With the NHL playoff race taking shape, the New York Islanders are once again in the thick of the action.

The Islanders, as expected, have been in contention all season long, but their chances continue to get better as their captain Bo Horvat continues to get into the swing of things.

Horvat, who missed more than three weeks in January due to a lower-body injury, has played in seven games since his return, leading the Islanders to a 4-3-0 record, including a massive 5-4 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday when Horvat had three points, including the game-winning goal.

The Islanders and their captain look to continue their momentum when they travel to face the New Jersey Devils on Thursday in what will be each team’s last game before the Olympic break.

“You’d like to think it was coming,” Horvat said after his production against the Devils. “You try to not think about it and do other things away from the puck that go unnoticed and eventually get rewarded for it. So, to finally get the reward, it was great.”

After the break, New York hopes reward comes with more consistency down the stretch. The Islanders are just 5-5-0 since Jan 17, but, led by Horvat’s return, the group feels it has been playing better hockey of late.

“We’ve gone through stretches and games, especially the last couple, where we’ve actually played really good hockey and just haven’t gotten the result,” Horvat said. “For us to get that result (against Pittsburgh), maybe not having our best game, definitely boosted us going into Thursday.”

What should give the Islanders even more confidence is what took place the last time the two teams met. On Jan. 6, the Devils absorbed one of their worst losses in recent memory with a 9-0 shellacking.

In that meeting, New York’s Anthony Duclair recorded a hat-trick with five points, while Casey Cizikas, Matthew Barzal and Tony DeAngelo all finished with three points.

To avoid a similar performance, the Devils will have to dig deep in what has been a challenging season. New Jersey has lost two straight and four of its last five games. The team is near the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference.

“The level of urgency has got to go up. We have to go on a run. It’s as simple as that,” Devils forward Connor Brown said. “It’d be naive to not realize what type of position we are and how many points back of the playoffs we’re in. The urgency needs to get going.

“Whether the season is slipping away or not, you have to look in the eye and realize we have a big game before the break. We’ll have an opportunity to reset after that.”

No game will be bigger than Thursday for the Devils, who are nine points behind the Islanders in the Metro Division.

“We know what situation we’re in, but we’re not looking more than a day ahead,” the Devils’ Jesper Bratt said. “We know the Metro and the East has been a good (battle), and we haven’t been able to maintain a lot of wins in a row. It’s obviously frustrating. … We have one really important game until the break. That has to be our focus now and then recharge.”

–Field Level Media

Newcomer Thomas Detry launched himself into the international LIV conversation quickly by claiming a share of the first-round lead on Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during his first circuit as a member of LIV Golf.

The 33-year-old Belgian, whose most recent win came at the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open last February, became a full-time member of Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC this offseason.

Detry shot a bogey-free, 7-under-par 65 at Riyadh Golf Club to tie RangeGoats GC’s Peter Uihlein for the lead.

“First day on the job, so a little bit of a change for me, so a bit nervous,” Detry said. “I drove it so well out there, it made my job pretty easy.”

Detry grabbed birdies on Nos. 1, 5, 6, 8, 13, 14 and 18.

Uihlein countered with an eagle on No. 13 as the pair built a one-stroke lead on the rest of the 57-man field.

The season-opening event marked LIV Golf’s switch from a 54-hole format to 72. Uihlein welcomed the addition of a fourth round.

“I’m not scared of a blowup every now and then on a hole in particular, so now I have more holes to make it up,” Uihlein said. “I think it’s going to benefit me long-term, which is nice.”

Australia’s Elvis Smylie, another rookie, found himself alone in third place with his 6-under round.

“I think there were a little bit of nerves and excitement, but I think I showed what I’m capable of today – or tonight, I should say,” Smylie said.

Six golfers are tied for fourth place at 5 under: South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, South Korea’s Byeong Hun An, Talor Gooch, England’s Tyrrell Hatton, Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz and Spain’s Jon Rahm.

Munoz’s day helped Torque GC take the team lead at 15 under. Southern Guards GC (13 under) owns second while Legion XIII (11 under) sits third.

4Aces GC (10 under) is tied for fourth.

–Field Level Media

Tyler Perkins tallied 18 points, Malachi Palmer had a career night with 15 points and six rebounds and host Villanova never trailed in a 72-60 victory over Seton Hall on Wednesday.

Duke Brennan chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Wildcats (17-5, 8-3 Big East) picked up their third win in four games and a season sweep of their conference rivals. Villanova head coach Kevin Willard went 2-0 against Seton Hall, one of his former stops, in his first season back in the Big East.

Villanova’s Acaden Lewis went for 11 points and a game-high six assists. The Wildcats outrebounded the Pirates 37-27 and overcame 15 turnovers thanks to Seton Hall’s inability to capitalize.

Adam “Budd” Clark led Seton Hall (16-7, 6-6) with 18 points and AJ Staton-McCray added eight points and eight boards, but the Pirates shot a miserable 2 for 17 from 3-point range. Seton Hall has dropped five of seven.

Perkins’ four straight points gave the Wildcats a 19-11 cushion at the midway point of the first half, but they went without another field goal for the next 3:37. Seton Hall cobbled the next six points to draw within a bucket before Bryce Lindsay’s triple ended the drought.

Seton Hall was within six before Villanova surged into the locker room on an 11-2 run. Palmer knocked down a pair of treys during the stretch and Perkins added five points, including a lightning-quick fastbreak layup off a Pirates miss.

That put Villanova ahead 40-25 at the half, and it was 47-27 in short order before Seton Hall made its run. Tajuan Simpkins had five points in a 9-0 run, capped with a fastbreak layup when Staton-McCray and Clark forced a steal.

After Brennan’s one free throw ended Villanova’s brief scoring rut, Palmer buried his third 3-pointer. He was left open on the next Wildcats possession and drained another with his foot on the line, making it 53-36 with 12:37 left.

The Pirates were only able to claw within 10 points late as the Villanova shooting cooled off, but Lewis and Brennan combined for five free throws in the closing minutes to put it away.

–Field Level Media