Tony Kelshaw 
Former friends will become foes when Colby Covington clashes with Jorge Masvidal in the headline bout of UFC 272 at T-Mobile Arena. Chaos and Gamebred will be trying to earn another shot at welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who has beaten them both twice.
Calgary have been unstoppable on home ice of late and will be chasing a 12th straight win at Scotiabank Saddledome when entertaining Montreal. The Canadiens saw their resurgence halted at Winnipeg on Tuesday and are again expected to find their hosts just too powerful here.
Chicago and Edmonton have been going in different directions over the last couple of months and the Oilers get a confident vote on current form. They are 7-3-0 through the past 10 games and chasing a wild card spot, whereas the Blackhawks are 3-6-1 and out of playoffs contention.
New York Islanders and Vancouver both need to step it up if they are to become wild card contenders and a tight tussle is expected at UBS Arena. The Big Apple outfit won 6-3 when these teams met in Canada last month, but the Canucks have produced the stronger form since then.
Vancouver had a good home record last season but face a tough first match at BC Place this term when hosting MLS Cup winners New York City. The Whitecaps were off the pace in their opening game at Columbus and a week may not be enough time to get back up to speed.
Edmonton have lost three of their last four matches but they were all against teams heading for the playoffs and Philadelphia represent a drop in class. The Flyers are third from bottom in the Eastern Conference and 23 points adrift of a wild card spot, so this is the kind of game the Oilers should win.
Tampa Bay lead Ottawa 2-1 in this season’s meetings and look worthy favourites to increase that advantage at Amalie Arena on current form. The back-to-back Stanley Cup victors are on a four-match winning run and sit 31 points clear of the Senators in the Atlantic Division.
To celebrate the start of the new Major League Soccer season, we’ve compiled a quiz to get fans fired up for the first kick-offs of 2022. There are only 10 questions, making it the ideal challenge for a coffee break or half-time interval when watching your favourite team!
New York Rangers and Vancouver have both been in fine form of late and a close encounter looks on the cards at Madison Square Garden. That was the case when these teams met in Canada at the start of November, with the Canucks just shading a 3-2 victory in overtime.
Edmonton enjoyed a great win at Florida yesterday but that huge effort could just take its toll when they back-up by visiting Carolina. The in-form Hurricanes beat the Oilers 3-1 in Canada back in December and go into this return fixture on a four-match winning run.
Florida and Edmonton have both lost their last two matches but we reckon it will be the Oilers who suffer an unhappy hat-trick of defeats. The Panthers romped to a 6-0 triumph when they met last month and are still on course to finish top of the Eastern Conference table.
Nashville will be fired up for hosting their first-ever outdoor game but couldn’t have been handed tougher opponents for Saturday’s NHL Stadium Series. Tampa Bay have shown time and time again they can handle the pressure of big matches in intimidating environments.
Columbus are hot favourites to kick off the new MLS campaign by beating Vancouver but the Whitecaps do have a good record against the Crew. The visitors are unbeaten in five head-to-head meetings, picking up two away wins and three home draws.
Bob Bradley has a big rebuilding job on his hands at Toronto and they may be worth taking on first up this term when visiting Dallas. The Reds were awful on the road last year and a shake-up over the off-season may take time to have an impact on their flagging fortunes.