National Sports

VANCOUVER — After having their early expectations derailed, the Canadian women’s sevens team hopes playing in front of a hometown crowd at the upcoming HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series event in Vancouver can help put their season back on track.

WINNIPEG — Conor Geekie scored twice, Zack Ostapchuk and Evan Friesen each had a goal and two assists and the Winnipeg Ice pummelled the Calgary Hitmen 8-2 on Wednesday.

GATINEAU, Que. — Joey Vetrano netted the shootout winner as the Gatineau Olympiques squeezed past the Halifax Mooseheads 3-2 Wednesday in a battle of second-place teams from each conference.

FLINT, Mich. — Alex Christopoulos netted a hat trick, Brett Harrison had two goals and three assists and the Windsor Spitfires dominated the Flint Firebirds en route to a 9-3 victory on Wednesday.

Canada's Denis Shapovalov suffered a 7-6 (1), 6-4 loss at the hands of China's Yibing Wu in the second round of the Dallas Open on Wednesday. The Richmond Hill, Ont.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil got New York off to a strong start in the first period and the Rangers held on to beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.

TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors are focused on putting out a professional effort even as trade rumours swirl around the team. Pascal Siakam's 37 points led all scorers in Toronto's 112-98 win over the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

INDIO, Calif. — Cristian Dajome scored twice in the second half to help the Vancouver Whitecaps blank Toronto FC 3-0 in pre-season play Wednesday at the Coachella Valley Invitational.

Canadian soccer player Sam Adekugbe is one of the lucky ones. He managed to escape earthquake-ravaged Antakya in Turkey. Some of his teammates and staff at his club Hatayspor are still missing.

After almost a week of uncertainty about event accessibility due to her pregnancy leave, Team Lawes vice Selena Njegovan has confirmed she plans to attend the Canadian women's curling championship.