Sports
Oilers, Predators out to improve positioning in playoff race
Mar 13, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) is congratulated by teammates after scoring against the St. Louis Blues during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images The Edmonton Oilers return home to host the Nashville Predators on Sunday, looking to move on from a 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.
“I think the first two periods, we were playing extremely well, and even in the third, we had some chances and a good push,” said Kasperi Kapanen, who opened the scoring.
“It sucks right now, but we just got to forget this one and move on.”
Connor McDavid also scored for the Oilers as they jumped to a 2-0 lead. However, the Blues responded with three unanswered to steal the extra point.
Connor Ingram made 22 saves for Edmonton, which has dropped back-to-back games while clinging to the third seed in the Pacific Division.
“I don’t think it could have went much better for us in the first 40 minutes and in the third with a nice lead,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “(St. Louis) had a strong push, and it’s unfortunate that it could have been an outstanding road trip getting three out of the four, but losing and only getting one point in the last two games is disappointing for us.”
The Oilers, who are 16-11-4 on home ice, open a four-game homestand looking to improve on a 4-5-1 stretch.
McDavid entered Saturday with a league-leading 74 assists and 111 points and paces the Oilers with 37 goals through 67 games.
Ingram is 9-6-2 in 20 games, posting an .891 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average. Stuart Skinner, Edmonton’s other goalie, is 11-8-4 with an .891 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA in 23 games.
Edmonton was without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on Friday night. The Oilers forward returned home for personal reasons and was replaced in the lineup by Max Jones.
Sunday is the teams’ third and final meeting. The Oilers picked up a 6-2 home win on Jan. 6. Seven days later, the Predators responded with a 4-3 home victory in overtime.
Nashville travels to Edmonton as part of a five-game road trip, looking to keep its Western Conference wild-card chase alive. The Predators, 3-4-3 over their last 10, trailed the Los Angeles Kings by two points for the final spot entering Saturday’s action.
The Predators have been off since Thursday night, when they surrendered a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks.
Tyson Jost scored a pair and Matthew Wood had the other for the Predators, who are 12-14-6 on the road. Juuse Saros made 24 saves.
Wood’s goal extended his career-high point streak to four games (four goals, one assist).
“Grateful to get a point. Probably didn’t deserve one,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “(Vancouver was) the better team from the puck drop, and it’s one of those nights for a group that we’re kind of hard to figure out. Obviously, it hurts blowing a two-goal lead late in the game, but we didn’t really deserve to be in the game.”
Steven Stamkos has a team-high 31 goals in 65 games, while Ryan O’Reilly paces the Predators with 39 assists and 61 points through 64 contests.
Saros is 23-19-7 with an .893 save percentage and a 3.15 GAA in 50 starts. He handled both previous games with the Oilers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Novak Djokovic (shoulder) withdraws from upcoming Miami Open
Novak Djokovic runs up to defend against Jack Draper during their fourth-round match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Six-time Miami Open champion Novak Djokovic withdrew from this year’s tournament due to a right shoulder ailment, the event announced Sunday.
Djokovic reached the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open this past week at Indian Wells, Calif., before falling to Jack Draper in a third-set tie-breaker on Wednesday.
The Serbia native reached the finals at Miami last year before losing 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) to Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic.
The 38-year old won the Miami Open title in five times between 2011 and 2016, defeating Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on two occasions apiece.
Djokovic is 7-2 in 2016 and won his 101th ATP title in November 2025 at Athens.
The Miami Open begins Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Contending Wings eye turnaround at home vs. lowly Flames
Mar 8, 2026; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) and New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) fight in the final seconds of the second period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Salus-Imagn Images The struggling Detroit Red Wings are hoping a return home and a visit by the floundering Calgary Flames on Monday will be just the tonic needed to turn their fortunes.
The Red Wings hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card position, but after suffering a 3-2 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday have lost five of their past six games (1-3-2) to put their perch in jeopardy.
“We’re so excited to get home to Detroit … and play in front of our fans,” said forward Lucas Raymond, who leads the Red Wings with 45 assists and is tied for the lead in points with 66. “We’ve had some stretches down the year where we’ve been pushing for a playoff spot and that just elevates the crowd.”
Detroit, which is pushing to avoid missing the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season, is in a tight battle.
The Red Wings are tied with the Boston Bruins, who hold the first wild-card spot but have played one fewer game. Detroit is also two points back of the Montreal Canadiens for third spot in the Atlantic Division, but only one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are just outside the wild-card spots.
The Red Wings have struggled without captain Dylan Larkin and fellow center Andrew Copp due to injuries, but did receive a boost with forward David Perron returning from injury against the Stars.
The Dallas clash ended earning the Red Wings a point in the standings, but was a wasted opportunity after they erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, but could not get a winning goal.
“A good battle back. Lots going on recently, obviously, but we found a way. We kept pushing,” Perron said. “It was nice to get rewarded as a group to have one point there.”
The Flames arrive after suffering a 3-2 loss of their own at the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Calgary, which is ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks in the overall standings and in the throes of a rebuild, trailed 3-0 before the end of the first period, but controlled play the rest of the way in a comeback that fell short.
Despite the end result, the Flames likely deserved a better fate, especially after firing 17 shots on net in the final period.
“When we made a mistake, they capitalized on it,” coach Ryan Huska said. “We also hit two crossbars and had a grade-A chance in front of the net. We progressively got better as the night went on.”
In keeping with a recurring theme, the Flames, who are the league’s lowest-scoring team, could not find the equalizer, which left them with only five wins in their last 17 games (5-10-2).
Despite their offensive struggles — the Flames have gone four games without a power-play goal, and only two man-advantage markers in 10 outings — they continue to battle in close games.
The message as they prepare for the final outing of a five-game road trip is to ignore the standings and keep battling for wins.
“There’s no quit from anyone here,” said captain Mikael Backlund, who moved ahead of Kent Nilsson with his 230th career goal and into fifth spot on the franchise’s all-time list. “All the guys are fighting hard. It doesn’t matter the score. We keep trying until the end. So I’m really proud of the guys.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team USA, Paul Skenes face prolific Dominican Republic in WBC semifinal
Mar 9, 2026; Houston, TX, United States; United States pitcher Paul Skenes (30) walks off the field in the second inning against Mexico at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images MIAMI – It will be power arm against power bats when Team USA takes on the Dominican Republic in a World Baseball Classic in a high stakes semifinal on Sunday night.
Pittsburgh Pirates ace and reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes will be tasked with trying to slow down the Dominican Republic’s power lineup, which has already hit 14 home runs in five WBC games.
Skenes will oppose Athletics starter Luis Severino in Sunday’s matchup. The winner advances to Tuesday’s final, also in Miami.
New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells’ walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh inning secured a 10-0 quarterfinal victory for the Dominican side over Korea and tied the 2009 Mexico squad for the most home runs in a Classic.
Although Sunday is not the final, the semifinal will undoubtedly have a championship feel with two star-studded rosters set to clash.
The United States is seeking its second WBC championship and first since 2017 while the Dominican Republic is coming off a disappointing early pool-play exit in 2023 and is hoping to win its first title since 2013 and second overall.
The Dominican Republic has outscored its opponents 51-10 during their five consecutive victories in this year’s Classic. Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Junior Caminero, Oneil Cruz, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wells have each hit two home runs during the tournament.
“This is something special for us because we are a very united team, compact team,” Caminero said after beating Korea on Friday. “You can feel the emotion, the energy in the clubhouse. We work as a team. This is something very special to us. We cannot fake about being defeatless or not. Now we have to focus on the next rival on Sunday, and to continue playing like we have been doing so far.”
The United States hopes Skenes can perform to the level that has led him to a dominating start of his career.
Skenes allowed only one hit and one walk over four scoreless innings in his lone outing of the Classic against Mexico in pool play.
“I like any game that Paul Skenes pitches,” said reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge, following the United States’ 5-3 quarterfinal win over Canada on Friday. “It’s just incredible stuff. Watching him work on his craft the past couple weeks has been incredible. Seeing him in that game against Mexico, where it’s an electric environment, he just toed the slab and went out and took care of business. It was really impressive.”
“Looking forward to seeing him get out there and do his thing. And then we hand it over to the bullpen of ours, it’s going to be a tough fight. But definitely looking forward to seeing him get back on the mound.”
Severino has a challenge of his own on Sunday as he looks to quiet a USA lineup, which also has been prolific.
Two of the biggest contributors in the United States’ lineup have been Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and Milwaukee Brewers’ second baseman Brice Turang. Crow-Armstrong has gone 5-for-13 with two home runs and six RBIs, while Turang is 7-for-15 with four doubles, which is tied for the most in this year’s Classic with Venezuela’s Luis Arraez entering Sunday’s games.
Severino struck out five and allowed one run on three hits over four innings in his previous start this past Sunday — a 12-1 mercy-rule win over the Netherlands.
–Field Level Media
Novak Djokovic (shoulder) withdraws from upcoming Miami Open
Rivian’s RJ Scaringe thinks we’re doing robots all wrong
