Islanders Succeed While Rangers Falter
The Islanders continue their impressive season with victories over the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils this week.
In a back-and-forth game, Islanders star Bo Horvat delivered the game-winning goal in overtime to defeat the Penguins, 5-4, on Feb. 2.
It was the second goal of the game for Horvat, who had been struggling after missing time with a lower-body injury. The Islanders also had goals from Mathew Barzal, Ryan Pulock, and 18-year-old rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Schaefer was selected first overall in the 2025 draft and hasn’t disappointed. With 16 goals this season, he’s currently the favorite for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which serves as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year award.
On Feb. 6, the Islanders defeated the Devils, 3-1, behind a strong effort by goalie Ilya Sorokin, who allowed 1 goal and had 23 saves. The Islanders completed the season sweep of the Devils and find themselves in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 69 points. They return to action on February 26th against the Canadiens at 7:00 PM.
The Rangers continue to struggle after being shutout 2-0 by the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 6. The Rangers have significantly struggled in Mike Sullivan’s first season as head coach with general manager Chris Drury writing a letter to fans that they plan to retool their roster and focus on the future. Their last game marked the Rangers fourth straight loss and first since they traded away franchise star Artemi Panarin. Panarin was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday for prospect Liam Greentree and two conditional draft picks. Panarin has played with the Rangers since 2019 and finishes his tenure with 205 goals in 482 total games. The Rangers sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division with 50 points.
Information from the NHL
WWE Rumbles In Saudi Arabia
The WWE deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues with the WWE holding the Royal Rumble on January 31st, from the Riyadh Season Stadium at King Abdullah Financial District, with four matches booked.
The women’s Royal Rumble opened the show, which was an amazing match that had the perfect start in tag partners Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, in which Flair would also become the “Iron-Woman” of the match.
The rumble also saw fantastic NXT call-ups from Lola Vice, Sol Ruca, Kelani Jordan, and Jacy Jayne. Lash Legend made her dominance be present in the match by eliminating 5 superstars, showing that Lash has such a fantastic future ahead of her. The surprises of the Royal Rumble this year saw WWE Hall of Famer Brie Bella return at #29 and Tiffany Stratton return at #30. Liv Morgan would win the Rumble as she would go on to challenge for a world title at WrestleMania.
The two mid-card matches saw Gunther continue his “Legend Killer” run by “retiring” AJ Styles, in the match of the night to mark the end to a “phenomenal” career, and Drew McIntyre retain the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn in a fantastic and competitive match.
The main event was the Men’s Royal Rumble, which was an amazing match, where a debuting Oba Femi would start at #1 and show his dominance with 5 eliminations. The second entrant, Bron Breakker, came out to not participate as a “masked man” would attack him, only for him to enter the ring and be eliminated by Femi. Je’Von Evans would become the iron-man of the match for 40 minutes and 58 seconds, despite having no eliminations. There were nice surprises from El Grande Americano I, Mr. Iguana and La Parka from Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Rusev, and LA Knight. The biggest surprise was Royce Keys, formerly known as Powerhouse Hobbs, made his WWE debut, which was fantastic. At #26, Roman Reigns would make his return, who would win the Rumble and challenge for a world title at WrestleMania.
The Royal Rumble was a great start to the Road Of WrestleMania, and it’s only going to get better.
Information from the WWE
