Sports
Stars, Blues face off in rematch of struggling squads
Jan 23, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) stops a shot by St. Louis Blues right wing Jordan Kyrou (25) during the third period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images The Dallas Stars have been struggling to regain traction since before the holiday break.
After starting the season 25-7-5, they have gone 4-7-4. The Stars have not won consecutive games since Dec. 19 and 21.
They will try to finally achieve that feat Tuesday night when they visit the St. Louis Blues. The Stars edged the Blues 3-2 in their previous game, last Friday in Dallas.
“I thought we were a little tight in the third (period),” Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “We could have handled that a little bit better. When you’re not winning games, sometimes you grip it a little bit. I think we did that a little bit in the third on simple plays; we had some turnovers.
“But I think, overall, the last three games have been a way better step in the right direction and some of the best games this team has played all year.”
The Stars routed the Boston Bruins 6-2 on Jan. 20, then fell 1-0 to the Blue Jackets in Columbus two nights later. That was their fourth loss in five games.
In those defeats, Dallas scored three goals. The Stars were buoyed by Jason Robertson’s late goal to defeat the Blues.
“The past couple of weeks, we haven’t been able to just get one at the end of games or just find a way to win close games,” Robertson said. “So, that feels good.”
Dallas winger Mikko Rantanen returned from illness to face the Blues, but he was ineffective. He should be closer to full strength for this rematch.
“Rants has been sick for four days, and I give him a lot of credit,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said after Friday’s victory. “He’s down weight, he didn’t feel great this morning, and I didn’t think he was playing. But he came and said, ‘I’m going to play.'”
While the Stars had three days to rest and prepare for this rematch, the Blues suffered a 5-4 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings at home Saturday night.
“Back-to-backs are always tough, especially with some travel,” Blues winger Jordan Kyrou said after the loss. “I thought we battled hard (Saturday), especially in the second (period) of that game. We kept bringing it back and I thought we had a good game.”
Kyrou scored twice against the Kings, giving him three goals and four assists in his last seven games.
Saturday’s setback extended the Blues’ winless streak to four games (0-3-1) and prompted them to get back to work on puck management and coverage in their own zone.
“There’s some things defensively that we need to clean up again,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “You can’t be happy any time you give up four goals.”
The Blues have been playing without top center Robert Thomas and key forwards Dylan Holloway and Pius Suter due to injuries. Suter and Holloway both skated during Monday’s practice.
Rookie Dalibor Dvorsky has picked up some of that slack with goals against the Stars and Kings. He has three goals and an assist in his last six games.
“It’s always about the whole line, but yeah, I’m just trying to play with confidence every time I’m out there,” Dvorsky said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Alex Palou takes checkers at rain-delayed Music City Grand Prix
NTT IndyCar Series driver Alex Palou (10) crosses the finish line ahead of Josef Newgarden (2) and David Malukas (12) to win the Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Monday, July 20, 2026. Alex Palou got a day off to celebrate his native Spain’s triumph in the World Cup final before hitting the racetrack and adding to his own trophy collection.
Palou won the rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix on Monday afternoon in Lebanon, Tenn., for his fifth title in 12 races this season.
The race was originally scheduled for Sunday after Fox concluded its coverage of the World Cup final, in which Spain bested Argentina 1-0 for the country’s second title. But as the racers waited — and Palou celebrated — storms rolled across Nashville Superspeedway. By the time the track was dried later Sunday night, another spate of storms made it impossible to fit in the race.
“That’s a pretty cool weekend for Spain, right? It was impressive what they did (Sunday) over at the World Cup. Happy to top it off today on Monday. My first-ever win on Monday, never raced on Monday, so it’s very cool.”
Palou, 29, inched closer to his fourth straight series championship and fifth in six years. He gained an additional 27 points on the field and leads David Malukas by 83 with six races left to go.
Driving his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou finished 0.8731 seconds ahead of defending Nashville champion Josef Newgarden. Malukas, Newgarden’s Team Penske teammate, placed third. Palou led a race-high 97 laps.
Malukas, 24, hit his right knee against the steering wheel in a crash at practice Saturday and spent some time in the hospital this weekend for tests. The Indianapolis 500 runner-up was told he didn’t break or tear anything in the knee.
He went from last at the start of the race to third, leading 59 laps along the way.
“It’s so cool to see, when you have all these people work on a collective project, you can see it come to fruition and it’s gonna happen,” Malukas said. “And what a result. We needed that for the championship (race). We’re still there. It’s a good result, good recovery. Big thank-you to everybody. That was the hardest race of my life.”
Kyle Kirkwood, starting from pole position, settled for 10th.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Marlins All-Star RHP Max Meyer (neck) goes on IL
Jul 18, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Miami Marlins pitcher Max Meyer (23) throws a pitch during the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images The Miami Marlins placed All-Star right-hander Max Meyer on the 15-day injured list Monday due to a neck strain.
The move is retroactive to Sunday.
Meyer departed after three innings of Saturday’s start against the Milwaukee Brewers. He gave up two runs and three hits before exiting.
Meyer, 27, struggled despite having off since July 7. He didn’t pitch in last Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Meyer (9-1, 2.68 ERA) has made 20 starts and pitched a career-high 111 innings. He has 121 strikeouts.
He entered the season with 25 games of big-league experience.
“We are in uncharted territory with this, but also, we don’t have any concern as much as, we do the responsible thing is just to be aware and cognizant of we do have a young athlete that is and already has surpassed a number of career highs,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough told reporters.
Miami recalled right-hander Zach Brzykcy from Triple-A Jacksonville. He gave up one run in two innings in his lone appearance for the Marlins on June 30.
Overall, Brzykcy has made 33 major relief appearances and is 0-1 with a 9.68 ERA.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spain new No. 1 in FIFA rankings; Norway are biggest climber
Spain midfielder Rodri (16) holds up a trophy after the FIFA World Cup Final game at MetLife Stadium, Jul 19, 2026, East Rutherford, NJ, USA. Spain overtook Argentina for the No. 1 spot in the FIFA men’s world rankings Monday, as expected after La Roja defeated the defending champions 1-0 in the World Cup final on Sunday.
Argentina were the No. 1 team in the world rankings as of the last official rankings update on June 11, the day the 48-team World Cup began in Mexico. Spain entered the tournament No. 2.
France and England remained third and fourth, respectively, despite England’s 6-4 triumph over the French in the World Cup third-place match. France still had enough of a cushion in the total points column to absorb that head-to-head defeat.
Brazil and Morocco moved past Portugal for the fifth and sixth spots. Portugal lost 1-0 to regional rival Spain in the round of 16.
Mexico climbed four spots in the 10th position after their strong showing at the World Cup. They went 3-0-0 in the group stage and blanked Ecuador 2-0 in the round of 32 before England pulled out a 3-2 win in the next round in Mexico City.
The United States also inched up one spot to No. 16 after winning their group and shutting out Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. The Americans’ tournament ended in a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Belgium, who are now ranked eighth in the world.
But the biggest climbers were none other than Erling Haaland and Norway, who moved up 12 spots to No. 19.
The Vikings became one of the darlings of the tournament after getting through to the knockouts and upsetting Brazil in the round of 16. Their tournament also ended at the hands of England, 2-1 in the quarterfinals, but it was Norway’s furthest World Cup run in their history.
The nation with the largest drop since June, Tunisia, also moved 12 spots. They now sit back at No. 57 after being the only African nation out of 10 in the field not to qualify for the knockouts.
FIFA Men’s World Rankings (as of July 20, 2026)
1. Spain
2. Argentina
3. France
4. England
5. Brazil
6. Morocco
7. Portugal
8. Belgium
9. Netherlands
10. Mexico
11. Colombia
12. Germany
13. Croatia
14. Switzerland
15. Italy
16. United States
17. Japan
18. Senegal
19. Norway
20. Uruguay
21. Denmark
22. Iran
23. Austria
24. Egypt
25. Ecuador
–Field Level Media
Alex Palou takes checkers at rain-delayed Music City Grand Prix
Marlins All-Star RHP Max Meyer (neck) goes on IL
