Sports
Wild carry 4-game win streak into Predators showdown
Jan 29, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrates his empty net goal against the Calgary Flames during the third period at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images The Minnesota Wild can enter the Olympic break on a five-game heater, but first they must defeat the Predators in Nashville on Wednesday night.
This will be the third game of the season between these Central Division rivals. The two previous games were determined in overtime, but Minnesota should be surging with confidence after winning four straight.
On Monday, the Wild coughed up a 2-0 lead against the Montreal Canadiens to find themselves in a 3-2 third-period hole. Brock Faber tied the game up 3-3 before regulation expired, and Kirill Kaprizov scored a game-winning power-play goal with 1:22 left in overtime.
“We didn’t get deterred,” Wild head coach John Hynes said. “It was good to see the response after we had a little adversity, where we had a couple of letdowns to end the second (period). The third (goal) in the beginning, I thought it was a fluky goal. I know it was tipped out in front, but I really liked our response.”
Kaprizov scored twice on Monday night, while Quinn Hughes added three assists to extend his personal point streak to nine games (two goals, 14 assists) and reach 400 assists in his NHL career.
“When you’ve got two superstars like that passing each other the puck, they just play at a different level,” Faber said of Kaprizov and Hughes. “They think at a different level. You know, there’s a reason they’ve clicked so much. They’re kind of on the same wavelength.”
The Predators have also been in some close games, including two straight one-goal victories ahead of Wednesday’s matchup. Following a 4-3 result at the New York Islanders over the weekend, they earned a rowdy 6-5 win against the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
In that game, the Predators found themselves in a 5-1 hole halfway through the second frame and had to rally for two goals before the intermission. Ryan O’Reilly got an early third-period goal to close the gap to 5-4, and Steven Stamkos scored twice to secure the Predators’ come-from-behind victory.
Justus Annunen made 13 saves on as many shots in relief of Juuse Saros, who surrendered all five of St. Louis’ goals.
“It was one of those games where everything is going the wrong way, but that’s why sports are so amazing, because you never know what is going to happen,” Stamkos said. “You either pack it in as a group, or you say ‘Screw it’ and go out there and try to make a difference. The guys made a difference (Monday), and it wasn’t the same guys all night. It was different guys.”
Predators coach Andrew Brunette added, “There are certain guys who get going, and they’re grabbing momentum for our group, and you can tell it’s on its way. You just kind of keep riding (the momentum) a little bit. I think we taxed a lot of guys (Monday), but these are crucial points. This is a crucial week for us.”
The Wild beat the Predators on Nov. 4 when Marcus Johansson scored the overtime winner. Nashville exacted some revenge Dec. 23, with Stamkos scoring less than a minute into overtime.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spacestation Gaming stay hot in Overwatch Champions Series
A custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Spacestation Gaming recorded their second win in as many days by posting a 3-2 victory over Disguised on Sunday in the Overwatch Champions Series 2026 — North America Stage 1.
The Overwatch 2 online competition, with a prize pool of $75,000, features six teams playing a regular season with a round-robin format from March 21 to April 5. All matches are first-to-three.
The top four teams advance to the regional playoffs, which are April 10-12 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are first-to-three except for the grand final, which is first-to-four.
Spacestation Gaming followed up their 3-0 victory over LuneX on Saturday by outlasting Disguised on Sunday.
Disguised jumped out to a fast start by sandwiching a 2-1 victory on Lijiang Tower and a 3-1 triumph on Aatlis around a 3-0 setback on Rialto. Spacestation Gaming, however, bounced back with a 3-1 win on Numbani and 89.69m-62.11m victory on Runasapi.
LuneX Gaming rebounded from Saturday’s setback with a 3-0 victory over Extinction.
LuneX notched a 2-1 win on Lijiang Tower, a 128.06m-51.42m victory on Esperanca and 3-2 triumph on Suravasa.
Saturday’s Week 2 matches:
–Team Liquid vs. Dallas Fuel
–Disguised vs. Extinction
Standings
1. Spacestation Gaming, 2-0, +4
2. Dallas Fuel, 1-0, +2
3. Team Liquid, 1-0, +1
4. LuneX Gaming, 1-1, 0
5. Disguised, 0-2, -3
6. Extinction, 0-2, -4
Prize pool:
1. $30,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
2. $15,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
3. $12,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation
–Field Level Media
Sports
OpTic Texas atop final standings at CDL Major 2 qualifying
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
OpTic Texas finished with the best record at 10-1, including a win on Sunday in the conclusion of Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifying.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams were playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the second major of the season, to be held March 27-29 in Marston Green, England, as part of the DreamHack Birmingham event.
First place in the standings was worth 100 CDL points for OpTic Texas, who along with the next five teams will head straight into the Stage 2 Major playoffs. The teams in seventh through 10th place will compete in a play-in round.
Boston Breach and Cloud9 New York, which finished 11th and 12th, did not advance.
The Stage 2 Major champion will receive $150,000 and 100 Call of Duty League points. The runner-up will get $90,000 and 75 CDL points.
On Sunday, the Vancouver Surge outlasted the Riyadh Falcons 3-2. Vancouver opened with a 250-237 win on Scar Hardpoint and 6-4 win on Raid Search and Destroy. But the Falcons drew even with wins on Scar Overload (6-3) and Exposure Hardpoint (250-83). The Surge captured the last map, Colossus Search and Destroy, 6-2, for the win.
Kenyen “Capsidal” Sutton of the United States was match MVP with 105 kills to 101 deaths as the only Surge player in positive numbers.
The Los Angeles Thieves went the distance to down Paris Gentle Mates 3-2. The Thieves started fast with a 250-107 win on Den Hardpoint and 6-4 win on Colossus Search and Destroy. PARIVISION rallied with a 5-3 win on Exposure Overload and 250-176 victory on Colossus Hardpoint. Los Angeles took the match with a 6-2 win on Raid Search and Destroy.
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez of France was match MVP with 90 kills and a plus-6 kill-death differential for Los Angeles.
The Miami Heretics swept Boston Breach, winning 250-157 on Den Hardpoint, 6-4 on Exposure Search and Destroy and 6-2 on Exposure Overload.
Diego “SupeR” Escudero of Spain was match MVP with 59 kills and a plus-15 differential for Miami.
OpTic Texas closed out the week with a sweep of Toronto KOI, winning 250-216 on Den Hardpoint, 6-3 on Raid Search and Destroy and 5-4 on Scar Overload.
Brandon “Dashy” Otell of Canada was match MVP, pacing OpTic with 64 kills and a plus-18 differential.
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifying final standings (match record, map differential, CDL points)
1. OpTic Texas, 10-1, +21, 100
2. Miami Heretics, 7-4, +11, 70
3. Los Angeles Thieves, 7-4, +9, 70
4. GS Minnesota, 6-5, 0, 60
5. Riyadh Falcons, 6-5, +6, 60
6. FaZe Vegas, 6-5, +3, 60
7. Carolina Royal Ravens, 6-5, 0, 60
8. Toronto KOI, 5-6, -1, 50
9. Vancouver Surge, 4-7, -1, 40
10. Paris Gentle Mates, 4-7, -4, 40
11. Boston Breach, 3-9, -13, none
12. Cloud9 New York, 2-9, -20, none
–Field Level Media
Sports
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka sails through third round at Miami Open
Mar 22, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Aryna Sabalenka hits a forehand against Caty McNally (USA) (not pictured) on day six of the 2026 Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka won 10 of the last 12 games in dispatching Caty McNally 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 25 minutes in a third-round match on Sunday night at the Miami Open.
Sabalenka of Belarus, coming off the BNP Paribas Open championship at Indian Wells, Calif., is defending her title in Miami Gardens, Fla.
It wasn’t all that easy, as Sabalenka blew a 4-2 lead in the first set for 4-4, then needed six deuces to hold serve — despite a 15-30 start — before breaking McNally’s serve for the third time to win the set.
Sabalenka converted 5 of 8 break points in the match, to 2 of 3 for McNally, and won 67.4% of her first serve points (29 of 43), to 55.3% (21 of 38) for her American opponent.
Next up for Sabalenka is No. 23 Qinwen Zheng of China, who had a much tougher match in beating 15th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours, 17 minutes.
“The ball was just like a bomb for me at the beginning,” Zheng said of the early going against Keys. “I couldn’t react. I haven’t had this speed of match in a long time.”
Zheng would catch up, finishing with 31 winners — 23 in the last two sets — to Keys’ 15. Zheng had more aces (11-4) and fewer double faults (3-5). She converted four of 13 break-point opportunities, but Keys succeeded on just 2 of 12.
Sabalenka won the first six meetings against Zheng, who won two of the next three of nine total.
“I’ll focus on myself. I’ll focus on my game. I’ll try to stay focused from the first point ‘til the last,” Sabalenka said of playing Zheng. “She’s an incredible player. We played a lot of matches. I have a good record against her, but it doesn’t say anything. It’s always tough battles. I’m always looking forward to play her. It’s always a fight and I really enjoy it.”
Third-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan defeated No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4. No. 5 Jessica Pegula downed No. 26 Leah Fernandez of Canada 6-2, 6-2.
Other high seeds didn’t make it out of the round. No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy was knocked out by No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. No. 9 Elina Svitolina of Ukaine fell to American Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5. No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia was eliminated by No. 34 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
Australia’s Talia Gibson, coming off of a quarterfinal run at Indian Wells where she earned her first three top-20 wins, notched her fifth on Sunday. Gibson, who beat Naomi Osaka in straight sets on Saturday, downed 18th-seeded Iva Jovic of the United States 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.
Gibson did not face a break point while converting four of eight.
–Field Level Media
Spacestation Gaming stay hot in Overwatch Champions Series
OpTic Texas atop final standings at CDL Major 2 qualifying
