National Sports

The long wait is over for Canada's top swimmers. The Olympic swim trials start Saturday in Toronto's Pan Am Sports Centre after cancellation in 2020 and a pair of postponements in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens say interim head coach Dominique Ducharme has been sent home and is isolating following irregularities in COVID-19 testing. The Canadiens cancelled Ducharme's pre-game news conference on Friday.

A loss Saturday to NOLA Gold would result in the Toronto Arrows being mathematically eliminated from Major League Rugby playoff contention. And the Arrows (4-8-0) have more problems to come as the regular season winds down.

HALLE, Germany — Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime is heading to the semifinals of the Noventi Open. Auger-Aliassime, from Montreal, downed American qualifier Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-2 in quarterfinal play at the ATP Tour 500 grass-court event on Friday.

Here are five things to watch in Canadian sports this weekend: HOME SWEET HOME The Canadiens return to Montreal with momentum after beating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 2 of their NHL semifinal on Wednesday night.

Thursday's Games NHL Playoffs Best-of-Seven Semifinals Tampa Bay 2 New York Islanders 1 (Tampa Bay leads series 2-1) --- NBA Playoffs Best-of-Seven Second Round Milwaukee 104 Brooklyn 89 (Series tied 3-3) --- MLB American League N.Y.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Canadian welterweight Rory (Red King) MacDonald cried foul Thursday after losing a controversial split decision to Brazilian veteran Gleison Tibau at PFL 5.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — After keeping up his scoring touch to help Tampa Bay get a big road victory its Stanley Cup semifinal series, Brayden Point was especially proud of the Lightning's defensive effort.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead homer in a four-run seventh inning and the New York Yankees pulled off a wacky triple play Thursday night in an 8-4 win over the reeling Toronto Blue Jays.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Once the fog finally lifted over Torrey Pines, a familiar figure in the U.S. Open was plain to see.