WEDNESDAY SPORTS: OH CANADA! CANADIAN TEAMS WIN (EXCEPT OTTAWA)

NHL

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Andrew Mangiapane and Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the first period for Calgary, and Blake Coleman added an empty-netter in a 3-1 Flames win at Minnesota. Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves in the win.

OILERS 5 FLYERS 2

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) – Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists, and the Oilers extended their win streak to six games.  The big night gave McDavid 903 points in 602 career games. He is the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to record his 900th point, behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Peter Stastny.

MAPLE LEAFS 3 KINGS 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Martin Jones made 32 saves for his 30th career shutout, William Nylander scored two goals and Toronto snapped its three-game losing streak with a victory over Los Angeles. Calle Jarnkrok also scored and Tyler Bertuzzi had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who began their three-game California trip with a strong defensive effort. 

JETS 4 LIGHTNING 2

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Nikolaj Ehlers and Morgan Barron scored in the third period, and the Jets extended their point streak to nine games. Winnipeg improved to 7-0-2 during the surge. The point streak matches a franchise record set in December 2005 by the Atlanta Thrashers. Neal Pionk and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Jets (23-9-4), who won their third straight game. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves.

CANADIENS 4 STARS 3

DALLAS (AP) – Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris added to Montreal’s NHL-leading 30 goals from defencemen, and Sam Montembeault stopped 30 shots for the Canadiens.

Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist and Cole Caufield also scored for the Canadiens, who went 3-3-1 on a season-long seven-game road stretch.

CANUCKS 6 SENATORS 3

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) – Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter each scored twice, and the Canucks used a fast start to beat the Senators. J.T. Miller and Ian Cole also scored for Vancouver (24-10-3), which led 5-0 after one. Thatcher Demko stopped 35 shots.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals for Ottawa, and Claude Giroux had a goal and assist.

Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg saved nine of 13 shots. Joonas Korpisalo replaced Forsberg in the second period and stopped 11 of 13 shots.

CAPITALS 4 PITTSBURGH 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal during Washington’s fast start, and the Capitals beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Ovechkin and Crosby faced off for the 67th time in the National Hockey League regular season. It was the 10th time that Ovechkin and Crosby scored in the same game, and first since a Capitals win on Nov. 7, 2018.

HURRICANES 6 RANGERS 1

NEW YORK (AP) – Andrei Svechnikov scored twice, Pyotr Kochetkov made 28 saves and Carolina earned its fourth straight win.

Brady Skjei had three assists for the surging Hurricanes, who improved to 7-1-3 in their last 11 games. Jack Drury, Jordan Martinook, Jalen Chatfield and Michael Bunting also scored.

Svechnikov has six goals and five assists in his last five games.

Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin finished with 21 stops.

AVALANCHE 5 ISLANDERS 4 (OT)

DENVER (AP) – Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal 32 seconds into overtime, lifting Colorado to the victory. MacKinnon converted a slap shot for his 20th goal of the season. He also had two assists and extended his home point streak to 20 games to begin the season, a franchise record.

BRUINS 4 BLUE JACKETS 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – James van Riemsdyk scored on a power play and added two assists, helping Boston to its fourth consecutive victory.

PANTHERS 4 COYOTES 1

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk scored 42 seconds apart in the third period, sending Florida to its fifth consecutive victory. Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Gustav Forsling also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

PREDATORS 3 BLACKHAWKS 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly each had a goal and an assist, leading Nashville to the victory.

Last-place Chicago dropped to 6-17-2 in its last 25 games. Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom made 33 saves. Chicago centre Connor Bedard, who was named the NHL’s rookie for the month of December, was held without a point for just the second time in his last eight games.

RED WINGS 5 SHARKS 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – David Perron scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the third period, including the winner with 1:30 left, and Detroit pushed San Jose’s losing streak to nine games.

WHL

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Oasiz Wiesblatt’s second power-play goal of the night, scored at 4:53 of overtime, gave the Medicine Hat Tigers an exciting 4-3 Western Hockey League victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday night at Co-op Place.

Wiesblatt scored his first goal at 11:34 of the second period to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead at the time.

Gavin McKenna also scored for the Tigers (23-11-2-0), who outshot the Rebels 30-29 in the Central Division showdown.

Matthew Gard and Hunter Mayo scored for the Rebels (18-13-1-4), who were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Tigers went 2-for-3.

PWHL

Ann-Sophie Bettez scored 64 seconds into overtime on Tuesday to lift visiting Montreal past Ottawa 3-2 in the season-opener for both Professional Women’s Hockey League squads. Claire Dalton and Laura Stacey also scored for Montreal, while Katerina Mrazova and Hayley Scamurra had Ottawa’s goals. Marie-Philip Poulin of Montreal was stopped on a penalty shot by Emerance Maschmeyer.

WORLD JUNIORS

Canada’s world junior hockey title defence has ended early. Jakub Stancl scored his second goal of the game with just under 12 seconds to go in regulation as Czechia beat Canada 3-2 in quarterfinal action today in Gothenburg, Sweden. Canada was looking for its third straight gold medal at the under-20 tournament. Czechia will face host Sweden in Thursday’s semifinals, while Finland and the United States meet in the other semi.

NFL

The NFL has fined Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper 300-thousand dollars (US) for tossing a drink at fans in Jacksonville toward the end of a game yesterday. The league called Tepper’s conduct “unacceptable.” Tepper’s reaction came after rookie quarterback Bryce Young threw an interception with less than three minutes to play in a 26-0 loss to the Jaguars.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett says the coaching staff felt he wasn’t ready to play against Seattle on Sunday, which is why he was inactive during Pittsburgh’s 30-23 win over the Seahawks. The second-year pro, who had right ankle surgery a month ago, denied online speculation that he told the coaching staff he didn’t want to suit up as a backup behind Mason Rudolph.

(Canadian Press)

CFL

Veteran quarterback Dane Evans has announced his retirement from professional football.

The 30-year-old joined the CFL as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017 and spent five seasons with the club, first becoming its starter in 2019 after Jeremiah Masoli suffered a season-ending knee injury. He helped lead the club to a 15-3 record that year and a berth in the 107th Grey Cup.

In February 2023, Evans was traded to the B.C. Lions in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 CFL Draft after Hamilton acquired Bo Levi Mitchell to serve as their franchise quarterback.

(3DownNation.com)