Sports
Charlie Coyle's hat trick boosts Blue Jackets past Blackhawks
Jan 30, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Mathieu Olivier (24) knocks down Chicago Blackhawks center Ryan Donato (8) during the first period at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Charlie Coyle scored his second career hat trick and added an assist to lead the surging Columbus Blue Jackets to their fourth straight win, 4-2 over the host Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Coyle, who added an assist, has five goals and four assists in his past three games.
Mathieu Olivier had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who have won eight of their past nine to move into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Zach Werenski had two assists, and Elvis Merzlikins made 23 saves.
Werenksi became the first defenseman in franchise history with three consecutive multi-assist games.
Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, who have lost five straight (0-3-2) and were playing the second of back-to-back games after a 6-2 road loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
Chicago’s Frank Nazar scored, Tyler Bertuzzi had two assists, and Spencer Knight stopped 22 shots.
Coyle gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 19:13 of the first period, scoring in front on the rebound of Werenski’s shot during a power play.
Bedard tied it 1-1 with three seconds left in the period when he got to the rebound of Alex Vlasic’s shot and knocked it past a diving Merzlikins.
Coyle put the Blue Jackets ahead 2-1 at 1:23 of the second period when he intercepted a pass from Chicago’s Andre Burakovsky and scored with a wrist shot from the right hashmarks.
Olivier made it 3-1 at 6:47 of the middle period, scoring on a one-timer from the edge of the right circle off a pass from Coyle.
Nazar pulled the Blackhawks within 3-2 four minutes later. Bedard entered the zone 2-on-1 and passed across to Nazar, who beat Merzlikins from the low slot.
Chicago had several opportunities during a power play late in the third period, including a chance by Bedard, but could not convert.
With Knight pulled for the extra skater, Cole Sillinger sent Coyle in alone, and Coyle scored into the empty net to complete the hat trick at 18:57.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Akshay Bhatia takes 2-shot lead into final round at Pebble Beach
Feb 14, 2026; Pebble Beach, California, USA; Akshay Bhatia acknowledges the crowd after making his putt on the fifth hole during the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Akshay Bhatia shot 4-under-par 68 in the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Saturday to carry a two-stroke lead into the final round at Pebble Beach, Calif.
Bhatia lost some of his commanding lead by playing the final seven holes in 2 over after a sizzling start at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
He’s at 19-under 197 heading to Sunday.
Collin Morikawa made a big move with a 62 on Saturday to share second place with Jake Knapp (66) and Austria’s Sepp Straka (67). Jacob Bridgeman (68) is in fifth place at 16 under and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (67), who played without a bogey in the third round, is sixth at 15 under.
Bhatia, who was tied for the tournament lead at the midway mark after Friday’s round, began with birdies on six of the first seven holes Saturday.
The top six golfers on the leaderboard have played all three rounds with sub-70 scores.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy isn’t in contention after Saturday’s 72 put him at 9 under and tied for 39th place.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 13 Purdue keeps Iowa at bay, cruises to victory
Feb 14, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Gicarri Harris (24) goes to the basket as Iowa Hawkeyes forward Cooper Koch (8) defends during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Four players scored in double figures and No. 13 Purdue clamped down on Iowa during a 78-57 Big Ten Conference win Saturday in Iowa City.
C.J. Cox led the balanced Boilermakers (21-4, 11-3) with 14 points, connecting on four of their 12 3-pointers. Reserve Gicarri Harris also scored 14, while Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn each added 12 points in Purdue’s fourth straight win.
Kaufman-Renn hauled in 12 rebounds, including 11 in the first half, while teammate Braden Smith dished out 12 assists to give him 980 for his career. Smith is 97 assists away from passing Bobby Hurley for the all-time NCAA record.
Bennett Stirtz scored a game-high 19 points for the Hawkeyes (18-7, 8-6), who fell to 0-5 against ranked opponents this season. Stirtz made 7 of 11 field goals but the rest of his teammates hit just 13 of 42.
Purdue owned an 11-point halftime lead and wasted little time expanding it. Loyer converted a three-point play and Smith hit a layup, forcing Iowa coach Ben McCollum to call a timeout just 1:48 into the second half with the Boilermakers up by 16.
Cox and Jack Benter combined to score 11 consecutive points for the Boilermakers, upping the advantage to an insurmountable 58-31 advantage after Benter’s layup with 12 minutes remaining. The margin never got closer than 16 for the game’s remainder.
Each team came into this one looking for a better performance after their midweek contests. Purdue blew a 22-point second-half lead Tuesday night at Nebraska before surviving in overtime, while Iowa saw its six-game winning streak end at Maryland, which was 2-10 in league play before pulling off a 77-70 upset.
Neither team found the range until Harris, a sophomore averaging only 5.0 ppg, gave the Boilermakers a lift. He made the first of three 3-pointers, dunked for a three-point play and canned another 3 to complete a five-point trip that began with a Daniel Jacobsen dunk.
Ahead 15-7 at that point, Purdue upped the advantage as high as 15 later in the half before settling for a 36-25 margin at the break.
–Field Level Media
Sports
David Toms fires 63 to take 3-stroke lead at Chubb Classic
David Toms tees off on 18 during the final round of The Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Sunday, March 31, 2024. David Toms put the pedal down Saturday, carding a bogey-free 9-under 63 to take control of the Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
Toms heads into the final round at 14-under 130, three clear of Australia’s Michael Wright, who stayed in the mix with a 4-under 68 to reach 11 under for the tournament.
“Any time you make nine birdies, you obviously rolled the ball well,” Toms said after the round. “That was the key today. Speed was good on the greens. Once you don’t really have to think about the speed, if you can just think about the line and the speed come natural, that’s the way I putted today and it worked really well.”
Despite the three-stroke lead, Toms knows a win on Sunday will need another strong round, as another golfer could make a push up the leaderboard just like he did on Saturday.
“I’ll have to go out and play really good golf again,” Toms said. “I’m sure there is somebody that’s four, five shots back that will play a similar round like I did today, so you got to go out there and make it happen when you can.”
Wright could have been closer to the lead but double-bogeyed the par-4 17th before finishing his round with a birdie on 18.
“We had a little bit of an issue with Darren’s (Clarke) tee shot and I was a little bit rattled,” Wright said of his adventure on the 17th hole. “My emotions were running a little bit high standing over that shot. I unfortunately got — had a 6-iron and cut it a bit too much. I didn’t think it was as bad as it ended up being, but it ended up being just terrible. I had like a stick right behind the ball that I couldn’t move because it would’ve moved the ball.
“… Next thing you know, (I) had a 6 on the card. Really good chip to get it up and down for a 6. Could have made more. Fortunately got that up and down. Then did a good job on the last to make birdie.”
Justin Leonard and Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina share third at 10 under after matching 68s, giving Sunday plenty of depth behind the leader.
A shot further back, Argentine Angel Cabrera and Steve Flesch are tied for fifth at 9 under, with Flesch’s round punctuated by an eagle on the closing par-5.
Not everyone held their ground. Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, who shared the first-round lead with Wright after eagling two of his last four holes, slid back to a tie for 26th at 3 under after a 76.
–Field Level Media
