Sports
Jets and Canadiens, headed in opposite directions, face off
Feb 2, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) allows a goal to Dallas Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist (not pictured) during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images The Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets face off Wednesday night as both clubs arrive at a key juncture in the NHL schedule.
The Canadiens extended their point streak to four games but fell 4-3 in overtime to the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.
Despite the loss, Montreal maintained its hold on a playoff position, still picking up a point, while sitting third in the Atlantic Division behind Tampa Bay and Detroit. Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said the team is still working toward putting together a complete 60-minute performance.
“I think we’re aware of when we’re off a little bit,” St. Louis said following the defeat in Minnesota. “You catch your breath a little bit, you didn’t get hurt too bad, you’re still in it and you saw some sections of our ‘A’ Game… but not enough of it.”
Wednesday’s game marks the final contest for both teams before a three-week break as NHL players depart for Italy to compete in the Milano Cortina Olympic Games, with play resuming the last week of February for the league’s final regular-season stretch.
The game carries importance for Montreal as it looks to solidify its playoff standing. The Canadiens are currently seven points ahead of the first team outside of the wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.
“Going into this break (we need to) make sure we’re getting all the points we can to come out of this thing ahead and continue to be ahead,” said Montreal forward Kirby Dach. “You can’t sit around. You’ve got to kind of put your head down and go to work.”
Winnipeg’s playoff outlook, meanwhile, continues to fade. The Jets, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last season with the NHL’s best regular-season record, have struggled to find consistency in 2025-26. Winnipeg forced overtime Monday night by tying the game with less than two minutes left before falling 4-3 to the Dallas Stars.
“That was a game that was winnable,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We hung in there. That is how we have to play consistently. … You’re putting the opposition on their heels. I thought (in) the Tampa game, the Florida game, even at times with this one, we did a good job of that.”
The loss capped a four-game road trip in which the Jets posted a 2-1-1 record, with wins at New Jersey and Florida and a regulation loss in Tampa Bay in between. However, the Jets were only able to grab five of a possible eight points. Entering Tuesday, they sit nine points out of a postseason spot in the Western Conference.
“We’re desperate for points,” said defenseman Logan Stanley. “We need to win them all. It stings. Usually you’re happy with a point at the end of a road trip in a tough building like this, but it stings for sure.”
Winnipeg remains short-handed on defense, with Neal Pionk, Colin Miller and Haydn Fleury not expected to return until after the Winter Games.
Montreal continues to be without Patrik Laine, who remains on injured reserve with an abdominal injury, while forward Alexandre Texier missed Monday’s game with a lower-body issue.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Argentina club looking to lure Lionel Messi home in 2027
Dec 6, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) looks on with the Philip F. Anschutz trophy after winning the 2025 MLS Cup against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Chase Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Argentina club Newell’s Old Boys is working on a plan to bring two-time MLS MVP Lionel Messi home next year.
A team executive confirmed that it’s trying to entice Messi to return to his boyhood club for the first half of 2027.
“It’s a project that goes beyond Newell’s. It involves the city of Rosario, the province, and Argentine football,” first vice president Juan Manuel Medina said, according to an ESPN story published Wednesday.
Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best player, signed an extension with defending MLS Cup champion Inter Miami in October that runs through the end of the 2028.
Messi, 38, played for Newell’s youth teams from 1995-2000 before moving to the FC Barcelona academy.
Inter Miami will open the 2026 MLS season on Feb. 21 at Los Angeles FC. Messi also is preparing to defend Argentina’s World Cup championship this summer in North America.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lindsey Vonn's coach, Stefon Diggs confident she can ski with ACL injury
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 3, 2026; Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITALY; Lindsey Vonn attends a press conference at a press conference at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in preparation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Mandatory Credit: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters via Imagn Images Lindsey Vonn’s coach and New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs are confident that the American skiing great can compete at the Milano Cortina Olympics with a ruptured ACL in her left knee.
Vonn, 41, is set to try her luck in the women’s downhill race on Sunday
“I’m pretty confident that she can still pull off this dream,” Vonn’s head coach Chris Knight told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’ve got no doubts in my mind that this is going to be OK.”
Knight’s comments came one day after Vonn said that she’s not interested in discussing surgery at the moment.
“It’s not really on my radar screen right now. The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” she said. “Every day my knee’s gotten better. And every day we’re discussing with a full medical team, doctors, physios, everyone, to make sure we’re doing everything to make sure I am making smart and safe decisions.”
Diggs knows a thing or two about a torn ACL. His lone season with the Houston Texans in 2024 was cut short by the same injury.
“Prayers to her. I hope the surgery does go well when she does have it,” Diggs said Wednesday of Vonn. “Anybody who has torn an ACL, it’s kind of a weird injury. You can run after about two weeks when the swelling goes down. … As long as she doesn’t have to (decelerate), she should be fine.”
Like Vonn, Diggs has a big day ahead on Sunday. Diggs and the Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif.
As for Vonn, she must complete at least one official training run to take part in the Sunday downhill. Vonn is no stranger to the mountain. She collected 12 of her 84 World Cup victories there, the most of any skier.
Vonn earned gold (downhill) and bronze (Super-G) medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Vonn retired after the 2019 world championships due to injuries. She subsequently received a partial replacement of her right knee and launched a comeback late in 2024 with the Olympics in her sights.
She has won the downhill twice this winter and leads the World Cup standings in the discipline and was considered a favorite to win the gold medal in the event in Italy.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Washington Post shutters sports department
Sep 15, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos in attendance before the Kansas City Chiefs play against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images The Washington Post shuttered its venerable sports department on Wednesday, part of a larger layoff involving one-third of the newspaper’s staff.
“The Washington Post is taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today for our future, in what amounts to a significant restructuring across the company,” a Post spokesperson said in a statement. “These steps are designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart and, most importantly, engages our customers.”
Executive editor Matt Murray announced the changes in a video conference with employees.
The move comes with Post reporters already on site covering Super Bowl LX and the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
“It’s like somebody taking a hammer to my heart,” Sally Jenkins, who wrote a Post sports column until she left the paper last summer, told The Ringer. “It’s not just broken. It’s broken into about 20 pieces, one for every single one of my close friends there.”
Some sports reporters are expected to move into other roles, but the exact number was not reported.
A skeleton crew will continue to produce what Murray described as features about sports as a “cultural and societal phenomenon.”
The Post has undergone repeated changes, downsizings and reinventions since Amazon chief Jeff Bezos purchased the paper in 2013.
In addition to cutting the sports pages, the Post is reducing its international footprint, making the Metro section more “nimble and focused” and eliminating the Books section.
–Field Level Media
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