Sports
Motivated Blue Jackets intent on adding to Blackhawks' woes
Jan 28, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets center Sean Monahan (23) celebrates his goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to continue their hot stretch when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.
Columbus has won three games in a row and seven of its last eight.
The Blackhawks will play the second game of a back-to-back set after falling 6-2 at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. The setback was the fourth in a row (0-2-2) for Chicago.
“I think there’s a number of individuals that aren’t feeling it right now,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “So that hurts your team’s confidence because the makeup of your players [isn’t] as confident, you know? So we’ve got to get some swagger back, but the only way to get that back is to earn it.”
Chicago’s Connor Bedard and Connor Murphy each scored a goal vs. the Penguins, and Arvid Soderblom made 38 saves.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period before the Blackhawks were outshot 36-11 over the final 40 minutes.
“We didn’t show enough, I don’t think, response there,” Chicago defenseman Matt Grzelcyk said. “That’s not the team we want to be. … We can be wanting to get to the next game, but you’ve got to show some response there. I don’t think we did a good enough job of that.”
Chicago captain Nick Foligno left midway through the first period with an undisclosed injury. His status is uncertain for Friday’s game.
Ryan Greene picked up an assist to join defenseman Artyom Levshunov as the second Blackhawks rookie with 20 points in 2025-26.
Spencer Knight is 2-0-0 with 2.00 goals-against average and .944 save percentage in his career vs. Columbus. Overall, he has allowed seven goals on 47 shots over his past two starts.
Columbus will start a three-game road trip after a 5-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. The Blue Jackets trail the third-place New York Islanders by eight points in the Metropolitan Division.
“I know everyone is different in terms of looking at the standings, but I check it daily,” Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski said. “I think it’s important to know where you’re at in the standings, what needs to happen. I think it gives you extra motivation when you’re kind of climbing and catching teams and know what’s at stake.”
Sean Monahan scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period after the Flyers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie it. He has goals in three of his past four games.
Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier each collected a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, and Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves. Werenski and Cole Sillinger each had two assists.
“We just have to keep pushing,” Columbus coach Rick Bowness said. “What we can control is us, and we just have to keep the focus on what we have to do. As long as we do that, then we’ll have to live with the end result.”
Coyle has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games, and Columbus is 6-1-0 under Bowness, who replaced the fired Dan Evason on Jan. 12.
Friday’s probable starter in goal, Jet Greaves, would make his first career start against Chicago.
The teams will face off for the first time this season. They will be meet again in Columbus on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
US men’s hockey confident it can peak at right time in Milan
Feb 14, 2026; Milan, Italy; Matt Boldy of United States celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates against Denmark in men’s ice hockey group C play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images MILAN, Italy — The United States men’s hockey team has yet to live up to its full potential on a tight timeline to reach the Olympic podium in Milan, but forward Brady Tkachuk assured fans the medal contenders would find their rhythm.
Widely seen as the likeliest challengers to powerhouse Canada, the all-NHL American team overcame Denmark 6-3 in a surprisingly close Group C contest at Santagiulia Arena on Saturday, coming back from a 2-1 deficit after the first period.
The United States, which beat Latvia 5-1 in its Thursday opener, plays Germany while Denmark plays Latvia on Sunday in the final two Group C games.
“It’s one of those quick tournaments that you kind of have to find it quick and I think that’s what’s good about our group, we’re just kind of scratching at it right now and it’s going to work out that we’re going to peak at the right time,” predicted Tkachuk, whose goal early in the second period helped spark the U.S. fight back.
“(We’re) finding chemistry and building off that,” added Tkachuk, who plays for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and is half of one of two sets of brothers on the U.S. Olympic squad.
The contest on Saturday opened with a perplexing miss by U.S. goalie Jeremy Swayman, who lost track of the puck as it slipped by him early in the first period. But the Boston Bruins netminder said he never lost the support of his teammates.
“The confidence didn’t waver – didn’t waver with myself, didn’t waver with anyone on the team. That’s why this is such an elite group,” he told reporters. “I think it’s good to go through adversity. You don’t want to, but it’s good.”
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
JT Toppin, No. 16 Texas Tech outlast No. 1 Arizona in OT
Feb 14, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burries (5) dribbles the ball while Texas Tech Red Raiders forward LeJuan Watts (3) attempts to block him during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images JT Toppin had 31 points, eight of them in overtime, and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead No. 16 Texas Tech a 78-75 win over No. 1 Arizona on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.
Toppin recorded his 16th double-double of the season for the Red Raiders (19-6, 9-3 Big 12), who have won three straight.
Arizona (23-2, 10-2) has lost consecutive games after starting the season unbeaten through its first 23 games.
Christian Anderson, who played all 45 minutes, finished with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Texas Tech.
Arizona had five players in double figures, led by 16 points from Tobe Awaka and Brayden Burries. Ivan Kharchenkov finished with 13 points, Jaden Bradley had 11 and Motiejus Krivas scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. .
Toppin scored Texas Tech’s first six points of overtime to give the Red Raiders a 72-69 lead with 2:34 left.
Burries made two free throws with 2:17 remaining in the extra period to cut that lead to one point before a 3-pointer by Donovan Atwell, who finished with 11 points, gave the Red Raiders a 75-71 lead with 2:03 left.
Awaka was fouled and he made both free throws with 1:37 remaining.
After Toppin made a shot in the lane, Awaka converted a putback to cut the lead to 77-75 with 59 seconds left.
Texas Tech had two offensive rebounds before LeJuan Watts was fouled with 4.5 seconds left. Watts made one of two free-throw attempts to give the Red Raiders a 78-75 lead.
A would-be game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer by Bradley was off the mark.
Trailing by seven with 3:15 left in regulation, Texas Tech went on a 9-0 run down the stretch, taking advantage of Arizona missing seven straight field-goal attempts.
After a missed layup by Bradley and a failed tip-in attempt by Krivas, Atwell made a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to give Texas Tech a 66-64 lead.
Kharchenkov was fouled and he made two free throws with 16 seconds left to tie the game. A last-second attempt by Anderson bounced off the rim and out.
Heralded Arizona freshman forward Koa Peat, who did not attempt a field goal, did not play in the second half because of a lower-body injury.
Dwayne Aristode, a freshman reserve for the Wildcats, was sidelined due to an illness.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Austin Hill holds the line at Daytona in NASCAR O'Reilly Series opener
Feb 14, 2026; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Austin Hill (21) reacts after winning the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Austin Hill continued his mastery of NASCAR’s big tracks, dominating Saturday’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway — the Georgia native’s fourth win in this NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season-opener here in the last five years.
As typically happens on Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway, the outcome came down to the dramatic last few laps and the race was decided by a split second.
Although he started from pole position and led a race-high 78 of the 120 laps, Hill was tested all night — ultimately having to prevail on three restarts in the final 12 laps. His No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet beat 2024 season champion Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports in another Chevrolet to the finish line by a slight .081-seconds.
It marked the famed Richard Childress Racing team’s fifth consecutive win in this race, tying a mark set by Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 1990-94. It was Hill’s 15th career victory and 11th on a drafting style track.
Even after holding the lead for most of the event, Hill said after the race that he had some concerns following a mid-race green flag pit stop. At one point, he was fairly certain that he would end up on a wrecker unable to handle the tight draft and aggressive pushes the conclusion of this race so typically includes.
He dropped back to 12th, but the new tires he took and some choice maneuvering landed him right back into the mix up front.
“Just shows how good this team is,” Hill, 31, said of being able to pit late and out of sequence but still move forward when it mattered most. “It was a really tough decision to go from being 14th or wherever it was we re-started. But it just goes to show how good this team was. We had that re-start and no one was going middle, so I was like, ‘Sure I’ll take it.’ Drove right up through there.”
On the final restart with two laps remaining, Hill said he thought he may have misjudged one move.
“Luckily, I was able to make the block on the (number) seven (Allgaier), almost missed the block, and had to save the car,” Hill said. “After that, it was just hammer down and hope they didn’t get back to me.
“Daytona has just been so good to me,” said Hill, who swept both stage wins in addition to leading the most laps. “I love this place and it’s always fun to win.”
RSS Racing owner-driver Ryan Sieg finished third despite being caught up in a mid-race incident. Another owner-driver — Jordan Anderson Racing’s namesake Jordan Anderson — was fourth, followed by Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith.
Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Hill’s teammate Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth rounded out the top 10.
Love led 27 laps, second only to Hill, but got caught up in the frantic final laps — his ninth-place showing not truly indicative of his evening.
“At the end, I feel for my guys,” Love said. “They want to be where that 21 group (Hill) is. I’m still a step behind Austin. He’s so great at this craft. I feel like he’s a little more patient than I am right now, and I think that’s what my learning lesson is after tonight.
“I think I just wasn’t patient enough when I really needed to be. You know, taking Sammy (Smith) three-wide probably wasn’t the right move there. Made some other moves along the way in waning laps that I could have done about. I’ll look back at it and learn from it, and next week is a similar style of flow of things. I’ll try to take this learning lesson and bring that to Georgia.”
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway for Saturday’s Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 (5 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hill, from Winston, Ga., is the defending race winner and has won five of the last seven races at his home track.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — United Rentals 300
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Saturday, February 14, 2026
1. (1) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 120.
2. (13) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 120.
3. (10) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 120.
4. (17) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 120.
5. (12) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 120.
6. (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 120.
7. (11) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 120.
8. (14) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 120.
9. (2) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 120.
10. (7) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 120.
11. (26) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 120.
12. (25) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 120.
13. (19) Patrick Emerling(i), Chevrolet, 120.
14. (27) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 120.
15. (36) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 120.
16. (37) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 120.
17. (34) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 120.
18. (8) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 120.
19. (38) Carson Ware, Chevrolet, 120.
20. (20) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 120.
21. (33) Daniel Dye(i), Ford, 120.
22. (30) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 118.
23. (23) Luke Fenhaus #, Ford, 117.
24. (5) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 116.
25. (22) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, DVP, 107.
26. (4) William Sawalich, Toyota, DVP, 99.
27. (6) Corey Day, Chevrolet, Accident, 99.
28. (9) Taylor Gray, Toyota, Accident, 99.
29. (24) Harrison Burton, Toyota, Accident, 98.
30. (15) Brandon Jones, Toyota, DVP, 92.
31. (3) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
32. (29) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
33. (35) Natalie Decker, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
34. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Engine, 77.
35. (18) Dean Thompson, Toyota, Suspension, 68.
36. (28) Nick Sanchez, Ford, Accident, 32.
37. (16) Giovanni Ruggiero(i), Toyota, Accident, 29.
38. (21) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.618 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 34 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.081 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 36 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Hill 1-6;W. Sawalich 7-8;A. Hill 9-34;J. Love 35-44;A. Hill 45-57;R. Caruth 58;A. Hill 59-80;S. Mayer 81-86;J. Anderson 87-90;R. Ellis 91;J. Love 92-97;S. Smith 98;J. Love 99-108;A. Hill 109-113;J. Love 114;A. Hill 115-120.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill 6 times for 78 laps; Jesse Love 4 times for 27 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 6 laps; Jordan Anderson 1 time for 4 laps; William Sawalich 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Ellis 1 time for 1 lap; Sammy Smith 1 time for 1 lap; Rajah Caruth 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 21,2,1,7,31,00,18,25,51,20
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,1,7,18,88,99,8,51,27,31
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
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