Monday's Sports Briefs

• Sunday's Scoreboard
• Coaches' Corner (January 6, 2014)

- The Dauphin Kings downed the Virden Oil Capitals 5-1 in a key matchup in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Sunday night.  Michael Stiliadis made 31 saves in the Dauphin net, allowing only a Mack Hardy goal for Virden.  The loss leaves the Oil Caps three points ahead of the second-place Kings in the Sherwood Division.  Other games Sunday saw Steinbach defeat Neepawa 3-1 and Selkirk blanked Waywayseecappo 2-0.  The Natives and Wolverines remain tied for fifth-place and the final playoff spot in the Sherwood Division. - After having an 18-game winning streak snapped Saturday, the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings took out their frustrations on Central Plains Sunday.  Duncan Campbell had two goals and two assists and Jordy Stallard a goal and four assists to pace Brandon to a 12-1 victory, leaving the Wheat Kings still one point ahead of the Winnipeg Wild in the battle for first-place.  The Wild blanked Yellowhead 6-0 Sunday, leaving the Chiefs tied with Kenora for eighth-place and the final playoff spot with 30 points and a 14-15-0-2 record.  Meanwhile, Carter Cowlthorp and Tanner Lewis had a goal and an assist each as the Southwest Cougars beat Interlake 3-1 Sunday.  The Cougars are tied for sixth-place with a 16-13-0-2 record for 34 points. - Elkhorn product Travis Sanheim scored a goal for the third straight game as the Calgary Hitmen downed the Seattle Thunderbirds 10-2 in one of four games in the Western Hockey League on Sunday.  Other action Sunday included Kootenay edging Medicine Hat 4-3, Vancouver doubling Tri-City 4-2 and Moose Jaw shading Red Deer 4-3.  Red Deer will be in Brandon to face the Wheat Kings Tuesday night (7:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place). - Evgeni Malkin scored twice in his return from injury and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-5 on Sunday afternoon.  James Neal added two goals for Pittsburgh, which matched a club record by winning its 12th straight home game.  Evander Kane had two goals and an assist for the Jets with Jacob Trouba, Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele also scoring for Winnipeg.  The Jets remain winless in Pittsburgh since 2006 and six points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. - For the first time in more than 30 years, Canada officially has a medal drought at the World Junior Hockey Championship.  Canada dropped the bronze medal game to Russia by a score of 2-1 Sunday, marking the first time it has failed to win a medal in back-to-back tournaments since Hockey Canada started sending a national team in1982.  It was a tough tournament for Canada, as the team surrendered the first goal in all but one of their games and seemed to lose the composure at crucial times during the tournament.  In the gold medal game, Finland edged Sweden 3-2 in overtime. - Brandon's Scott Ramsay and his Granite Curling Club team were runners-up at a World Curling Tour event in Blaine, Minnesota.  Ramsay gave up a steal of three in the third end and fell 7-5 to China's Rui Liu in the Championship Final. - Brandon product Mike McEwen and his Fort Rouge team lost in the semifinal of the World Curling Tour's Perth Masters Bonspiel in Scotland over the weekend.  McEwen won their first five games including a quarter-final before dropping a 6-4 decision to Sweden's Oskar Eriksson in the semifinals. - Steen Sigurdson earned the title at the Manitoba Curling Tour's Deer Lodge Open.  Sigurdson defeated Richard Muntain 8-3 in the final of an event that included six teams bound for the Safeway Championship and three headed to this week's Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Virden. - Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton turned the ball over three times in the second half and San Diego took advantage of his mistakes by scoring 20 straight points for a 27-10 win in the AFC wild-card game.  The Chargers will play the AFC's top seeded Denver Broncos next Sunday while Indianapolis visits New England on Saturday. - Phil Dawson kicked a 33-yard field goal as time expired to lift the San Francisco 49ers over the Green Bay Packers 23-20 in the NFC wild-card game.  Colin Kaepernick threw for 227 yards and had another 98 on the ground while running back Frank Gore added 66 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.  San Francisco plays at Carolina next Sunday while New Orleans visits Seattle on Saturday.

Back to News