SUNDAY SPORTS PAGE: NLL, WHL, NHL, NFL
NLL
Saskatoon, SK – The Saskatchewan Rush extended their home turf winning streak to seven games following a 15-10 victory over the Las Vegas Desert Dogs Saturday night at SaskTel Centre.
First star, Austin Madronic opened the scoring quickly for the Rush, but the Las Vegas Desert Dogs followed up with two goals to move into the lead. Robert Church tied it up with a quick shot past goaltender Landon Kells and shortly after the Desert Dogs, Zack Greer, snuck another past Alex Buque to finish the first 3-2.
The Second quarter was nothing shy of exciting while the Rush scored eight goals in a row. Vegas led the way, scoring just nine seconds in, but was quickly overthrown by the Rush with eight goals by Ryan Keenan, Church (2), Madronic (2), Mark Matthews (2) and Marty Dinsdale.
The third quarter slowed down with a pair of goals each. Church found himself notching his fourth goal of the night with Matthews right behind, scoring his hat trick goal, and earning himself the second star of the night.
The last 15 minutes started when Church grabbed his fifth goal of the night and eighth point. The remainder of the quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the teams. Vegas found the net two more times, but Kells couldn’t stop the Green Machine from rolling. Marshall Powless brought home his fourth goal of the season and Matthews finished it off with another goal, securing his 12th point of the evening to close out the night with a 15-10 victory.
Saskatchewan hits the road for the next three weekends. Next Saturday, February 4th the Rush will take on the Vancouver Warriers at Rogers Arena with a 9:00 p.m. CST start time.
WHL ROUND-UP
VICTORIA – Jake Poole had a goal and assist, Braden Holt made 35 saves and the Victoria Royals upset the visiting Kamloops Blazers 3-2 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday.
Teydon Trembecky and Matthew Hodson also scored for the Royals (14-26-3-0), who led 1-0 after the first period and took a 2-0 lead into the third.
Fraser Minten and Ryan Hofer scored for the Blazers (27-10-4-2), who outshot the Royals 37-24.
Blazers goaltender Dylan Ernst stopped 21 shots.
Elsewhere in other WHL action:
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BLADES 3 HITMEN 2 (OT)
CALGARY, Alta. – Egor Sidorov scored at 2:30 of overtime as the visiting Saskatoon Blades edged the Calgary Hitmen 3-2.
Brandon Lisowsky and Jake Chiasson also scored for the Blades (29-11-3-1).
Carter Yakemchuk scored twice for the Hitmen (23-17-4-1), including a goal at 18:52 of the third period that forced overtime.
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WARRIORS 3 TIGERS 2 (OT)
MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Jagger Firkus scored 40 seconds into overtime as the Moose Jaw Warriors edged the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 3-2.
Atley Calvert and Martin Rysavy also scored for the Warriors (30-15-0-3).
Owen MacNeil and Oasiz Wiesblatt scored for the Tigers (18-21-7-1).
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ROCKETS 5 GIANTS 1
KELOWNA, B.C. – Carson Golden scored three third-period goals and added an assist as the Kelowna Rockets defeated the visiting Vancouver Giants 5-1.
Marcus Pacheco and Gabriel Szturc also scored for the Rockets (15-26-3-0).
Dylan Anderson scored for the Giants (18-21-4-2).
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ICE 5 REBELS 1
RED DEER, Alta. – Matthew Savoie scored a goal and an assist as the Winnipeg ICE beat the host Red Deer Rebels 5-1.
Karter Prosofsky, Vladislav Shilo, Zack Ostapchuk and Connor McClennon also scored for the ICE (34-6-1-0).
Mats Lindgren scored for the Rebels (32-10-1-3).
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WINTERHAWKS 5 THUNDERBIRDS 2
SEATTLE, Wash. – Luca Cagnoni scored twice as the Portland Winterhawks defeated the host Seattle Thunderbirds 5-2.
Robbie Fromm-Delorme, Chaz Lucius and Jack O’Brien also scored for the Winterhawks (33-8-2-1).
Gracyn Sawchyn and Nolan Allan scored for the Thunderbirds (33-8-1-1).
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RAIDERS 4 COUGARS 1
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – Evan Herman scored twice as the visiting Prince Albert Raiders defeated the Prince George Cougars 4-1.
Hayden Pakkala and Carter Anderson also scored for the Raiders (17-25-3-0).
Ondrej Becher scored for the Cougars (19-214-0).
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SILVERTIPS 4 BRONCOS 3 (OT)
EVERETT, Wash. – Ben Hemmerling scored at 1:10 of overtime to lift the Everett Silvertips past the Swift Current Broncos 4-3.
Jesse Heslop, Austin Roest and Jackson Berezowski also scored for the Silvertips (23-21-1-0).
Josh Davies, Caleb Wyrostok and Josh Filmon scored for the Broncos (22-19-1-2).
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AMERICANS 6 CHIEFS 2
KENNEWICK, Wash. – Lukas Dragicevic scored twice and added an assist as the Tri-City Americans defeated the Spokane Chiefs 6-2.
Jalen Luypen, Ethan Ernst and Marc Lajoie also scored for the Americans (22-16-4-1).
Carter Streek and Grady Lane scored for the Chiefs (9-32-1-2)
NHL SCOREBOARD
Edmonton 7 Chicago 3
Ottawa 5 Montreal 0
Philadelphia 4 Winnipeg 0
Florida 4 Boston 3 (OT)
N.Y. Islanders 2 Vegas 1 (OT)
Anaheim 2 Arizona 1 (OT)
Minnesota 3 Buffalo 2 (SO)
Seattle 3 Columbus 1
Colorado 4 St. Louis 2
Tampa Bay 5 Los Angeles 2
San Jose 6 Pittsburgh 4
THE REST
They’re down to the Final Four in the NFL playoffs, and by the end of today we’ll know the matchup for the February 12th Super Bowl. In the NFC championship today, the Philadelphia Eagles host the San Francisco 49ers, while in the AFC championship, the Kansas City Chiefs host the Cincinnati Bengals. The winners will advance to the Super Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
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Quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy have been here before. Just not in the NFL. The two young stars met in November of 2019, when Hurts was the QB for Oklahoma and Purdy was Q-B for Iowa State. In that game, Hurts passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more for Oklahoma. Purdy passed for five touchdowns for Iowa State. Hurts is now an NFL MVP finalist for the Philadelphia Eagles and Purdy is the rookie sensation for the San Francisco 49ers — and one of them will advance to the Super Bowl when they tangle today.
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There are only two games in the NHL today, but one of them includes a Canadian team looking to get some momentum going before the all-star break. The Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2 losers to the Ottawa Senators on Friday, host the Washington Capitals. In the other game the league-leading Boston Bruins visit the Carolina Hurricanes.
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Trevor Zegras scored at 3:34 of overtime and John Gibson stopped 32 of 33 shots as the Anaheim Ducks outlasted the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 last night to win their third straight game. Max Jones also scored for the Ducks, who outshot the Coyotes 45-33. Nick Ritchie scored for the Coyotes.
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The Toronto Raptors, who have won two of three games on their seven-game N-B-A road trip, will have a day off today before playing the Phoenix Suns on Monday and Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The Raptors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 123-105 Saturday night.
(SaskRush.com, Canadian Press)
