SUNDAY SPORTS: OILERS TAKE BATTLE OF ALBERTA

NHL

CALGARY, Alta. (AP) — Sam Gagner broke a tie with a fluke goal early in the third period and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 on Saturday night for their 13th straight win to set the record for the longest winning streak by a Canadian team.

From below the goal line near the corner, Gagner attempted to centre to Dylan Holloway in the slot, but it deflected off Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson’s skate, ended up on the top of goalie Dan Vladar’s trapper and fluttered into the net.

Ryan McLeod and Zach Hyman also scored and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves to help Edmonton break top the previous mark set by the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens. Pittsburgh set the NHL mark of 17 in 1992-93.

The Oilers improved to 23-6-0 since Kris Knoblauch took over as coach. Edmonton star Connor McDavid’s scoring streak ended at 12 games.

MacKenzie Weegar scored for Calgary and Vladar stopped 29 shots. The Flames have lost two straight after winning four in a row.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:

—

KINGS 2 RANGERS 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Quinton Byfield scored late in the second period as Los Angeles spoiled New York goalie Jonathan Quick’s first game against his former team. Quick, who spent 16 seasons in Los Angeles, made 24 saves in his first game back since being traded by the Kings to the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 1 last season. Quick eventually wound up with Vegas and picked up a third Stanley Cup ring.

—

LIGHTNING 3 SABRES 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Nicholas Paul and Tyler Motte scored 52 seconds apart in the first period and Tampa Bay beat Buffalo for its fifth consecutive victory.

—

CANUCKS 6 MAPLE LEAFS 4

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Conor Garland and Nils Hoglander each scored twice and NHL-leading Vancouver beat Toronto.

—

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3 PENGUINS 2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rookie Brendan Brisson scored his first career goal midway through the third period and Vegas beat Pittsburgh.

—

BRUINS 9 CANADIENS 4

BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand set a club record by scoring his 20th goal for the 11th consecutive season, Danton Heinen got his first career hat trick and Boston rolled over Montreal for its fourth straight victory.

—

JETS 2 SENATORS 1 (OT)

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers’ goal with 45.8 seconds remaining in overtime lifted Winnipeg past Ottawa.

Mason Appleton scored in the second period for the Jets to open the scoring. Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves.

Parker Kelly scored the tying goal in the third period for Ottawa, which played its first overtime game of the season. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 27 shots.

—

AVALANCHE 7 FLYERS 4

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and three assists, Logan O’Connor had a hat trick and Colorado held on to defeat Philadelphia.

—

STARS 6 DEVILS 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Roope Hintz scored twice in a three-goal second period and Scott Wedgewood made 29 saves against his former teammates to lead Dallas to a victory over New Jersey.

—

COYOTES 3 PREDATORS 2

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Clayton Keller scored two goals and Connor Ingram made 31 saves in Arizona’s victory over Nashville.

—

BLUES 3 CAPITALS 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Binnington stopped 18 shots for his 14th career shutout, and St. Louis beat Washington.

—

SHARKS 5 DUCKS 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Sharks captain Logan Couture made a long-awaited return from injury with an assist in his first game this season as San Jose beat Anaheim.

WHL

PATS 5 TIGERS 4 (OT)

REGINA, Sask. — Zane Rowan scored at 4:25 of overtime as the Regina Pats edged the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 5-4.

Logan Peskett, Braxton Whitehead, Tyson Buczkowski and Tye Spencer also scored for the Pats (16-22-4-2).

Shane Smith, Hunter St. Martin, Andrew Basha and Tomas Mrsic scored for the Central Division-leading Tigers (27-14-3-0).

Elsewhere in the WHL on Saturday:

WARRIORS 4 BRONCOS 3

MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Brayden Yager scored at 19:29 of the third period as the Moose Jaw Warriors edged the visiting Swift Current Broncos 4-3.

Atley Calvert scored twice for the Warriors (27-15-0-2), while Matthew Savoie added a single.

Rylan Gould scored twice for the Broncos (22-18-2-2), while Ryan McCleary netted a single.

—

WHEAT KINGS 6 HURRICANES 0

BRANDON, Man. — Ethan Eskit stopped 38 shots to earn the shutout as the Brandon Wheat Kings blanked the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-0.

—

REBELS 2 RAIDERS 1

RED DEER, Alta. — Ollie Josephson scored at 18:23 of the third period to lift the Red Deer Rebels over the visiting Prince Alberta Raiders 2-1.

—

ROYALS 7 BLAZERS 2

VICTORIA – Dawson Pasternak scored three goals and teammate Justin Kipkie added a pair as the Victoria Royals defeated the visiting Kamloops Blazers 7-2 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday at Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena.

—

AMERICANS 5 THUNDERBIRDS 4

SEATTLE, Wash. — Max Curran scored the game-winning goal at 7:41 of the second period as the visiting Tri-City Americans edged the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-4.

—

CHIEFS 2 WILD 1

WENATCHEE, Wash. — Chase Bertholet scored the game-winning goal at 13:17 of the first period as the visiting Spokane Chiefs edged the Wenatchee Wild 2-1.

—

WINTERHAWKS 2 COUGARS 1

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Diego Buttazzoni scored a power-play goal at 6:14 of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and lifted the visiting Portland Winterhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars.

NFL

Christian McCaffrey scored his second touchdown on a six-yard run with 1:07 to play, and the San Francisco 49ers mounted their first second-half comeback of the NFL season to beat the Green Bay Packers 24-21 in a divisional-round playoff game on Saturday. QB Brock Purdy and McCaffrey did just enough on the last drive to send San Francisco to its third straight NFC championship game.

Meanwhile Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes and ran for two majors and the Baltimore Ravens pulled away in the second half for a 34-10 NFL playoff win today over the Houston Texans to advance to the AFC championship game. Jackson helped the Ravens take control in the third quarter after the teams entered the half tied at 10. Baltimore will host the AFC title game for the first time since 1971. The Ravens play the winner of tomorrow’s matchup between Buffalo and Kansas City.

CURLING

Rachel Homan of Ottawa will play in tonight’s Grand Slam championship at the Co-op Canadian Open in Red Deer, Alberta. Homan, who beat Jennifer Jones’ Manitoba crew 8-3 in last night’s semifinal, faces Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland. On the men’s side, Brendan Bottcher of Calgary,  who beat Brad Gushue’s St. John’s foursome 5-3 Saturday night, plays Bruce Mouat of Scotland in Sunday’s men’s final.

NBA

Jalen Brunson scored 38 points, former Raptor O-G Anunoby added 14 and the New York Knicks won their third straight NBA game Saturday night by dunking the visiting Toronto Raptors 126-100 tonight. R-J Barrett, facing the Knicks for the first time since being dealt to Toronto on December 30th, scored 20 for the Raptors, who trailed 59-57 at halftime. The Raptors have lost two straight.

(Canadian Press)