WEDNESDAY EYE-OPENER

James Shield’s debut in this year’s World Series didn’t go as planned. Shield’s only went three innings giving up five earned runs on seven hits as the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 in Game One. Hunter Pence hit a two-run home run in the first inning to lead the Giants offensively.

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The losing streak is over. The Winnipeg Jets snapped a four-game skid by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1. Adam Lowry scored his first goal of the season at 2:37 of the first period, which proved to be the winner. Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien also chipped in.

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Ondrej Palat scored the winning goal three minutes into overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning staged a late rally to beat the Calgary Flames 2-1. The Lightning trailed 1-0 before finally solving Flames goaltender Karri Ramo with 2:16 left in the third period.

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Erik Cole scored two goals and Kari Lehtonen made 43 saves as Dallas held off Vancouver 6-3. Earlier, Phil Kessel scored twice to lead Toronto to a 5-2 rout over the New York Islanders. In Montreal, David Desharnais scored 56 seconds into O-T to lift the Canadiens over Detroit 2-1.  Finally in Nashville, Ryan Ellis provided a goal and two assists in regulation before scoring the deciding shootout goal in Nashville’s 4-3 victory against Arizona. James Neal scored the tying goal in the third period for the 4-0-2 Predators.

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Anthony Bennett is finding his groove in Minnesota. The Brampton, Ontario native poured in 17 points to lead the Timberwolves in a 107-89 NBA pre-season win over the injury-riddled Indiana Pacers. Fellow Canadian Andrew Wiggins did not play.

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Isaiah Thomas was hot for the Suns. Thomas had a buzzer-beater at the end of the fourth quarter to send the game to O-T and added 26 more in Phoenix’s 114-108 win over the L-A Lakers. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 23 points. Around the N-B-A, Miami edged Houston 90-85, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat Denver 93-75.

(Canadian Press)