2), who led 2-0 after the first period, but trailed 5-2 heading into the third.

Elsewhere in the WHL on Saturday:

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HURRICANES 4 TIGERS 3 (OT)

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Noah Chadwick scored at 1:54 of overtime to lift the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers.

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BLADES 5 RAIDERS 0

SASKATOON, Sask. — Evan Gardner stopped 27 shots to earn the shutout as the Saskatoon Blades blanked the visiting Prince Albert Raiders 5-0.

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COUGARS 5 BLAZERS 2

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Riley Heidt scored three goals as the Prince George Cougars beat the visiting Kamloops Blazers 5-2.

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SILVERTIPS 6 WILD 2

EVERETT, Wash. — Austin Roest scored twice as the Everett Silvertips defeated the visiting Wenatchee Wild 6-2.

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OIL KINGS 7 REBELS 3

RED DEER, Alta. — Adam Jecho scored twice as the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Red Deer Rebels 7-3.

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WINTERHAWKS 7 THUNDERBIRDS 4

PORTLAND, Ore. — Luca Cagnoni scored twice as the Portland Winterhawks defeated the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 7-4.

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CHIEFS 6 AMERICANS 3

KENNEWICK, Wash. — Berkly Catton and Mathis Preston each scored twice to lead the visiting Spokane Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans.

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ROCKETS 5 GIANTS 2

KELOWNA, B.C. — Max Graham and Ethan Neutens each scored twice as the Kelowna Rockets beat the visiting Vancouver Giants 5-2.

SJHL PLAYOFFS ROUND 1

Flin Flon 8 Kindersley 0 (Bombers lead 2-0)
Melfort 7 Estevan 4 (Mustangs lead 2-0)
Humboldt 7 Weyburn 4 (Broncos lead 2-0)
Battlefords 2 Melville 1 (North Stars lead series 2-0)

NLL

Saskatchewan fell just short Saturday night in New York, losing 14-11 at Nassau Coliseum.

In the first quarter, the Rush fell behind 4-2 despite goals from Nathaniel Kozevnikov and Ryan Keenan.

New York was able to pull away to close out the first half, scoring four more goals in the frame. Robert Church and Zach Manns added tallies for the Rush as they trailed 8-4 at recess.

Both teams exchanged goals in the third quarter as the home side led 10-6 going into the final stretch.

Keenan, Mike Triolo and Ryan Barnable scored three straight goals to start the final frame, bring it to a one goal game, but the Riptide offence led by Jeff Teat’s 13 point performance proved to be too tough.

Robert Church had four goals and two assists in the loss. Ryan Keenan had a hat trick, while Mike Triolo chipped in with four points.

Frank Scigliano made 32 saves in the loss, while Thomas Kiazyk made one stop in 3:40 of action.

Next up, Saskatchewan will head to Georgia to face the Swarm less than 20 hours after the final buzzer Saturday night. Faceoff is at 3:30PM Sask time and fans can tune in to Cody Janzen on the call on 92.9 The Bull.

(SaskRush.com)

MARCH MADNESS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — RJ Davis scored 20 points to help North Carolina beat Michigan State 85-69 in the NCAA Tournament, pushing the Tar Heels to the Sweet 16 while keeping them unbeaten in March Madness against Spartans Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gonzaga played a nearly perfect second half, busting open a back-and-forth game with a 15-0 run to pull away from Kansas for an 89-68 win and extend its nation-best streak of trips to the Sweet 16 to nine.
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Dusty May is going to Michigan, returning to his Big Ten roots and leaving Florida Atlantic after six seasons highlighted by a Final Four run that thrust him into the national spotlight a year ago. Michigan President Santa Ono, in a social media post, announced the hiring. May and the Wolverines were in the process of finalizing details of what was expected to be a five-year contract.

MLB

Jake Rogers, Andy Ibanez and Akil Baddoo all belted homers to power a Detroit Tigers split squad past a Toronto Blue Jays split squad 10-7 in spring-training action Saturday.

Rogers, Ibanez and Baddoo helped stake Detroit to an 8-4 advantage in the top of the fourth inning. Toronto countered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to pull to within 8-7 before Detroit added two more in the six to make it 10-7.

Justin Turner homered for Toronto. George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both had three hits.

Toronto outfielder Kevin Kiermaier left the contest with a right knee contusion after fouling a ball off his knee during his first at-bat. The 34-year-old has four homers and seven runs-batted in over 35 at-bats during spring training.

Later on Saturday night, a Toronto split squad dropped a 3-2 decision to a Baltimore Orioles split squad in Dunedin, Fla.

NBA

Six games in the NBA today, including one in Los Angeles between the Lakers and visiting Indiana Pacers. The Toronto Raptors, who have the day off, lost their 10th straight game last night. The struggling Washington Wizards edged the visiting Raptors 112-109. Gary Trent Junior scored 31 points for the Raptors, who host the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.

GOLF

Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ontario, will start today’s final round at the Valspar Championship only two shots back of American frontrunner Keith Mitchell. The leader carded a 66 yesterday and has a two-shot lead over Hughes, Seamus Power and Peter Malnati going into the final round at the Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, just north of St. Petersburg, Florida.

(Canadian Press)