Sports
NHL roundup: Mattias Ekholm posts hat trick as Oilers top Ducks
Jan 26, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; The Edmonton Oilers celebrate a goal scored by defensemen Mattias Ekholm (14), his third of the game and first career hat-trick, during the third period against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images Mattias Ekholm collected his first career hat trick as the Edmonton Oilers posted a 7-4 victory against the visiting Ducks on Monday, ending Anaheim’s seven-game winning streak.
Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist, Leon Draisaitl notched four assists and Tristan Jarry made 36 saves for the Oilers, who will try to win three straight for the first time this season when they host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
Spencer Stastney and Darnell Nurse also scored for Edmonton, which won two in a row nine times previously but never extended the streak. The Oilers scored four goals in a 3:49 span of the second period.
Mikael Granlund recorded a hat trick, all on the power play, for the Ducks. Alex Killorn also scored, Beckett Sennecke had two assists and Ville Husso made 25 saves.
Islanders 4, Flyers 0
Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves for his league-leading sixth shutout as New York Islanders picked up its first win of the season against host Philadelphia.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who came into Monday’s contest with two goals in his last 26 games, scored twice for the Islanders. Mathew Barzal, who entered in a slump of his own with no goals in his last eight contests, also scored and added an assist for New York.
The Islanders avoided a third straight defeat and bounced back nicely from their first shutout loss of the season — a 5-0 defeat to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. New York also topped the Flyers for the first time this season after losing each of the first two matchups, both via shootouts.
Kings at Blue Jackets (ppd.)
The game between Los Angeles and host Columbus was postponed due to severe winter weather and will be played on March 9 in Columbus with the time to be determined at a later date.
Lightning 2, Mammoth 0
Andrei Vasilevskiy turned away 28 shots, Darren Raddysh and Anthony Cirelli tallied on the power play and Tampa Bay won its sixth straight home game by stuffing Utah.
In his 42nd career shutout, Vasilevskiy stopped eight shots in the third period for his second blanking this season. His 20-save showing against the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-0 win on Nov. 24 was his other. Tampa Bay improved to 15-1-1 in its past 17 games.
Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves, and Dylan Guenther skated in his 200th NHL game. Winger Lawson Crouse (illness) returned to Utah’s lineup following a one-game absence.
Rangers 4, Bruins 3 (OT)
Rookie Matthew Robertson scored with 67 seconds left in overtime as New York snapped a four-game home losing streak by rallying past Boston.
Robertson scored his first career overtime goal when he got a pass from goalie Jonathan Quick after David Pastrnak’s shot was blocked by New York defenseman Braden Schneider, skated to the slot, switched from his backhand to forehand and lifted the puck over goalie Joonas Korpisalo to improve the Rangers to 6-13-4 on home ice.
Quick made 21 saves to earn his 408th career victory, passing Glenn Hall for 12th on the all-time list. Pastrnak had three assists to become the sixth player in team history with 900 career points as the Bruins fell to 10-2-1 in their past 13 games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Bears to promote Press Taylor to OC
Nov 3, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images The Chicago Bears are promoting passing game coordinator Press Taylor to offensive coordinator, NFL Network reported Sunday.
Once the deal is official, the 38-year-old Taylor will replace Declan Doyle, who accepted the same job with the Baltimore Ravens.
Taylor’s first NFL job came with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013 when he was named offensive quality control coach. He rose through the ranks to quarterback coach and passing game coordinator, then became a senior offensive assistant with the Indianapolis Colts in 2021. He then spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars before landing on Ben Johnson’s staff in Chicago.
Taylor likely will not call plays in Chicago for quarterback Caleb Williams. Johnson holds that role.
Taylor is the younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks' OG Anunoby out, Karl-Anthony Towns to play vs. Celtics
Dec 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) reacts with guard Josh Hart (3), and forward OG Anunoby (8) after a field goal during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby has been ruled out of Sunday afternoon’s game against the host Boston Celtics due to a toe injury.
Anunoby joined center Karl-Anthony Towns (right eye laceration) in sitting out Friday as New York saw its season-best eight-game winning streak come to a halt with a 118-80 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Towns, however, and guard Josh Hart (ankle) are available to play on Sunday against the Celtics.
All three players were listed as questionable on the injury report.
Anunoby, 28, is averaging 16.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 41 games (all starts) this season.
Towns, 30, contributes 19.9 points and a team-best 11.9 rebounds in 48 games (all starts) in 2025-26.
Hart, 30, is averaging 12.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 40 games (26 starts) this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
The UFC Heavyweight Division Is Broken — And UFC Vegas 113 Proved It
UFC Vegas 113 proved to be your typical UFC Fight Night, with the biggest standouts being main event and co-main event winners Mario Bautista and Kyoji Horiguchi, and even a last-second submission on the prelims.
But there was a different kind of big standout – a different kind of big, and a really bad standout.
UFC Vegas 113’s main card featured a heavyweight matchup between Jailton Almeida and Rizvan Kuniev. It was a chance for Almeida to rebound from his title eliminator loss to Alexander Volkov and prove he’s still relevant in the heavyweight title picture. For Kuniev, competing for just the second time in the Octagon, it was a chance to make a quick jump in the heavyweight rankings and show off his full potential.
Instead, we got a matchup where Kuniev held Almeida against the fence for most of the fight.The two fighters combined for just 30 significant strikes landed through two rounds. It was a matchup that did not truly benefit either fighter.
What the bout did was expose Almeida as having not developed any answer for when his grappling gets stopped. Everyone who was familiar with Kuniev and sung his praises and power were left with nothing to say after the performance he had, even in a win.
The fans in the arena booed, the MMA community eviscerated the two to the point they called for their UFC releases, and it just adds another blow to what is already a weak UFC heavyweight division.
The top of the heavyweight division is even stagnant right now. There is no clear timeline on when Tom Aspinall will be ready to return after the eye injury he suffered in his no contest with Ciryl Gane at UFC 321.
That has also left Gane’s status in question on which will happen first – a title rematch with Aspinall or fighting someone for an interim heavyweight title.
UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has teased a move up to heavyweight to try and become the first UFC fighter to win gold in three weight classes during their career. But UFC CEO and President Dana White is hesitant on the idea.
Jon Jones? Who knows whatever is going on with him, in or out of the Octagon. Jones has previously advocated to compete on the UFC White House card but White supposedly wants none of it.
And look at some of the rest of the top 15. Alexander Volkov beat Almeida in a title eliminator, but the mess at the top of the division has put his title shot in limbo. Sergei Pavlovich lost to Aspinall and Volkov, but he is the lone blemish in Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s current upward trajectory, and WCA is the talk of the heavyweight town right now.
Curtis Blaydes? Lost to Aspinall and should have lost to a debuting Rizvan Kuniev. No thank you. Tallison Teixeira seemed to have potential even with a loss to Derrick Lewis, but his win over Tai Tuivasa at UFC 325 last week was a stinker. Lewis himself is a legend, but his days of seriously pursuing a heavyweight title are behind him.
Speaking of Tuivasa, can someone explain to me how this guy can lose five fights in a row and still be ranked?!?
The only hope outside the top five is Valter Walker, who has picked more ankles for submission wins than a little kid picks their nose.
The UFC heavyweight scene is dull, boring, and has very little signs of strong activity. It needs life injected to it. And that’s not Josh Hokit and his cringe-based promo skills or the political schtick we’ve already seen from Colby Covington.
When an (at least for now) unrealistic matchup between Jones and Pereira is the most enticing potential matchup at heavyweight, and nothing comes close, the division has problems.
The screams of “Shut down heavyweight!” won’t be answered. It’s unfair to those who can’t drop to 205, and combat sports has long had heavyweight as a “glamor division.”
But these calls, and the lack of talent in the fights, show the division has lost the support of the MMA fanbase. And that’s just a sad fact.
Report: Bears to promote Press Taylor to OC
Knicks' OG Anunoby out, Karl-Anthony Towns to play vs. Celtics
