National Sports

MONTREAL — On a night when the Montreal Canadiens honoured the franchise's last Stanley Cup winning team, this year's Habs hardly played like champions.

TAMPA, Fla. — Anders Nilsson had a busy and productive first start of the season for the Vancouver Canucks.

NASHVILLE — Despite their power play struggles, the Predators found a way to take down their Central Division rival. Pekka Rinne made 29 saves to lead Nashville to a 3-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.

ST. LOUIS — David Perron likes his new line. Perron scored his fourth career hat trick, Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Thursday night.

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins couldn't stop Edmonton star Connor McDavid. They did shut down the rest of the Oilers.

DETROIT — Auston Matthews heard the short list of NHL greats he joined by scoring nine times in the first five games of the season.

LAS VEGAS — Attorneys for a Nevada woman accusing Cristiano Ronaldo of rape challenged the international soccer star's legal team on Thursday to prove that documents cited in European media reports about their 2009 encounter in Las Vegas are false.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Ethan McClymont captured bronze in the men's 73-kilogram taekwondo event at the Youth Olympic Games on Thursday. McClymont of Winnipeg lost his semifinal matchup to Taipei's Meng-En Lee 15-7.

NEW YORK — Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson's suspension for domestic abuse has been reduced from 27 to 18 games by an arbitrator. The NHL and the NHL Players' Association announced arbitrator Shyam Das' decision Thursday.

HAMILTON — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats re-signed American receiver Terrell Sinkfield Jr. on Thursday. Sinkfield Jr., 27, played defensive back with the NFL's Oakland Raiders (2018), New York Jets (2017-18) and Minnesota Vikings (2017).