TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays laid some groundwork for a potential Roki Sasaki signing, acquiring international bonus pool room from the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.
According to two industry sources, they’re adding $2 million in space — pushing their total up to $8,261,600. The deal does not mean that Sasaki has made up his mind or that he’s given the Blue Jays any indication of his decision, one source added.
To get the bonus pool room, the Blue Jays are taking back Myles Straw and his contract. The outfielder Cleveland was outrighted off the roster last March and is due $6.4 million this season, $7.4 million next year and comes with a club option for $8 million with a $1.75-million buyout in 2027.
Cleveland is also sending the Blue Jays an undisclosed amount of cash, while the Blue Jays will send the Guardians a player to be named or cash.
GUELPH, Ont. — Team Isabella Wrana of Sweden made it through to the quarterfinals of the WFG Masters with a 7-4 over Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan on Friday.
Wrana, who wrapped up round-robin play at 3-1, rallied with a deuce in the sixth and stole two in the seventh to snap Homan’s 26-game winning streak on tour.
Homan (3-1) had already qualified for the playoffs. The reigning world champion holds a 42-3 record on the season and swept through the past two Grand Slam events.
The top four teams selected their pool opponents in an online draft last month. Another draft will be held following the conclusion of round-robin play to determine the matchups for the quarterfinals.
Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa also came from behind scoring two in the eighth and stealing three in the extra end to edge Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., 7-4.
Both teams went 2-2 through round-robin play and await the results of the final women’s draw later Friday to find out their fates.
Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes (2-2) defeated Team Seung-youn Ha of South Korea 7-5 to remain in the mix. Ha was eliminated at 1-3.
Calgary’s Team Kayla Skrlik (1-3) ended on a high note earning a first win in a top-tier Grand Slam event with an 8-5 victory over Japan’s Team Momoha Tabata (2-2).
UP NEXT
One more women’s round-robin draw and two men’s draws are on tap Friday.
Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ resumes at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT.
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the fourth Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … A new rule is being tested this week where teams will lose the hammer if they blank two consecutive ends. … The top eight teams in the men’s and women’s divisions qualify for the playoffs. If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be held Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals slated for Sunday.
Roger Goodell is looking at expanding the NFL regular season once again.
The NFL commissioner expressed his interest in an 18-game regular season and is pleased with the results from the previous expansion implemented a couple years ago.
In 2021, the league went from 16 regular-season games and four pre-season games to 17 regular-season games and three in the pre-season. Goodell wants to do something similar in a new expansion.
“We would keep within that 20-game framework,” Goodell said Friday, on Bloomberg TV. “We went to 16 and four, and now 17 and three. So 18 and two is a logical step.”
Goodell said NFL Players Association would need to approve the extension of the regular season. The union could object on the basis that more games will mean more injuries, although Goodell said the 17-game season has not increased the number of injuries, thanks to improved training and rules changes.
The NFL played 16-game seasons for 43 years (with two strike-shortened seasons) before expanding to 17 games in 2021.
One of the names that appeared most frequently on every start-of-the-year list of emerging talents competing in the UFC is that of Payton Talbott, the unbeaten 26-year-old bantamweight who makes his 2025 debut this weekend at UFC 311 in a featured preliminary card clash with Brazilian veteran Raoni Barcelos.
Following a strong showing on the regional circuit, the Reno, Nev., native earned his place on the UFC roster with a commanding decision win over Reyes Cortez on Season 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series, drawing eyeballs with his mid-fight flip out of a bad position and his overall dynamic style.
He quickly made his debut, submitting Nick Aguirre in the third round before posting a pair of impressive finishes in 2024 — the first a second-round stoppage of South African prospect Cameron Saaiman, and the second a 19-second knockout win over Yanis Ghemmouri at UFC 303.
The wins pushed his pro record to 9-0 and cranked the intensity of the hype surrounding the poised prospect up to extreme levels, which is something Talbott tries diligently to ignore while also seeing the pros and cons of people being so invested in him and his upside in the sport.
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Islam Makhachev faces Arman Tsarukyan for the lightweight title and Merab Dvalishvili takes on Umar Nurmagomedov for the bantamweight championship. Watch UFC 311 on Saturday, Jan. 18 with prelim coverage beginning 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, and the pay-per-view main card starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
“I try really hard not to,” Talbott said this week when asked about carrying the weight of expectation on his shoulders. “Of course some of it gets through and leaks through, but my hometown gym, Reno Academy of Combat, and my close friends in town that I grew up with, that are childhood friends, they always show up for me the same, and that’s important.
“It’s cool though. It allows me more traction to do things, push boundaries, maybe inspire others, because I think that’s a really special thing. Long after I’m dead, if I can continue to influence or inspire somebody, I’m technically still alive, I think.
“But I do pity them a little bit,” he added, “because they have skin and emotion in a very rollercoaster lifestyle, and if they’re so affected by me cutting my hair, then they’re gonna have a pretty rough time down the line, I’m sure.”
He smiled as he spoke about his recent haircut and how going close-cropped drew a reaction from people within the MMA sphere.
Like a lot of things, the attention feels both curious and like an opportunity for the boundary-pushing, playfully coy ascending talent.
“Yeah, it’s a little strange,” began Talbott, speaking about how people tend pay a great deal of attention to his appearance and style, and speculating on his sexuality. “It’s more strange how emotionally invested people get into it, with something so fleeting as an appearance.
“I kind of like it because it gives me a chance to mess with people,” he added, grinning. “All I did was cut my hair a couple inches; it’s really no big deal.”
At a time where so many people are obsessed with putting forth a version of themselves that is going to be accepted and approved of by the masses, Talbott is solely focused on being his authentic self, reactions be damned.
It’s an approach forged in adolescence, though the details of why and how aren’t exactly something the engaging, yet often vague bantamweight is quick to detail.
“I think when your reality isn’t so concrete, when the line between your environment is blurred at a young age, you have issues with that, I think you will do things to solidify yourself from your environment to define who you really are, and that’s just putting it vaguely and simply,” offered Talbott, who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Nevada. “I think at a late adolescent age I had to define myself from my environment, otherwise I would… I don’t know.
“That need and desire of sanity in that moment has (produced) some of my long-lasting values that might be a trauma-patterned or something really good for me.”
It’s a typical Talbott answer — captivating, but unclear, which evokes a desire to probe for more details, which is certain to be brushed aside with a wide smile and his piercing eyes. When I mentioned this he smirked.
“People are starting to pick up on the pattern; maybe I have to start to over-share.”
That’s the kind of response that makes you wonder if he’s trying to cultivate a mysterious personality or just really is guarded and uninterested in sharing the details of his life story at the moment; if he’s being vague for the sake of being vague, rather than genuinely not wanting to get too deep into his personal history because those are things fight fans and media aren’t necessarily entitled to know about in the first place, despite many believing otherwise.
Having spoken with Talbott a couple times in the past, my inclination is that it’s the latter, and the way he frankly discusses his impending clash with Barcelos gives credence to that inference.
Normally when you ask a fighter about their upcoming fight and the person they’re soon to share the Octagon with, you’re hit with a smorgasbord of cliches, fighter-speak, and compliment sandwiches, where a subtle dig or straight-up slight is lodged between a couple bits of praise or kind words.
But with Talbott, requesting his thoughts on the matchup draws out the kind of genuine, earnest assessments that most fighters don’t dare speak aloud.
“I’m happy to fight a veteran and somebody that has been around the sport so long, has as much experience as him,” he said of the 37-year-old Barcelos, who enters Saturday off a third-round submission win over Cristian Quiñonez and brandishing an 18-5 record overall. “Raoni is somebody — I don’t know this for a fact, but he seems not scared to fight anyone, and I respect that because people are very careful these days, and that is what it is. I think he’s tough and has enough skills to stay safe for most of the fight, so hopefully I’m just able to show more of who I am.”
“I think stylistically, he’s not great for me; he’s gonna make me struggle for a victory,” added Talbott, marking one of the rare times a competitor has acknowledged they might have to navigate some hurdles to get their hand raised inside the Octagon.
“Everybody says I’m not a great wrestler, so we’re gonna find out,” he said. “I’m thankful for that and on the way up, I think it’s good. It would really suck if I got to the Top 15 and I hadn’t been tested yet.”
And for the promising talent from Reno, the opportunity to find out how he measures up against the cagy veteran is of paramount importance, even if it means having to go through some rough periods in order to get to 10-0.
“I think it’s everything; that’s where we draw our confidence from is what we can endure and how you can show up when everything is pitted against you. He’s old, but he’s no slouch. He was a five-time champion in wrestling in Brazil, so dude is probably a much better wrestler than me if we were just wrestling, but we’re not; we’re fighting.
“But this is everything.”
So how, exactly, does he see things playing out after he makes the walk to the cage on Saturday night, soundtracked by a mix of songs he proudly put together himself?
“I think it’s probably going to be a lot of colliding and clashing early on, from far away. I think he’ll get the better of me early on in some situations, and I think I’m gonna have to overcome a little bit of adversity early on, but then you’ll start to see the elevation sink lower and lower into the water, and it will go my way.”
Most fighters would tell you they’re going to knock the other person out, but clearly, Payton Talbott isn’t most fighters.
Each team has played at least 41 games, which means we’re officially at the halfway mark of the NHL season. Where has the time gone?
It’s around this point where trade deadline plans, potential playoff matchups and award frontrunners start transitioning from distant conjecture to, well, not so distant.
Amidst the flashy lights of the Hart, Art Ross, Rocket Richard, Norris and Vezina Trophies, the Calder — awarded to the league’s best rookie — can slip between the cracks.
In 2024-25, we’re seeing that there is no shortage of talented NHL freshmen. Amongst skaters, only three points separate the top three in rookie scoring, but it’s entirely possible that the finalists could include players from all three positions.
Of course, the Calder Trophy isn’t handed out in January, but with the new-kid-on-the-block jitters firmly in the rearview mirror for all the league’s newbies, it’s a good time to take a look at whose stock is on the rise as the race tightens up.
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When the Sharks selected Macklin Celebrini first overall at the 2024 NHL Draft, we had an idea he would be a special player. Through 33 games of his young NHL career, he’s sure lived up to the impossibly high expectations.
On a rebuilding Sharks team that’s had little to celebrate in prior years, the beginning of the Celebrini era has brought some offensive excitement that may not be winning games just yet, but is sure fun to watch in the meantime.
The youngest player in the NHL has potted 13 goals and 16 assists in 33 games, his 29 points good for third in rookie scoring this season. It’s important to note, however, that Celebrini has played less games than his first-year competitors due to a hip injury that sidelined him for 12 games. As such, he leads NHL rookies in points-per-game, with .875.
He’s also leading all rookie forwards in time on ice, with 19:46. The North Vancouver native is used in the top six and on the power play for the Sharks and perhaps what’s most impressive is his efficacy at five-on-five. In addition to his eight power-play points (four goals, four assists), Celebrini has eight goals and 17 points at five-on-five.
Yet to complete an NHL hat trick, the 18-year-old already has three multi-goal games. In nine of his 29 NHL games, he’s recorded five or more shots. At even-strength, Celebrini’s underlying stats show he’s still got a bit of a learning curve at the NHL level — 46.26 per cent Corsi for and a 19 to 24 goal differential while he’s on the ice — but that’s likely in part due to where the Sharks stand in their rebuild. Still, much of the offence runs through the youngster already and will probably continue to do so for years to come.
Few other rookies have been relied upon more heavily in their first year in the NHL than Lane Hutson in Montreal.
Selected with the final pick of the second round at the 2022 NHL Draft, Hutson is developing into a bona fide No. 1 defenceman for the Canadiens just 44 games into his NHL career. Hutson plays on the top pair with veteran Mike Matheson and leads all rookies in ice time with 22:24 per game and is emerging as one of the most valuable offensive defencemen on their roster.
The 20-year-old leads all rookies with 32 points in 42 games (three goals, 29 assists) and is third behind only Nick Suzuki (43) and Cole Caufield (40) on the Canadiens scoring leaderboard.
Some of that can be attributed to his spot on the top power play, most definitely, but much like Celebrini, what makes Hutson such a talented rookie is his ability to produce offence at five-on-five. All three of his goals and 14 of his 32 points have been scored at even-strength, in addition to his 14 assists on the power play. At six-on-five, Hutson quarterbacks the first unit and effectively controls the offence for the Canadiens power play, which is operating at 21.9 per cent.
The Canadiens are also outshooting their opponents 352-341 and outscoring them 36-35 with Hutson on the ice at five-on-five. Without Hutson, opponents out-shoot the Canadiens 591-506.
After a lacklustre November, Montreal has been on the upswing, locked in a tight battle for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot, and that’s thanks in large part to Hutson, who is currently riding a four-game point streak.
The last time the Canadiens had a Calder Trophy winner was in 1972, when legendary goaltender Ken Dryden took home the award. Will Hutson break that 53-year drought?
The Flyers took a risk when they drafted Matvei Michkov seventh overall in 2023. The Russian was under contract in the KHL with SKA St. Petersberg through 2025-26, and there was no guarantee that he would join Philadelphia anytime before that.
But he did, signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the Flyers ahead of this season and he’s been flexing his offensive might on the rest of the league ever since.
Perhaps no rookie this season has the same ability to score clutch goals at big moments as Michkov. Of his 13 goals thus far, three of them have been the game-winners in overtime — in fact, Michkov leads all NHL rookies in overtime game-winning goals.
In addition to getting the call at three-on-three, Michkov is quickly establishing himself as a power-play specialist. Six of his 13 goals have come on the man-advantage and he’s added seven power-play assists.
He’s got ample confidence too — and perhaps some nerve — which he demonstrated by attempting to pull off a lacrosse-style Michigan goal, despite the famous aversion to that showmanship possessed by head coach John Tortorella.
Perhaps Michkov’s one knock is how often Tortorella has healthy-scratched or benched the rookie. Michkov can be a liability defensively at times, and his minus-12 on the season, combined with an on-ice 19-27 five-on-five goal differential, contributed to the Flyers coaching staff deciding to scratch him three times this season.
However, it’s all part of the plan for the Flyers and Tortorella to turn Michkov into a more complete player.
“He’s going to learn that there is another side to the puck,” Tortorella told reporters last week in Toronto.
Despite bouts of streakiness and some extended pointless streaks, Michkov possesses a raw offensive talent that should keep him on the shortlist for Calder favourites if he can stay the course over the second half of the season.
Dustin Wolf has appeared in games for the Flames across three campaigns, yet it’s only been this season that the undersized netminder is getting a real shot at proving himself in the big leagues.
A seventh-round pick for the Flames in 2019, Wolf worked his way through the system and managed to find success at every level and, in his second year of professional hockey, received the Lee Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player, among other accolades. In 2024-25, following Jacob Markstrom’s trade to New Jersey, Wolf finally earned an opening-night roster spot out of training camp.
Since then, he’s been part of a tandem for the Flames that has guided them to the fringes of a playoff spot during a season in which no one thought that possible and has been relied upon to guide the team through tough stretches.
His .916 save percentage, 2.50 goals-against average and two shutouts not only rank above the NHL average this season, he also ranks seventh in save-percentage leaders league-wide. Wolf’s numbers clock above Vezina Trophy-winners Linus Ullmark, Andrei Vasilevsky and Igor Shesterkin, while the rookie faces an average of 30 shots per game.
The Flames also have a 14-6-3 record at the Saddledome, thanks in large part to Wolf, who was between the pipes for all but three of those wins. In Calgary, Wolf has a 1.98 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage, losing just two games in regulation at home.
His play has earned him a run at the No. 1 position over veteran Dan Vladar, getting the start in the past four games.
Wolf absolutely belongs in the Calder conversation, but his position as a goaltender — though crucial for his team — puts him at an inherent disadvantage. The last goalie to be named a finalist was Alex Nedeljkovic in 2021, but the last goalie to actually win the award was Steve Mason in 2009, making it exceedingly rare for a goaltender to win Rookie of the Year in this day and age.
Still, Wolf has proven that all his minor-league success actually translated to the bigs, and even if he’s not one of the three names on the final ballot in June, Flames fans can rest easy knowing they have the makings of a franchise goalie on their hands.
OTTAWA — We’ve arrived at the halfway mark of the season and the Ottawa Senators‘ grade with a 21-18-3 record would be a nice, solid B. They haven’t exceeded expectations, but they are right in the mix of the playoffs bunched among more teams than you can count on your hand.
As general manager Steve Staios plainly assessed, the team is eight points up on where it was last year.
The days of bold predictions from the general manager are gone in the Staios era, compared with those of his predecessor. Staios does not divulge anything.
It was clear ahead of the season that the Senators wanted to be a better defensive team and instill those attributes, which both Staios and his coach Travis Green have preached about on the regular. The Senators have done that, finding themselves 12th in goal against.
The Senators survived their nine-game road trip and have a home-friendly back half of their schedule that they hope to take advantage of. Everything is set for this team to break its seven-season playoff drought. The playoffs are within Brady Tkachuk’s six-foot-four reach.
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Record: 21-18-3 (6th in Atlantic Division, 18th in NHL)
Goals per game: 2.90 (20th in the NHL)
Goals against per game: 2.83 (12th in the NHL)
Power play: 24.1% (10th in the NHL)
Penalty kill: 78.4% (18th in the NHL)
BEST SURPRISE
What if I told you before the season that the Senators would be one point out of a playoff spot at the halfway mark and have the seventh-best point percentage in the Eastern Conference, all with Linus Ullmark having played just 23 of 42 games? You’d probably say “Wow.” Ullmark has been exceptional (when he’s played), but has been injured three times and his status is uncertain. “I don’t have a timeline on it,” said Staios about Ullmark’s return, adding he was optimistic it would be in the “near future.”
Of course, when your goaltender makes saves and you give up fewer goals, you win, but the difference between good and porous goaltending is stark in terms of the Senators’ outcomes this season:
Record when the Senators get a save percentage of .900 or better: 16-2-2
Record when the Senators get a save percentage below .900: 5-16-1
Meanwhile, the Senators have taken a massive jump in team save percentage, from 32nd last season to 14th this season, which has translated to six shutouts, tied for the league lead. Crazy (not-so-crazy) how getting saves changes a team’s overall propensity to win hockey games.
More good news is that Leevi Merilainen, 22, has installed himself as the No. 1 in Ullmark’s absence. Green made the bold step of playing Merilainen in back-to-backs instead of Anton Forsberg, who has struggled with an .883 save percentage this season.
Against Pittsburgh and Dallas, on successive nights, Merilainen stopped 63 of 65 shots and has a .913 save percentage and 2.34 goals-against average, winning four of five starts.
“He’s looked progressively more comfortable,” said Green.
The Senators have survived an injured Ullmark and have found ways to stay in the mix without their Vezina-calibre netminder. This team is at the stage where if it gets good goaltending, it stands a good chance of making the playoffs.
More good surprises: Shoutouts to Thomas Chabot, Nick Jensen and Drake Batherson, who all have all been exceptional all season.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
The Senators have struggled to score. Ahead of the season, the emphasis from Green was to prevent goals on a team that had battled to be effective in its own end. He’s succeeded, but Green’s team has laboured to score goals at the other end.
The team is 21st in goals and last in the NHL in goals from defencemen. You would think that a team with such high-end scorers such as Tim Stutzle, Tkachuk, Batherson and Josh Norris would be closer to the top-third in scoring. Those big guns are doing their jobs, each on pace for over 25 goals and over 50 points.
Rather, the team’s struggles have been because of the lack of secondary scoring. Adam Gaudette has 13 goals, but has dried up lately, with just one goal in his last 18 games. Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig, Michael Amadio, David Perron and Nick Cousins have combined for 21 goals. Despite injuries to some of those players, the lack of depth scoring has hurt.
The Senators have scored five goals or more only three times since the start of November. Yikes.
It also doesn’t help when you are 27th in high-danger chances created, according to Natural Stat Trick. Batherson, for example, went goalless on the nine-game road trip.
“I’m paid to produce,” he told Sportsnet.ca. “And frustrated I haven’t been producing, but you just got to stick with it and stay positive. The worst thing you do is get down on yourself and not be confident.”
Then there’s the fact the Senators have a large discrepancy between shots (12th) and high-danger chances (27th).
“That’s interesting,” Batherson said. “I remember when I was in the minors, my coach was all about high-danger shots, and didn’t want us taking bad shots. And we’d get 20 shots a game and win 6-1 just because it was all high-danger.”
Batherson explained his approach to create better chances.
“If you have a clean shot from outside of the top of the circles, it’s probably not going in, nine times out of 10,” said Batherson. “I think the teams that are probably top of the league are high up there in high-danger shots. The high-dangers come from trusting your instincts, making plays out there, and it will all turn around.”
Simple strategy: get better looks, score more and keep goals out. The Senators will need to find the twine more or else they’ll find themselves golfing in April once again.
BIG QUESTION FOR THE SECOND HALF
Will Staios buy or stand pat at the trade deadline?
Staios has plenty of avenues to explore via the trade route, from adding another top-six forward, bottom-pair defenceman or goalie insurance for the injured Ullmark.
Staios is coy about any potential trades or signings. His team is up against the cap, and will lose its first-round selection either this year or in 2026 because of the botched Evgeni Dadonov trade.
That looms large in Staios’ decision as the deadline approaches.
“It comes into play,” said Staios. “I mean, we do have to pay our debt to the league in this situation. … We’ll look at all ways to be able to do that. I don’t think a first-round pick is the only way to do it.”
Staios made no bold predictions about buying at the deadline.
“We’ll keep an eye on it,” said Staios, when asked about whether he’d be willing to trade assets to improve the team at the deadline.
However, it seems as though Staios is happy with his existing options.
“I feel like we have that internally … when we’re playing with confidence, we can really create offence,” said Staios, when asked about trading for an offensive weapon.
Staios’ club is in a prime position to make the playoffs. Outside of a reckless win-now move, Staios MUST acquire talent to upgrade this team at the deadline. The Senators are too close, and this season is too important to waste another season with Tkachuk, Stutzle and Jake Sanderson in their primes. If Staios really wants his team to learn winning habits, then set it up to succeed.
He’s done the hard part by acquiring veterans and the No. 1 goaltender. Now it’s time to finish the job … which he would say to his own team heading into the second half of the season.
A dangerous off-ice incident has left the Montreal Canadiens without one of their top rookies for the foreseeable future.
Emil Heineman was involved in a traffic accident as a pedestrian that resulted in an upper-body injury, which will keep him out of the lineup for the next three-to-four weeks, the team announced Tuesday.
The 23-year-old is tied with Brendan Gallagher and Jake Evans for third in Canadiens goal-scoring and is also third among rookies in goals, with 10 in 41 games this season.
A second-round pick in 2020, Heineman spent three seasons in the Swedish Hockey League before joining the AHL-affiliated Laval Rocket at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.
After just four NHL appearances in 2023-24, Heineman has become a mainstay on the Canadiens’ fourth line alongside Evans and Joel Armia.
The Canadiens are 20-18-4 this season and have played some of their best hockey as of late, going 7-2-1 in their last 10 games to push themselves within striking distance of a wild-card spot.
GUELPH, Ont. — Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg got out to a winning start for 2025.
Team Hasselborg scored a single in the extra end to edge Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini 7-6 Tuesday morning during the opening draw of the WFG Masters at the Sleeman Centre.
Hasselborg just needed to make an open takeout with her last shot to prevail.
A new rule is being tested during the fourth Grand Slam of Curling event of the season where teams will lose the hammer if they blank two consecutive ends. That almost played right at the start as all four games across the sheets began with blanks in the first end.
Hasselborg had to settle for a single in the second, but she was able to force Constantini to one in the third to knot it up.
WFG Masters on Sportsnet
The Grand Slam of Curling season continues with the WFG Masters. Watch live coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ from Thursday, Jan. 16, through to the finals on Sunday, Jan. 19.
Although Hasselborg was held to one in the fourth, she sat two staggered in the house during the fifth and stole both points as Constantini’s shooter rubbed off the top one.
Constantini recovered taking two in the sixth and Hasselborg matched with a tap for a deuce in the seventh to make it 6-3.
Despite the deficit, Constantini didn’t give up and pulled off a double takeout to score the equalizing three points in the eighth end to force the extra.
In other games, Japan’s Team Ikue Kitazawa defeated South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim 6-4, Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni downed Ottawa’s Team Danielle Inglis 6-2 and South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim beat Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller 5-1.
UP NEXT
Round-robin play continues with Draw 2 at 11:30 a.m. local time at the Sleeman Centre.
Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins with Draw 10 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT.
NOTES
The WFG Masters features 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions qualify for the playoffs. … If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be held on Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals slated for Sunday.
