(As of 12:01 a.m.)
WHL: (PG COUGARS)
Prince George Cougars 2 Seattle Thunderbirds 1
The Cougars ended a five-game losing streak and a seven-game road losing skid.
Taylor Gauthier made 29 saves as Prince George outshot Seattle 32-30.
Vladislav Mikhalchuk opened the scoring 64 seconds into the second period and set-up the game-winner by Josh Maser midway through the third.
The Cougars visit the Western Conference leading Everett Silvertips tonight and the Kamloops Blazers on Sunday in their final games in 2018.
The Silvertips beat Spokane 3-1 and the Blazers outscored Kelowna 3-2 in overtime in other WHL action on Friday.
The 12-19-1-2 Cougars are two points behind (13-16-2-1) Kamloops for the second and final wild-card spot.
Prince George is also a point ahead of last-place (11-17-4) Seattle in the Western Conference.
The Cougars next home game will be against Kelowna on January 11th.
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The Cariboo Cougars are 1-0-and-1 at the Mac’s international midget hockey tournament in Calgary after a 4-3 Friday victory over the Brampton (Ontario) 45s.
Cariboo has two more round robin games left: against the Lethbridge Hurricanes this morning (8 a.m. PT)
and vs. the Swift Current Legionnaires Sunday afternoon at 1:30.
The Major Midget Cougars tied their opener 2-2 against the Calgary Midget Flames.
(The 16-5-3 Major Midget Cougars are in second place in the BCMML, five points behind the (19-3-1-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. Cariboo will play its next league game January 19th in Fort St. James against the third-place (14-5-3-2) Vancouver NE Chiefs)
WORLD JUNIOR HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP:
Canada, with a 2-0 record, will play its third round-robin game tonight at 5:00 against the winless Czech Republic in Vancouver.
The Czechs are coming off a 2-1 Friday night loss to Russia.
Canada will also face Russia on New Year’s Eve (Monday).
NHL: (3 Friday games)
Montreal 5 Florida 3
Toronto 4 Columbus 2
NY Islanders 6 Ottawa 3
The Vancouver Canucks are 1-0 on a six-game road trip that continues tonight in Calgary.
The 18-18-4 Canucks are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
Vancouver will also visit New Jersey Monday (10:00 a.m. PT), Ottawa Wednesday, Montreal Thursday and Toronto, Saturday, January 5th before hosting Arizona on Thursday, January 10th.
BCHL: (PG SPRUCE KINGS)
The Prince George Spruce Kings play seven of their first eight games in January on the road starting in Merritt on Friday (January 4th).
The 25-9-1-2 Spruce Kings are in first place in the Mainland Division by three points over the (25-11) Chilliwack Chiefs.
The Chiefs make up their game in hand tonight when they host the Coquitlam Express.
P.G. will host Cowichan Valley on Jan. 11th in its next home game.
NFL:
There are 16 NFL games on Sunday to conclude the regular season, including the night match-up of Indianapolis at Tennessee.
The Colts-Titans winner will make the playoffs while the loser is out.
NBA:
Orlando Magic 116 Toronto Raptors 87
The 26-11 Raptors lead the Eastern Conference by half-a-game over Milwaukee, 1 1/2 over Indiana and by 2 1/2 over Philadelphia.
The Raptors play their final game in 2018 when they host the (10-26) Chicago Bulls on Sunday.
CANADA WEST BASKETBALL: (UNBC TIMBERWOLVES)
The UNBC Timberwolves host the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Wolfpack of Kamloops in Canada West basketball Friday and Saturday (January 4th and 5th) at the Northern Sport Centre.
The Timberwolves are 6-4 in both divisions.
The UNBC women are tied for seventh while the men are eighth out of 17 teams.
The TRU women are 3-7 while the TRU men have a 4-6 record.
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