SUNDAY SPORTS PAGE: ALOUETTES, LIONS MOVING ON

MONTREAL – Quarterback Cody Fajardo threw two touchdown passes and Montreal’s defence stood tall as the Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27-12 in the CFL East Division semifinal on Saturday.

The Alouettes move on to play the defending Grey Cup champion Argonauts in Toronto in next Saturday’s East final.

It was the third consecutive year that Hamilton and Montreal faced off at this stage of the playoffs. Montreal also won in front of a home crowd at Molson Stadium last season.

Fajardo threw 212 yards on 15-of-23 completions and also ran 62 yards for Montreal, which beat Hamilton for the fourth time this year after sweeping their division rival in the regular season. Fajardo also had one interception to go with his two TD passes to all-star receiver Austin Mack and wideout Jake Harty.

Montreal’s defence dominated with one forced fumble, two interceptions and several deflections. Linebacker Darnell Sankey led the way with eight tackles, two sacks and a pick.

Quarterback Matthew Shiltz threw 144 yards and one interception on 13-of-23 completions in his first playoff start for Hamilton. He also ran for 34 yards.

VANCOUVER – Vernon Adams Jr. rushed for three touchdowns lifting the B.C. Lions to a 41-30 win on Saturday over the Calgary Stampeders and a berth in the CFL’s West Division final.

The Lions quarterback went 28 of 39, throwing 413 yards and two touchdowns in addition to the ones he punched in himself.

The Stampeders opened the scoring on their first drive of the game, running three plays with quarterback Jake Maier connecting with a wide open Marken Michel.

But the Lions responded, and derailed Calgary’s momentum, with a Garry Peters interception, setting up Adams for a touchdown drive by finding an open Jevon Cottoy at 4:58 in the first quarter.

B.C. built a 15 point lead by halftime with Adams twice rushing for touchdowns as the Stampeders’ zone defence struggled to limit deep throws to receivers Cottoy, Keon Hatcher and Dominique Rhymes.

The Stampeders struggled to find a rhythm in the second half, with Maier scoring his second touchdown of the game with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter.

NHL

Alex Tuch scored twice, including the winner, as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 tonight. Auston Matthews registered his third hat trick of the season for Toronto, while Mitch Marner added a goal and three assists. Joseph Woll made 34 stops for the struggling Leafs, who have dropped four straight.

Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn each had a goal and assist as the St. Louis Blues crushed the visiting Montreal Canadiens 6-3 in NHL action. Brendan Gallagher, Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki scored for the Habs. In Ottawa, fans booed the Senators as they dropped a 6-4 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Brayden Point had a hat trick for Tampa, while Brady Tkachuk scored twice for the Senators, who have lost five of their past six games.

Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter scored second-period goals and Thatcher Demko made 27 saves for the shutout as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the visiting Dallas Stars 2-0. The Canucks improved to 8-2-and-1 with the win, while the Stars slipped to 7-2-and-1.

The visiting Calgary Flames scored twice in the third period and held on to defeat the Seattle Kraken 6-3 in N-H-L action on Saturday night. Mikael Backlund scored twice, while Noah Hanifin, Martin Pospisil, Yegor Sharangovich and Rasmus Andersson added singles for the Flames, who improved to 3-7-and-1.

UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL

LONDON, Ont. – The top-ranked Western Mustangs are back in the Yates Cup for the eighth straight year.

Western defeated the Queen’s Gaels 47-20 on Saturday to book its ticket into the Ontario University Athletics football championship game.

Evan Hillock went 19-of-30 passing for 308 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the semifinal victory. Savaughn Magnaye-Jones had 10 receptions for 128 yards and one touchdown.

Western will next face the No. 3 Laurier Golden Hawks, who defeated the Windsor Lancers 21-14 in the other semifinal.

In the RSEQ conference, reigning Vanier Cup champion Laval Rouge et Or outlasted the Concordia Stingers 34-27 in double overtime to advance into the Dunsmore Cup final.

The fourth-ranked Rouge et Or will matchup against second-ranked Montreal Carabins, who defeated the Sherbrooke Vert et Or 54-3 in the other semifinal.

In the Atlantic University Sport conference action, the St. Francis Xavier X-Men ended the Saint Mary’s Huskies season with a 36-20 victory.

The X-Men will next meet the Bishop’s Gaiters in the Loney Bowl title game. The Gaiters advanced to the AUS final with a 34-15 win over the Mount Allison Mounties.

In the Canada West semifinals, UBC Thunderbirds defeated the visiting Manitoba Bisons 29-21, while the Alberta Golden Bears squashed the Saskatchewan Huskies 40-17.

CURLING

Skip Brad Gushue of St. John’s turned in a brilliant performance Saturday and struck gold at the Pan Continental Curling Championship in Kelowna, B-C, by rocking Jongduk Park of South Korea 8-3 in nine ends. Japan claimed the bronze medal with a 9-6 win over the U-S on Friday night.

WHL

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Third-period goals 17 seconds apart lifted the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 4-1 Western Hockey League victory over the visiting Everett Silvertips on Saturday at Co-op Place.

Hayden Harsanyi scored at 1:27 of the third period to make it a 2-1 game, then Bogdans Hodass scored at 1:44 to give the hosts a 3-1 lead.

Andrew Basha and Hunter St. Martin (empty-netter) also scored for the Central Division-leading Tigers (10-5-2-0).

Beau Courtney scored for the Silvertips (9-6-1-0), who were outshot 31-30.

Elsewhere in the WHL:

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GIANTS 3 BLAZERS 2 (SO)

LANGLEY, B.C. – Fraser Minten of Kamloops scored his first goal of the season at 19:14 of the third period to tie the game 2-2, but the Vancouver Giants prevailed in a three-round shootout to beat the visiting Kamloops Blazers 3-2.

Connor Dale and Jaden Lipinski scored in regulation time for the Giants (6-8-1-0) at Langley Events Centre.

Shea Van Olm also scored for the Blazers (4-10-2-1), who outshot the hosts 43-37.

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WINTERHAWKS 3 HURRICANES 1

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Gabe Klassen and Luca Cagnoni each picked up two assists and Marek Alscher scored the winner as the visiting Portland Winterhawks edged the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-1.

James Stefan and Jack O’Brien also scored for the U.S. Division-leading Winterhawks (10-4-0-1).

Kooper Gizowski scored for the Hurricanes (9-7-2-0).

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COUGARS 5 RAIDERS 0

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Joshua Ravensbergen stopped 38 shots to earn a shutout on the road as the Prince George Cougars blanked the Prince Albert Raiders 5-0.

Nicholas McLennan, Terik Parascak, Zac Funk, Koehn Ziemmer and Oren Shtrom scored for the B.C. Division-leading Cougars (12-5-0-0).

Netminder Chase Coward kicked out 19 of 24 shots for the Raiders (9-8-0-1).

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REBELS 3 ROCKETS 1

KELOWNA, B.C. – Carson Latimer scored a goal and added an assist as the visiting Red Deer Rebels edged the Kelowna Rockets 3-1.

Frantisek Formanek and Kai Uchacz also scored for the Rebels (6-7-0-2).

Caden Price scored for the Rockets (7-8-1-0).

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WILD 6 ROYALS 3

WENATCHEE, Wash. – Rodzers Bukarts scored twice as the Wenatchee Wild beat the visiting Victoria Royals 6-3.

Steven Arp, Briley Wood, Kenta Isogai and Conor Geekie also scored for the Wild (10-6-1-0).

Tanner Scott, Reggie Newman and Austin Zemlak scored for the Royals (8-7-0-1).

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AMERICANS 4 CHIEFS 3

KENNEWICK, Wash. – Deagan McMillan scored a goal and added an assist as the Tri-City Americans edged the visiting Spokane Chiefs 4-3.

Brandon Whynott, Jordan Gavin and Cruz Pavao also scored for the Americans (8-5-1-1).

Lukas Kral, Sage Weinstein and Conner Roulette scored for the Chiefs (6-6-2-0).

(Canadian Press)