Sports
Skidding Knights attempt to get well against lowly Canucks
Apr 6, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel (9) during a stop in play against the Vegas Golden Knights in the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images The Vegas Golden Knights will try to snap the longest active losing streak in the NHL when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
Vegas, which is challenging for first place in the Pacific Division, has lost five in a row and dropped seven of its past eight games (1-5-2). For the season, the Golden Knights have more losses (30, 14 in extra time) than wins (25).
Vegas comes in off a 4-3 road loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. That contest followed what has become a familiar script for coach Bruce Cassidy’s squad, falling behind early and then rallying in the third period to make things interesting at the end.
Anaheim led 3-0 midway through the second period, but the Golden Knights cut the deficit to one on goals by Mitch Marner and Ivan Barbashev. Ryan Poehling sealed the win for the Ducks by finding the empty net with 1:07 left. Tomas Hertl scored a 6-on-5 goal with 6 seconds remaining for Vegas, which couldn’t get another shot off after that.
The Golden Knights have allowed the first goal in seven consecutive home games and eight of 10 games overall. Cassidy became so frustrated after his team fell behind 4-1 after two periods in an eventual 5-4 shootout loss to the visiting Dallas Stars on Thursday that he held a video session between periods to try to get his team on track.
“I don’t know if I’ve done that in 10 years,” Cassidy, who also called his team’s turnover problems in their own zone “baffling.”
He added, “It’s strange in the NHL that you’d be doing that midgame, but if that’s what it takes to get their attention and get it right, then that’s what we’ll have to do. We’re going to do whatever it takes to win, or play better.”
Vegas followed that up with a 3-2 home loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday before losing in Anaheim on Sunday. Cassidy said he saw signs in the contests that his team, which plays at Los Angeles on Thursday in the second game of a back-to-back before heading into the Olympic break, is showing signs toward making a turnaround.
“Both our last games, our expected goals were very low,” Cassidy said following practice on Tuesday. “We’re defending better. … I don’t think we gave up much. Very few odd-man rushes. So I like that part of our game, and have for most of the year.”
If there is a “get well” game on the schedule for Vegas, it would figure to be the Wednesday contest against the Canucks.
Vancouver is at the bottom of the league with 42 points and has lost 16 of its last 18 games (2-13-3). It will be the final game before the Olympic break for the Canucks, who haven’t won on the road in 2026. Vancouver’s last road victory came on Dec. 29 at Seattle, 3-2 in a shootout.
The Canucks come in off a 6-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Monday in Salt Lake City. Forwards Conor Garland (illness) and Filip Chytil (migraine headaches) both missed the team’s practice on Tuesday in Las Vegas. Garland is expected to play, but coach Adam Foote said “it doesn’t look promising” for Chytil to participate.
Canucks defenseman Marcus Pettersson said the team is focused on heading into the three-week hiatus on a positive note.
“Just (give it) everything you got,” Pettersson said. “We’ve got a big break coming up. Try to feel good coming into it. You never want to go into a break on a losing skid. One game. Give it everything you got. Play harder.”
The Wednesday matchup is the first of the teams’ three regular-season meetings. Vegas is 18-4-3 all-time against the Canucks, having won the past four.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks waltz past Wizards for seventh straight victory
Feb 3, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) keeps the ball away from Washington Wizards guard Sharife Cooper (13) during the first quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images Mikal Bridges scored 23 points and Jalen Brunson added 21, fueling the visiting New York Knicks to their season-best seventh straight win, a 132-101 romp over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Bridges made 8 of 10 shots from the floor to pace the Knicks to their 11th straight win over the Wizards.
Karl-Anthony Towns collected 19 points and 14 rebounds and OG Anunoby also put up 19 points for New York, which had seven players reach double digits in scoring.
The Knicks’ Landry Shamet continued his sizzling shooting from the perimeter by making four 3-pointers to highlight his 14-point performance. He sank six shots from beyond the arc in New York’s 112-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
New York shot a robust 52.2% from the floor and 45.9% (17 of 37) from 3-point range. The Knicks also enjoyed a 54-40 edge on points in the paint.
All was not rosy for the Knicks, as Josh Hart and Mohamed Diawara exited the contest with ankle injuries. Hart fell on a Washington player’s foot while attempting to block a shot in the third quarter, while Diawara sustained his injury during the latter stages of the opening session.
Washington rookie Will Riley scored 17 points off the bench and Bub Carrington sank three 3-pointers to highlight his 14-point performance.
Khris Middleton scored 12 points and Marvin Bagley III and Alex Sarr added 11 apiece for the Wizards, who finished 3-2 on their five-game homestand.
New York scored the first seven points of the game and extended its lead to 21-7 after Diawara’s conversion from in close. Anunoby drained his third 3-pointer to push the Knicks’ advantage to 34-16.
New York went up 63-34 midway through the second quarter after it scored 14 straight points in a 105-second span. Towns scored eight points and Shamet sank a pair of 3-pointers during that spurt.
The Knicks extended their lead to 88-56 early in the third quarter on the strength of a 10-2 run. The margin never dropped below 27 points thereafter.
–Field Level Media
Sports
LPGA commish to players: 'I'm sorry' for how TOC was shortened
A ball sits in a sand trap Wednesday, June 18, 2025, during the IHSAA boys golf state final at Prairie View Golf Course in Carmel. LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler apologized Tuesday for how the season-opening Tournament of Champions was cut short over the weekend in Orlando.
Amid frigid temperatures at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, the LPGA allowed the event’s pro-am to continue on Sunday. The fourth and final round of the pro tournament was delayed, and eight players ultimately teed it up before the round was canceled.
The event was shortened to 54 holes, and Nelly Korda, who led after three rounds, was declared the winner.
In addition to confusion over play on Sunday, Kessler also heard questions about why the fourth round wasn’t postponed until the following day. The next tour event, the Honda LPGA Thailand, doesn’t begin until Feb. 19.
Kessler addressed a memo to the player, writing in part, “I made the decision to limit the event to 54 holes, worried that our athletes might be injured given the way record overnight low temperatures hardened the course. While the decision was a tough one and ran counter to prior statements we shared, I made a judgement call. With the benefit of hindsight, there were clearly other ways we should have managed the situation.
“I recognize this decision, and others we made in real time, were confusing and disappointing to our fans. And our communication around the decision wasn’t clear or timely enough. Your frustration is valid — I own that, and I’m sorry.”
He added plans for similar scenarios in future tournaments:
“Establishing clearer principles for play decisions in challenging situations, including strengthening weekly contingency planning.
“Communicating faster, more clearly, and with better real-time information.”
Runner-up Amy Yang of South Korea, who finished three strokes back of Korda, said on Sunday, “I wish I played final round, you know, give myself a little chance. But it was playing very cold out there. I got here early warming up for 10:00 a.m. resume, and the greens weren’t playable … so, yeah, I could understand that we couldn’t compete for the fourth round.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Defensive improvement is top of mind for Utah, Arizona State
Jan 31, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Kanye Clary (1) looks for the play against Utah Utes guard Terrence Brown (2) during the second half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Arizona State and Utah are showing an ability to score but struggling to stop opponents from getting baskets.
Due to those struggles both teams find themselves residing near the bottom of the Big 12 heading into Wednesday’s contest in Salt Lake City, when Arizona State attempts to avoid a third straight loss and Utah hopes to stop its own three-game slide.
Arizona State (11-11, 2-7 Big 12) has allowed at least 80 points in six conference games so far and its 80.1 points allowed are 14th in the conference.
The Sun Devils are coming off Saturday’s 87-74 home loss to top-ranked Arizona when they faded after an evenly-played opening half. Arizona State was outscored 49-36 in the final 20 minutes and shot 41.5%, marking its third-worst showing in conference play.
“We just weren’t able to stand up to the challenge on the interior, whether that meant stopping their drive or getting a big defensive rebound when we needed to,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said.
Arizona State is led by Maurice Odum’s 17.1 points, and he scored 15 on Saturday. Odum had a 33-point showing in a 14-point win over Cincinnati on Jan. 24 but is 11-of-29 from the floor in his past two games.
Utah (9-12, 1-7) is averaging 79.5 points but allowing a league-worst 81.5. The Utes have five double-digit conference losses, including an 81-69 setback at Oklahoma State on Saturday which prompted coach Alex Jensen to criticize the selfishness of his team.
“Too many guys are in their own world,” Jensen said. “Too many guys start the game thinking about just scoring. We didn’t pass, and then, obviously, that hurts our defense. But there’s also other ways to be selfish: guys not talking, guys not being ready to shoot, like that. That’s a way to be selfish, as well, but we need to do a better job.”
The Utes allowed 48.5% shooting, the seventh time they allowed at least 48.5% in conference games.
Utah is hoping to get another productive showing from Terrence Brown, whose 22.1 points per game are third in the Big 12.
Brown scored 20 points on Saturday and is 38-for-69 (55.1%) over his past four games.
–Field Level Media
Knicks waltz past Wizards for seventh straight victory
LPGA commish to players: 'I'm sorry' for how TOC was shortened
