Wednesday Sports: End Of The Line

SJHL PLAYOFFS (Round 2)

MELFORT, SK – For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Melfort Mustangs are heading to the SJHL Final.

Ryan Duguay finished off a well-worked power-play move with the winner 2:55 into overtime, and the Mustangs took down the Humboldt Broncos 5-4 in Game 7 at the Northern Lights Palace Tuesday.

The Mustangs will now take on the Flin Flon Bombers in the 2024 Canterra Seeds Cup Final, starting Friday night at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon.

(SJHL.ca)

WHL PLAYOFFS (Round 2)

BLADES 8 REBELS 5
(Blades lead series 3-0)

Egor Sidorov scored three goals, including the winner, as the visiting Saskatoon Blades beat the Red Deer Rebels 8-5 in Western Hockey League playoff action on Tuesday night.

With the win, the Blades took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.

Brandon Lisowsky, Rowan Calvert, Lukas Hansen, Trevor Wong and Charlie Wright also scored for the Blades. Wong chipped in with three assists.

Carson Latimer, Kalan Lind, Carson Birnie, Talon Brigley and Quentin Bourne scored for the Rebels, who were outshot 39-37.

Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday night at Peavey Mart Centrium.

Elsewhere in the WHL on Tuesday:

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WARRIORS 5 BRONCOS 3

(Warriors lead best-of-seven series 2-1)

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — Denton Mateychuk’s second goal of the game, scored at 19:12 of the second period, snapped a 3-3 tie and lifted the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors to a 5-3 win over the Swift Current Broncos.

Atley Calvert, Lynden Lakovic and Matthew Savoie also scored for the Warriors, who took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.

Ty Coupland, Owen Pickering and Brady Birnie scored for the Broncos, who were outshot 34-28.

The Broncos won Game 1 on Friday 7-2, and the Warriors bounced back Saturday with a 7-2 win in Game 2.

Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday night at the InnovationPlex.

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COUGARS 4 ROCKETS 3 (OT)

(Cougars lead best-of-seven series 3-0)

KELOWNA, B.C. — Matteo Danis scored 1:22 into overtime to lift the visiting Prince George Cougars to a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets.

Hudson Thornton, Ondrej Becher and Borya Valis also scored for the Cougars, who took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.

Ethan Neutens, Michael Cicek and Gabriel Szturc scored for the Rockets, who outshot the Cougars 35-33.

The Cougars won Game 1 on Friday 4-0, then won Game 2 on Saturday 5-0.

Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday night at Prospera Place.

NHL

SENATORS 3 BRUINS 1

BOSTON (AP) — Jiri Smejkal scored his first career goal midway through the second period and Jakob Chychrun scored again for Ottawa less than a minute later as the Senators beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Tuesday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Bruins (47-20-15) led second-place Florida by a point entering Tuesday night’s play. Boston blew back-to-back chances to clinch the division by getting shut out by Washington 2-0 on Monday, then a home loss to the Senators on Tuesday night. The Panthers beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 to take top spot.

Pavel Zacha scored Boston’s only goal. Linus Ullmark finished with 17 saves for the Bruins.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

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BLUE JACKETS 6 HURRICANES 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Zach Werenski had two goals and two assists, Jet Greaves made 38 saves and Columbus beat a diminished version of playoff-bound Carolina.

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CAPITALS 2 FLYERS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — T.J. Oshie scored into an empty net in the rare situation of a team pulling its goaltender in a tie game, and Washington is in the playoffs after beating Philadelphia.

Flyers coach John Tortorella pulled goalie Samuel Ersson for an extra attacker because his team needed to win in regulation to keep its post-season hopes alive. The result allowed the Capitals to clinch a berth and eliminate the Pittsburgh Penguins — rivals for both teams finishing the regular season in Philadelphia — in improbable fashion with Oshie’s goal with exactly three minutes left.

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RED WINGS 5 CANADIENS 4 (SO)

MONTREAL (AP) — Patrick Kane scored the shootout winner in a Detroit win over Montreal in their regular-season finale, but the Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention.

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PANTHERS 5 MAPLE LEAFS 2

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP)— Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart scored 10 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Florida beat Toronto 5-2.

With the victory and Boston’s 3-1 loss to Ottawa, Florida clinched the Atlantic Division title. The Panthers (52-24-6) finished the season with a four-game win streak to make up a five-point deficit in the standings.

Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour also scored for Florida, and Anthony Stolarz made 24 saves.

The Panthers will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs.

Toronto is locked into the Atlantic Division’s third seed. It will play Boston in the first round of the playoffs.

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JETS 4 KRAKEN 3

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Kyle Connor scored twice and Tyler Toffoli broke a third-period tie to lift Winnipeg to a key victory over Seattle.

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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3 BLACKHAWKS 1

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brayden McNabb, Michael Amadio and Nicolas Roy scored, and Vegas moved into third place in the Pacific Division after defeating Chicago.

The Knights, who have won three consecutive games, are one point ahead of Los Angeles. If Vegas beats Anaheim on Thursday, the Knights will clinch that spot and face Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs. The Kings host the Blackhawks in their season finale on Thursday night.

CANUCKS 4 FLAMES 1

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Tyler Myers had a goal an assist, Thatcher Demko stopped 39 shots in his return from a knee injury and Vancouver beat Calgary 4-1 to clinch the Pacific Division title.

Nils Hoglander, Dakota Joshua and J.T. Miller also scored to help Vancouver win a division for the first time since 2013. The Canucks are two points behind Dallas for the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference, and both teams have one game remaining.

Brayden Pachal scored for the Flames and Jacob Markstrom had 27 saves.

Demko missed 14 games since suffering an injury in Vancouver’s 5-0 win over Winnipeg on March 9.

MLB

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi struck out nine in his solid six innings, and Vladimir Guerrero Junior’s two-run single in the fourth pushed the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-4 win over the visiting New York Yankees tonight. Kikuchi provided the Jays with a three-run cushion after giving up only a run on four hits and a walk for Toronto’s fourth win in a row. The Yankees lost their third straight.

NBA

LeBron James had 23 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers secured an NBA playoff berth with a 110-106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in last night’s Western Conference play-in tournament. Zion Williamson had 40 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans in his NBA post-season debut. The Lakers open the playoffs Saturday taking on the Nuggets in Denver, Colorado.
The Sacramento Kings got 32 points and nine rebounds from Keegan Murray as they dunked the visiting Golden State Warriors 118-94 in the NBA’s other play-in tournament. De’Aaron Fox added 24 points for the Kings, while Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 22 points.
On Wednesday the Heat visits the 76ers, and the Hawks visit the Bulls.

(Canadian Press)