NHL: Former Sting Ryan Spooner had an assists as Boston kept their playoff hopes alive with a 5-2 win over the Red Wings. The Boston and Detroit each have 93 points, tied for third in the Atlantic. Pittsburgh clinched home ice with a 4-3 win over Washington, the Penguins have won eight games in a row and 14 of their past 15. Jaromir Jagr scored his 27th of the season as Florida fell to Ottawa 3-1. Jonathan Drouin scored the winner as Tampa Bay beat New Jersey 4-2. John Tavares had a goal and an assist against the Rangers as the Islanders earned their first regular-season sweep of their New York rivals with a 4-1 victory over the crosstown Rangers. Montreal doubled up Carolina 4-2. Mikael Backlund had his first NHL hat trick to help the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver 7-3. Dustin Byfuglien scored with 10 seconds left in the Jets' 5-4 win over San Jose. Vladimir Tarasenko scored a pair as the St. Louis beat the Chicago 2-1 in OT.
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MLB: Anthony Rizzo matched his career high with six RBIs as the Chicago Cubs beat Arizona 14-6. But the Cubs lost Kyle Schwarber with a sprained ankle in an outfield collision. Mark Teixeira hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the Yankees to an 8-5 win over Houston. Starlin Castro singled and hit his second homer of the season for New York. The former Cubs infielder is 7 for 12 this season. According to STATS Inc., his eight RBIs are the most by any player in his first three games for the Yankees since the stat became official in 1920. Cleveland's home game with Boston was postponed due to inclement weather. No makeup date has been set.
Toronto and Detroit were both off Thursday as they prepare for home openers. Marcus Stroman takes the mound when the Blue Jays host Boston, giving the fans their first look at the Roger Centre's new all dirt infield. Jordan Zimmerman makes his Tigers debut when they host the Yankees.
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GOLF: Jordan Spieth will try to pad his lead today at the Masters after opening with a six-under par 66. The defending champ owns a two-shot lead over Danny Lee and Shane Lowry headed into the second round. Mike Weir is the only Canadian in the tournament. He starts the day at 4-over, teeing off with the first group at 8:20 this morning. Ernie Els made Masters history yesterday and not in a good way. He opened with a 10 on the Par 4 first hole. His sextuple bogey is the worst score on the first hole at the Masters, beating the old mark by two strokes.
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NCAA: North Dakota and Quinnipac were winners in men's hockey action at the NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa Bay. The two teams will meet Saturday in the national championships. North Dakota broke a tie with less than a minute left and beat the University of Denver 4-2, while Quinnipiac held off Boston College 3-2.
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OHL: Second round action got underway Thursday night as Niagara beat Kingston 1-0 and Barrie got by North Bay 5-2. London hosts Kitchener tonight and Sault Ste. Marie is in Erie.
CURLING: Calgary's Kevin Koe leads Canada's rink against Denmark in the 1-2 Page playoff of the men's curling world championship in Switzerland this afternoon. The Canadians were dominant in round-robin play with a 10-1 record. That lone loss coming against Sweden.
LOCAL
GOJHL: Petrolia's Brenden Trottier had an assists as London beat Leamington 3-2 in OT to take a 3-2 lead in the West Finals, game six Saturday in London. Stratford can win the Midwest Finals when they take on Waterloo tonight, leading 3 games to 1
SCHMALZ CUP: The Essex 73's fell to Ayr 5-4 Thursday night and trail the semifinal series 2-0.
GYMNASTICS: Seven local gymnasts are competing at the provincial championships in Mississauga this weekend. Amy Bladon, Jovie Richardson, Rachael Riley, Serena Baker, Lexi McCormack, Lyla D’Andrea and Shea Skinn-Wai will all hit the pool with competition wrapping up Sunday. They are all members of the Bluewater Gymnastics Club
