New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider fractured his foot in the first period of Friday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Kreider suffered the injury while blocking a shot by Flyers defenseman Philippe Myers.

Kreider was among the biggest names available at Monday's NHL trade deadline, but the Rangers re-signed the 28-year-old to a seven-year contract extension with an average annual value of $6.5 million.

The surging Rangers entered Friday's game having already won 11 games this month, the most they've ever won in February.

New York also entered Friday's game at Philadelphia with nine straight road wins.

According to Money Puck, the Rangers' chances to make the playoffs increased from 9% at the All-Star break to 41% entering action Friday. New York entered the weekend two points behind Columbus for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

Kreider ranks third on the Rangers with 24 goals through 62 games this season. His was on pace to best his previous career high of 28 goals.

Kreider is the second key Rangers player to be sidelined during this critical stretch. Rookie goaltender Igor Shesterkin was involved in a car accident Sunday night in Brooklyn and is out weeks with fractured ribs.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Nick Watney had a little bit of the Shark in him navigating PGA Tour waters Friday at the Honda Classic.

Coming off three consecutive missed cuts, Watney needed a little inspiration this week.

He got it from Greg Norman.

Watney spent 90 minutes with “The Shark” on the driving range and in the short game area Wednesday at PGA National.

“The time with him helped a lot,” Watney said after posting a 4-under-par 66 to get into weekend contention to break an eight-year winless spell. “Just getting to spend time with the legends of the game is cool. Getting to listen to the wisdom, it was a real treat. I look up to him. It was great to get to spend that time with him.”

Watney, 38, is a five-time PGA Tour winner who once climbed as high as No. 10 in the world rankings. Without a victory since 2012, he has slipped to No. 224 in the world.

Watney’s caddie is Tony Navarro, who was on Norman’s bag when Norman won The Open at Royal St. George’s in 1993. Navarro was with Norman for 20 victories, and for 150 weeks of Norman’s run at world No. 1.

With Watney on his way to the Honda Classic after missing three cuts in a row on the West Coast, Navarro had an idea.

“Tony’s staying on my property this week, and he asked me if I could take a look at Nick,” Norman said.

Navarro put them together on Wednesday afternoon.

“I didn’t give him too much advice, just a couple things to think about when he’s out practicing on the range,” Norman said. “Sometimes, players get lost for the wrong reasons. Feel and real are two different things. Hopefully, he will get back to the real position, not what he feels.”

Watney said Norman offered as much help mentally as he did technically.

“He watched me hit a few balls and didn’t see any real technical flaws, and so he asks me, 'What’s the deal?’” Watney said. “We talked about trusting yourself. He said when you don’t trust yourself, your body slows down. That helped.”

Watney works with Matt Killen as his regular swing coach, but he welcomed a one-off chance to hear what Norman could offer. He said he was particularly interested in hearing Norman’s ideas on playing in the wind, which promised to be a factor this week at PGA National.

“He said he would use the wind instead of fighting it,” Watney said. “That was helpful, especially out here today. It changed my strategy this week.”

And helped Watney climb into contention.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Brendan Steele made a couple of big mistakes down the stretch, and still was more than good enough to grab the outright lead at the midpoint of The Honda Classic.

Steele shot a 3-under 67 on Friday, getting to 5 under for the week and putting himself a shot clear of J.T. Poston (69), Lee Westwood (69) and Luke Donald (66) after the second round at PGA National.

This is Steele's ninth time playing the Honda and the first time he's ended any round at PGA National with the lead. He missed the cut last year by 10 shots, but most of what he's doing so far this year has worked - that is, until he made bogey on two of his last three holes Friday.

"My first few years here I couldn't quite figure it out," Steele said. "I thought maybe it wasn't a good course for me. ... I don't feel like it's a course you can just jump out your first time and have it nailed. You have to see it in all the different winds and conditions that you have."

The cut was 3 over, and most of the biggest names in the field aren't sticking around for the weekend. Among them: Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and defending champion Keith Mitchell. Koepka shot a 4-over 74 for the second consecutive day and missed the cut by five shots. Fowler (68) missed an eagle putt at the par-5 18th that would have gotten him to the weekend and fell a shot shy, Rose (74) was 6 over and missed by three shots, while Mitchell (72) missed by five shots.

"You can rack up some big numbers pretty quick," Koepka said.

Steele had a chance to take an even bigger lead into the weekend.

The famed Bear Trap, PGA National's stretch of holes 15-17, has never been overly kind to Steele - who was 26 over on those three holes in 31 rounds on that triumvirate before Friday. But his tee ball on the par-3 15th went around the back of the hole before lipping out and stopping inches shy of an ace, and he followed that up with another birdie on the par-3 17th.

Thing was, the 16th and 18th got him. A bogey on the par-4 16th was the first miscue, and then his approach sailed over the green at the finishing hole to lead to another dropped shot. Still, the three-time winner on tour - the last of those coming when he went back-to-back at the Safeway Open in 2018 - left more than satisfied.

"I think a course like this always suits me a little bit better," Steele said. "I feel like I can make birdies on this course maybe more than other guys can, and I don't necessarily feel that way a lot of weeks. ... That gives me some confidence, and I definitely feel like harder is usually better for me."

Steele missed a chance for a victory in January in Hawaii, falling to Cameron Smith in a playoff after taking a three-stroke lead into the final round.

U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland put himself squarely in the mix with a 67 and thinks there's a simple reason why tough courses like PGA National appeal to him.

"I think it's definitely mental," Woodland said. "I probably focus a little bit more. You've got to hit shots out here. You've got to work the golf ball both ways. You've got to ride the wind. I love playing in the wind. But this golf course is as demanding as we see, so you've got to be ready from the get-go."

Woodland was tied for fifth at 3 under with Sepp Straka (67), Cameron Davis (67) and Nick Watney (66).

Donald got into the mix as well, looking for his first win in the U.S. since 2012 and the first anywhere since 2013.

Donald had the best round of the day at 66, tied with a pair of South Korean players - Byeong Hun An and Sungjae Im.

"It's probably been a little bit of a lean stretch," Donald said. "But yeah, I feel like I've been making progress in the last four months with my swing and feeling more comfortable on the golf course."

Zach Johnson briefly got to 5 under, then posted consecutive bogeys - and hit real trouble on the par-4 11th.

His second shot went into the water, ending up in a muddy spot just at the edge of some long grass. Johnson elected to play his third from there, trying to knock the ball skyward toward the green - but only managing to bury it further into the mud. Johnson had to retreat about 125 yards back up the fairway, played another approach and two-putted from 45 feet for a triple-bogey 7.

Just like that, he went from tied for sixth and one shot back to tied for 23rd and four shots off the lead. He finished with a 75, going to 2 over for the week.

Former heavyweight world titlist Deontay Wilder said Friday that he has decided to keep career-long co-trainer Mark Breland as part of his team.

Wilder suffered a seventh-round knockout victory in his rematch with Tyson Fury last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas when Breland threw in the towel, ending what had been a one-sided fight in which Wilder had already been knocked down twice and was taking tremendous punishment.

"I'm a warrior. I feel the same way I felt on fight night -- if I have to go out I want to go out on my shield," Wilder told ESPN in a statement on Friday night. "But I understand that my corner and my team has my best interest at heart. Mark Breland is still a part of Team Wilder and our team looks forward to preparing for the [trilogy fight]."

Wilder plans to exercise his contractual right to face Fury again in their next fight. They fought to a disputed draw in their first fight in December 2018.

After Breland threw in the towel last week, Jay Deas, Wilder's co-trainer, said he did not agree with Breland's decision and Wilder also was extremely upset.

"For Mark to do it, I was very heartbroken," Wilder told ESPN earlier this week. "If I say statements like I want to kill a man [in the ring], then I have to abide by those same principles in the ring of him doing the same thing to me. I'd rather die than go out with someone throwing the towel in.

"He knows these things. It's been premeditated. I've said this for many years. I told all my trainers, no matter how it may look on the outside, no matter how you may love me or have that emotional feeling don't make an emotional decision and do not ever throw that towel in because my pride is everything. I understand what it looks like but when you have power like me I am never out of a fight, no matter what the circumstances. I'm never out of a fight."

Wilder said at the time that he and the whole team loved Breland but he would decide whether to keep him in the corner following a trip to Africa that Wilder is soon to embark on. But Wilder made the decision before leaving.

Breland was an Olympic gold medalist and a former two-time world champion as a professional before beginning to train fighters.

England's Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), 31, knocked Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs), 34, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, down in the third round with a right hand to the head and with a body shot in the fifth round before Breland finally threw in the towel with Wilder under assault in the seventh round.

According to Fury co-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, the third fight is contractually due to take place by July 18 in the United States. But Arum said he would consult with Wilder co-manager Al Haymon of Premier Boxing Champions about on figuring out the exact date. Arum said the Fury side is willing to move the fight to the fall if Wilder needs more rest after last week's fight or if it makes sense commercially.

Last week's fight was a joint pay-per-view between Top Rank broadcaster ESPN and Fox, which has a contract with PBC. The third fight would also be a joint pay-per-view.

The fight, which received massive promotion from both outlets, generated between 800,000 and 850,000 buys, multiple sources told ESPN. While that is the biggest American heavyweight pay-per-view total since Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson generated a hair under 2 buys million in 2002, Wilder-Fury II needed to sell about 1.2 million subscriptions for the event to break even, according to sources. Wilder and Fury were guaranteed more than $25 million apiece on a deal that was 50-50 between the sides. The third fight flips to 60-40 in favor of the Fury side since he won.

European finalist clocks 13:08.87 for an Olympic qualifying time which improves on Mo Farah’s record mark

Britain’s Marc Scott has broken the European indoor 5000m record by running 13:08.87 in Boston.

The US-based European Championships fifth-placer finished a close second at the Boston University Last Chance Invitational on Friday behind American Shadrack Kipchirchir, who also ran a big PB of 13:08.25.

Scott’s time sees him improve on the previous European record of 13:09.16 which had been set by his fellow Briton Mo Farah in 2017.

Although the distance is not all that regularly contested indoors, Scott ran the race of his life to clock a time which moves him to fourth on the overall British all-time list behind Farah with 12:53.11, David Moorcroft with 13:00.41 and Andrew Butchart with 13:06.21, with all of those times having been run outdoors.

Scott’s previous best had been 13:21.97, which the Cambridge & Coleridge athlete, who runs for the Bowerman Track Club, clocked indoors in Boston just over a year ago.

“LETS GO!!!!!” Scott wrote on Twitter. “British & European Indoor 5000m Record.

“13:08.87.

“Olympic Qualifier.”

LETS GO!!!!!
British & European Indoor 5000m Record✅?
13:08.87
Olympic Qualifier.@BowermanTC @BritAthletics @nikelondon

— Marc Scott (@_MarcScott) February 28, 2020

Kipchirchir ran a 55.7 last 400m, while Scott clocked 56.2 for his last two laps.

The USA’s Edward Cheserek was third in 13:09.05.

Also in Boston, Britain’s European indoor 3000m silver medallist Chris O’Hare ran an indoor 1500m PB of 3:36.40 to move up a place to fifth on the UK indoor all-time list.

Justyn Knight won the race in a Canadian indoor record of 3:36.13.

Oregon’s Charlie Hunter ran 3:55.41 to win the mile, with Olympic 1500m champion Matthew Centrowitz third in 3:57.93.

Tonbridge and Oregon athlete James West ran an 800m PB of 1:48.67 the day after clocking 3:36.93 for 1500m to set an NCAA record which moves him to seventh on the British indoor all-time list.

Thursday’s action also saw Konstanze Klosterhalfen break the women’s European indoor 5000m record as the German world medallist ran 14:30.79 to also move to fourth on the world indoor all-time list.

Karissa Schweizer broke the US indoor 3000m record with 8:25.70, with Shelby Houlihan and Colleen Quigley both also inside the previous record with respective times of 8:26.66 and 8:28.71.

Meanwhile, in Norway world 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm celebrated his 24th birthday by winning the 400m in a European-leading time of 45.97. Pavel Maslak was second in 46.47.

More to follow…

Britain's Heather Watson is one win away from her first WTA title in almost four years after beating China's Wang Xiyu to reach the Mexican Open final.

Watson, 27, won 6-4 7-6 (8-6) against her 18-year-old opponent in Friday's semi-final.

The British number two, who has not won a title since the Monterrey Open in March 2016, will play in her fifth tour-level final on Saturday.

She will face Mexican wildcard Renata Zarazua or Canada's Leylah Fernandez.

Watson, who is first Briton to reach the Acapulco final, has climbed up to 69th in the world after being ranked outside of the top 100 at the start of the year.

Victory in the final is set to move her into the top 50 for the first time since June 2016.

Zarazua and Fernandez meet later on Friday in Acapulco, following the first men's semi-final between American Taylor Fritz and John Isner.

Spain's world number two Rafael Nadal meets Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov later.

MILFORD, Conn. — Doug Coby will be back on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this year to defend his championship and he’ll do so as an owner/driver.

As first reported by RaceDayCT.com, Coby has acquired one of the cars from the former Mike Smeriglio Racing team and plans to race full time this year for his own team, Doug Coby Racing.

“Everybody was banking on that we would sell the whole team to somebody and obviously that didn’t happen,” Coby told RaceDayCT.com. “I certainly didn’t have the ability to buy the entire team, but what I was able to do was buy the winningest car that we have. My favorite car that we win at Stafford (Motor Speedway) with all the time, and kind of start from there.”

The 40-year-old Coby is the winningest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver of the last decade. He’s won 27 races since 2011 and won six of the last eight series championships, five of which were won while Coby drove for Mike Smeriglio Racing.

Team owner Mike Smeriglio III announced late last year that he was retiring as a car owner, leaving Coby without a ride for the upcoming NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. Coby is expecting to have most of his crew from Mike Smeriglio Racing back with him this year.

Coby’s car will carry primary sponsorship from Mayhew Tools. Additional sponsors include Reynold’s Auto Wrecking and Modzelewski’s Towing, with more sponsors expected to be announced later.

Doug Coby Racing will make its debut on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on March 21 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – POWRi is proud to announce the addition of the Southwest Lightning Sprint Series, making it the fourth series to join the POWRi Lightning Sprint League.

Based out of Southern California, the Southwest Lightning Sprints will run under a unified POWRi rule package, with Brent Sexton serving as series director.

Continuing to function as the sanctioning body for three of the biggest lightning sprint organizations, the POWRi Lightning Sprint League will consist of the Rocky Mountain Lightning Sprints, the Midwest Lightning Sprints, the Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint Series, and now the Southwest Lightning Sprints.

As part of the POWRi Racing League organization, POWRi provides a point fund for each individual division, offering competitors enhanced opportunities to grow within their respective league and series.

Starting off their inaugural season at Imperial Valley Speedway in Imperial California during the Mid-Winter Fair on March 7-8, the Southwest Lightning Sprints will mainly race Barona Speedway in Lakeside, Calif., hosting 11 events throughout the summer months.

In addition, following a highly successful POWRi Lightning Sprint Nationals in 2019, the Southwest Lightning Sprints will now participate in a national championship.

Held at Belle-Clair Speedway May 22-23, the POWRi Lightning Sprint Nationals will offer the chance for each series to be represented as drivers chase the prestigious prize of winning a national title.

“I’m proud to be working with the whole POWRi team. We’re all looking forward to the partnership for the 2020 season and beyond,” said series director Brent Sexton. “We have a lot of new drivers and local racers who are beyond excited to be part of our inaugural season.”

2020 POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint League Schedule

March 7 – Imperial Valley Raceway – Imperial, Calif.
March 8 – Imperial Valley Raceway – Imperial, Calif.
April 4 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.
April 18 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.
May 2 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.
May 22 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Belleville, Ill.
May 23 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Belleville, Ill.
June 13 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif. *
July 11 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.
Aug. 8 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif. *
Aug. 22 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif. *
Sept. 5 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.
Oct. 3 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.
Oct. 16 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.
Oct. 17 – Barona Speedway – Lakeside, Calif.

* – non-winged event

Switzerland's national hockey leagues will play in empty rinks this weekend due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Swiss government on Friday put an immediate ban on events involving more than 1,000 people. The National League's final regular-season qualifying rounds scheduled for this weekend in Ticino will be played "without spectators" according to an official statement by the National League and the second-tier Swiss League.

"This is a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus. All stadium entrances are closed and controlled by the security services," the statement read. "All other games of the playoff quarterfinals series of the Swiss League -- including possible game 7 next Wednesday -- as well as the games of the Swiss League Ranking Round from this weekend will take place without spectators."

The hockey organizations will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to address the postseason. The government's attendance ban on large events runs through March 15. The playoffs are due to begin on March 7.

The global spread of coronavirus has already impacted hockey. The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association postponed a week-long tour of Japan due to concerns. NHL players have been hoarding sticks after two major manufacturers, Bauer and CCM, were forced to close their factories due to the outbreak in China.

Bauer CEO Ed Kinnaly said earlier this month that the situation remains fluid and he hopes the company can re-start operations in China soon.

"We have backup stock in the U.S. and Canada to meet these needs, and we are working closely with equipment managers to understand their inventory levels and ensure players have what they need throughout this situation," Kinnaly said.

The decisions go beyond sports. Outbreak concerns have already led organizers to call off several major industry events around the world, including a mobile technology conference that was due to happen this week in Barcelona, Spain, and Facebook's developer conference set for May in San Jose, California.

Still others, such as a cybersecurity conference in San Francisco and a popular video game convention in Boston, proceeded this week even after big companies dropped out. The Geneva International Motor Show was due to run March 5-15 and draws tens of thousands of visitors every year, and it was cancelled due to the Swiss governments events ban.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.