Robyn Silvernagle and her team from the Twin Rivers Curling Club in North Battleford opened the Viterra Scotties provincial women's curling championship in Tisdale with a 9-3 loss to Jessica Mitchell from the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon.

The defending champions, with Swift Current's Kelly Schafer playing third, fell behind early with Mitchell scoring one in the first and stealing one in the second before Silvernagle tied it with two in the third. Mitchell responded with a deuce in the fourth and a steal of one in the fifth to go up 5-2 at the break, then after Silvernagle was forced to a single in the sixth, Mitchell scored back-to-back deuces in the seventh and eighth to wrap up the game.

Silvernagle will face the Highland Curling Club's Jana Tisdale in the morning draw today before facing former provincial champion Michelle Englot and her rink from the Highland tonight.

Other games in the opening draw had Skylar Ackerman defeating Englot 7-4, Penny Barker defeating Sherry Anderson 10-5, and Nancy Martin edging Sherrilee Orsted 7-6.

Caufield scores late winner as Habs beat Devils

Cole Caufield tipped in a rebound with 4:31 left in regulation to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils in the NHL on Wednesday night. Juraj Slafkovsky and Joshua Roy also scored for the Habs, who visit the Ottawa Senators tonight. Also tonight, the Calgary Flames host the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Edmonton Oilers welcome the Seattle Kraken and the Vancouver Canucks entertain the Arizona Coyotes.

In the PWHL on Wednesday, Susana Tapani scored the overtime winner as Minnesota beat Ottawa 3-2, and Loren Gable scored the game-winner with 1:50 left to give Boston a 3-2 win over Toronto.

In the WHL, Moose Jaw doubled up Lethbridge 6-3, Red Deer edged Saskatoon 5-4 and Portland beat Kelowna 5-4. The Swift Current Broncos host Moose Jaw in their next game Friday night.

Raptors start post-Siakam era with win over Heat

Gary Trent Jr. scored a season-high 28 points as the Toronto Raptors stunned the Miami Heat 121-97 on Wednesday night, hours after trading forward Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round draft picks.

The two-time NBA All-Star is the latest big name to be traded by the struggling Raptors ahead of the league's trade deadline on February 8. With Siakam's departure, Chris Boucher is the last remaining player from the Raptors' 2019 championship team on the roster.

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