Sports
Oilers in search of better starts, beginning with matchup vs. Wild
Jan 29, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) celebrates after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the third period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images The Edmonton Oilers will look to get off to a better start Saturday night when they host the Minnesota Wild.
Edmonton erased a 3-0 deficit and scored four unanswered goals to top the visiting San Jose Sharks 4-3 in overtime on Thursday.
“As a good team, we need to start better, and that’s just hockey,” said Kasperi Kapanen, who had an assist in the win. “Sometimes that happens. They’re a good team as well. They came out flying and have a good young team with a lot of energy. The first period was bad, and then after that, I thought we were playing better.”
Zach Hyman scored the winner while Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl each produced a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who have won three straight for the first time this season and are 6-3-1 in the past 10.
Connor McDavid, who leads the league in assists (60) and points (94), recorded a goal and an assist in the win over the Sharks. Connor Ingram made 18 saves.
“It’s nice having three in a row, but more importantly, we beat a team that we need to keep behind us,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “(San Jose’s) got games in hand on us, and we want to finish as high as we can in the standings.”
Bouchard extended his point streak to four games (four goals, seven assists) as the Oilers improved to 4-2-0 on their eight-game homestand. McDavid (four goals, five assists) and Draisaitl (one goal, nine assists) extended their streaks to three games.
The Wild will try to slow the Oilers’ offensive momentum while aiming to complete a sweep of the three-game season series.
Minnesota won 1-0 at Edmonton on Dec. 2 and picked up a 5-2 home win over the Oilers on Dec. 20.
The Wild just completed a 3-0-1 homestand by winning back-to-back games.
Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal after notching an assist as the Wild topped the visiting Calgary Flames 4-1 on Thursday night.
Matt Boldy, Vinnie Hinostroza and Danila Yurov also scored for Minnesota, which is 5-1-1 in its past seven games. Filip Gustavsson made 29 saves.
“The one thing I will say is that when you go through 82 games, they’re not all going to be Picassos, right?” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Good teams find ways to win, even when you’re not at your best. We got the goaltending when we needed it. Obviously, early in the game, or throughout the game, the penalty kill came through for us to keep the score where it was, and then we had our opportunities on the power play.
“We were able to find a way to finish. I think that is a good sign, but I think we all know it wasn’t our best tonight.”
Kaprizov has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) over his past seven games. Defenseman Quinn Hughes extended his assist streak to seven games with a helper in the win over the Flames, tying the longest stretch by a blueliner in Wild history.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Byron Buxton slam in 10-run fifth propels Twins to rout of Diamondbacks
Jun 20, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) hits a grand slam against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Byron Buxton’s grand slam highlighted a 10-run fifth inning for the Minnesota Twins, allowing them to coast to a 16-8 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night in Phoenix.
Brooks Lee had four hits, three runs scored and two RBIs, Victor Caratini had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored, Ryan Kreidler had three hits and four RBIs, and Luke Keaschall also had three hits and scored three times for Minnesota, which has won five of six.
Twins starter Taj Bradley (6-3) allowed two runs and three hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Jorge Barrosa homered and doubled, Pavin Smith had two hits and an RBI, Tommy Troy had two hits and a run scored, and Ildemaro Vargas delivered a three-run double for Arizona, which had won four of five.
Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen (3-6) surrendered career highs of nine runs and 12 hits over four innings. The 2023 NL All Star struck out two and walked two.
Lee’s two-run single in the first gave the Twins an early 2-0 lead.
Gallen retired eight in a row before back-to-back soft-hit singles and a swinging bunt by Keaschall loaded the bases for Kreidler, who rolled a grounder up the middle that second baseman Ketel Marte could only knock down, extending the lead to 3-0.
Trevor Larnach followed with the fifth straight single for the Twins, driving in a pair of runs for a 5-0 lead.
After Gallen got the second out, Kody Clemens dropped a single into left-center field to score Kreidler and make it 6-0.
Lee began the 10-run fifth with a triple into the right-field corner. He scored when Caratini doubled into the right-center field gap to make it 7-0.
A single by Keaschall put runners on the corners, still with no outs, and ended Gallen’s night.
The Twins continued to pad their lead against Yilber Diaz, loading the bases for Buxton, who went the other way for a grand slam over the right-field fence, extending the lead to 12-0.
A two-run single from Caratine and a two-run triple from Kreidler capped off the massive inning,
Barrosa went deep with a runner aboard in the fifth to cut it to 16-2. The D-Backs plated another run when the first four batters of the seventh walked and then scored three on Vargas’ double to make it 16-6.
Smith cut it to 16-7 with a two-out RBI single later in the inning, and Arizona tacked on another run in the eighth on a run-scoring groundout to make it 16-8.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Japan shut out Tunisia, which will not advance from group stage
June 20, 2026; Monterrey, Mexico; Japan’s Ayase Ueda scores their second goal. Mandatory Credit: Eloisa Sanchez-Reuters via Imagn Images Ayase Ueda scored twice and had an assist to help Japan to a 4-0 Group F victory on Saturday night in Monterrey, Mexico, to eliminate Tunisia and spoil the debut of their coach Herve Renard.
Tunisia (0-2-0, 0 points) were eliminated while Japan and Netherlands each have four points (1-0-1) and a plus-4 goal differential.
Sweden (1-1-0) have three points heading into the final group matches on Thursday when Japan plays Sweden and Netherlands faces Tunisia.
Daichi Kamada opened the scoring in the 4th minute, the fastest goal ever for the Japanese in a World Cup match. The previous mark was Shinji Kagawa’s score against Colombia in the sixth minute of their 2018 match.
Ueda made it 2-0 in the 31st minute, Junya Ito scored in the 69th and Ueda’s header in the 83rd made Japan the first Asian team to score four goals in the World Cup.
This was the 1,000th World Cup match since the inaugural tournament in Uruguay in 1930.
Tunisia were embarrassed after their 5-1 loss to Sweden in the opener on June 14, resulting in the firing of Sabri Lamouchi. Renard coached Saudia Arabia in the 2022 World Cup when they upset eventual champion Argentina 2-1 in their opener.
The change didn’t help.
Kamada, scoring in a second straight match, made a run toward the near post when Keito Nakamura from the left side sent a cross from the end line that Kamada was able to redirect for his 14th goal in 51 matches.
Renard made several changes with the most obvious being the return of veteran goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen after Lamouchi made the questionable decision to start the inexperienced Mouhib Chamakh, who played poorly against Sweden.
Dahmen was in goal for the 2022 World Cup, including a 0-0 tie with Denmark.
He made a spectacular save in the 10th minute on Saturday to keep it a one-goal deficit when he got his left arm on the ball and prevented it from going completely over the goal line by inches on a shot by Takehiro Tomiyasu.
But Dahmen could do nothing on the brilliant strike from the edge of the box by Ueda, who dribbled toward the goal as Montassar Talbi backed off. Ueda’s strike went between the defender’s legs and tucked into the lower left corner.
Ito took a pass in stride from Ueda, held off Mohamed Amine, and slipped a shot past Dahmen for the 3-0 lead.
Japan goalie Zion Suzuki did not have to make a save as Tunisia totaled two shots and none on target.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spacestation Gaming move atop OWCS Stage 2 standings
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Spacestation Gaming moved atop the standings with another convincing victory on Sunday in Stage 2 of North American qualifying for the Overwatch Champions Series.
Spacestation, which played just one match in the opening week, beat The Kafe 3-1 in its first of two Week 2 matches. They hold a narrow edge in match differential over Team Liquid (plus-five to plus-four) as the lone unbeaten teams left.
LuneX Gaming swept Disguised 3-0 in the day’s other match to move into third place. Saturday’s two winning teams will face off on Sunday.
The six teams in contention will engage in round-robin matches during the regular season, with the top four qualifying for the regional playoffs, which will be double elimination on July 3-5. All matches are best-of-five until the grand final, which will be best-of-seven.
In addition to the $75,000 prize pool, the top four Stage 2 finishers will advance to Stage 3. The three finishers will also qualify for the Midseason Championship.
Spacestation Gaming was even with The Kafe through two matches after they opened with a 2-0 win on Ilios and The Kafe responded with a 3-2 triumph on Circuit Royal. Spacestation closed out the match with a pair of 3-1 wins on King’s Row and New Junk City.
LuneX Gaming had an easier time on Saturday, completing the sweep with a 2-0 win on Oasis, 119.7m-108.96m victory on New Queen Street and a 3-2 clincher on New Junk City.
Week 2 concludes with three more matches Sunday.
Sunday schedule
–Spacestation Gaming vs. LuneX Gaming
–The Kafe vs. Disguised
–Dallas Fuel vs. Team Liquid
Standings (team, record, match differential)
1. Spacestation Gaming, 2-0, +5
2. Team Liquid, 2-0, +4
3. LuneX Gaming, 2-1, +4
4. Dallas Fuel, 1-1, 0
5. Disguised, 0-2, -5
6. The Kafe, 0-3, -8
Prize pool:
1. $30,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3
2. $15,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3
3. $12,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 3
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation
–Field Level Media
Byron Buxton slam in 10-run fifth propels Twins to rout of Diamondbacks
Japan shut out Tunisia, which will not advance from group stage
