(As of 12:01AM)
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
(WHL)
The Prince George Cougars got help on the out-of-town WHL scoreboard Wednesday night as Kamloops, Victoria, and Kelowna all lost.
The Blazers fell 4-2 in Medicine Hat, the Royals were beaten at home 7-2 by Portland and the Rockets dropped a 5-1 decision in Lethbridge.
The Cougars play Friday in Victoria and Sunday in Vancouver to conclude a five-game pre-Christmas road trip.
Prince George is coming off a 6-5 loss in Seattle despite grabbing a 3-1 lead in the first period.
The 11-17-1-2 Cougars are last in the BC Division, two points behind (12-14-2-1) Kamloops, four back of (14-13-1) Victoria and seven behind (15-16-2) Kelowna.
Prince George and (11-14-3) Seattle are tied for last in the Western Conference, but the Thunderbirds have three games in hand.
The Cougars have lost their last five road games and seven of eight overall.
The Royals are 3-1 against Prince George this season.
NHL: (Four Wednesday games)
Calgary 6 Philadelphia 5 (OT)
The Flames trailed 5-3 late before scoring at 18:52 and 19:53 of the third period.
Johnny Gaudreau tallied the winner at 35 seconds of overtime as the (20-10-2) Flames took over the top spot in the Western Conference.
Chicago 6 Pittsburgh 3
The Blackhawks ended an 8-game losing streak.
Vegas 3 NY Islanders 2
Anaheim 6 Dallas 3
The 14-16-3 Vancouver Canucks conclude a three-game road trip tonight in Nashville against the Central Division-leading (20-10-1) Predators.
The Canucks, riding a three-game win streak, are five points behind Edmonton for the final wild-card playoff spot.
Vancouver super rookie Elias Pettersson has 10 points in his last four games.
There are eight NHL Thursday games including Edmonton at Winnipeg.
The Oilers are 8-2-1 since Ken Hitchcock took over as coach.
In other action involving Canadian teams: Toronto at Tampa Bay and Carolina at Montreal.
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
(BCHL)
The Prince George Spruce Kings (4-1 on a seven-game homestand) entertain the Surrey Eagles Friday and Saturday in their final action at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA) in 2018.
The 23-8-1-2 Spruce Kings are first and the (7-24-1-2) Eagles worst in both the Mainland Division and BCHL.
Prince George is one point ahead of the (24-10) Chilliwack Chiefs.
Friday night is the Drop the Gloves and Sock it to Em game, where fans are encouraged to bring warm winter clothing in bags to throw onto the ice when the Spruce Kings score their first goal.
Prince George will close out the month at Langley on the 20th and at Surrey on the 21st.
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Canada West is 2-1 after a 3-0 loss to Russia at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in Bonnyville, Alberta.
The Russians lead the five-team round robin with a 3-0 record.
PG Spruce Kings defenceman Layton Ahac is one of 22 players (14 from the BCHL) that is on the Canada West team that will play (0-2) Czech Republic tonight.
Ahac does not have a point in the three games.
Semi-finals will be played on Saturday followed by the Medal games on Sunday.
CARIBOO COUGARS:
(BCMML)
The top two teams in the BC Major Midget League face off this weekend in Prince George.
The 15-4-3 Cariboo Cougars host the (18-3-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds Saturday afternoon at 4 and Sunday morning at 10:30 at Kin 1 in their final league games prior to the Christmas break.
After 22 games, Fraser Valley has a four-point lead over Cariboo.
CARIBOO COUGARS MINOR MIDGET:
The Minor Midget Cariboo Cougars host the (8-5-2) North Island Silvertips Friday night at 6:30 at the CN Centre, Saturday afternoon at 1 at Kin 1 and Sunday morning at 7:30 at Kin 1.
The Cariboo 15-year-olds are 9-4-1-1 and in third place, a point behind the (10-1-1) Okanagan Rockets and three points back of the first place (11-3-1) Thunderbirds.
North Island is in 4th place in the 10-team league, just two points behind Cariboo.
SWIMMING:
Former Prince George Barracudas swimmer Haley Black set a Canadian record in the preliminary heats of the women’s 50-metre butterfly on day three of the FINA World Short Course Championships in Hangzhou, China.
Black clocked in with a time of 25.43 to better the old mark of 25.51 mark set by Katerine Savard at the 2016 World Championships
She is seventh going into the 50-metre fly finals.
Black graduated this year from Auburn University and currently trains at the Vancouver High-Performance Center.
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 113 Golden State Warriors 93
The Raptors won despite being without their leading scorer Kawhi Leonard.
In addition, Toronto centre Jonas Valanciunas left in the second quarter with a dislocated left thumb.
The (19-10) Warriors were at full strength.
Kyle Lowry scored 23 points and added 12 assists.
The 23-7 Raptors continue their Western road trip Friday in Portland against the 15-13 Trail Blazers and Sunday in Denver vs. the (18-9) Nuggets.
Toronto leads the Eastern Conference by 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee and Philadelphia with Indiana 4 back and Boston 4 1/2 behind.
NFL:
A key AFC West game to start week 15 of the NFL season tonight.
The 10-3 LA Chargers visit the 11-2 Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs can clinch the division title with a victory.
WORLD CUP BIATHLON:
Megan Tandy of Prince George is scheduled to compete today in the women’s Sprint at the World Cup biathlon races in Austria.
The 30-year-old Tandy was the best of four Canadians last week in World Cup action in Slovenia.
She was 62nd out of 102 in the women’s 15-kilometre individual race and 73rd in the 7.5-kilometre Sprint.