Stars finish off Wild for spot in West semifinals
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Roope Hintz got Dallas going early, Jake Oettinger stonewalled his home-state team again and the Stars eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 4-1 win in Game 6 of their first-round NHL playoff series on Friday night.
Wyatt Johnston and Mason Marchment scored in the second period when a burst by the Stars — smelling the Western Conference semifinals and swooping in for the finish — outshot the Wild 18-5. Max Domi closed it out with an empty-netter in the final minute.
Oettinger made 22 saves for the Stars, who advanced to face the Colorado-Seattle winner. The Avalanche beat the Kraken on Friday to force Game 7.
Oettinger was bidding for his second shutout of the series before Freddy Gaudreau scored for the Wild with 7:07 left.
“He’s our brick wall back there, and we trust him. Anytime we make mistakes, he’s there for us,” Marchment said. “We wouldn’t be here without him.”
Filip Gustavsson, starting a fourth consecutive game for the first time in his first season with Minnesota, stopped 23 shots in two periods. Marc-Andre Fleury, who was in net for a 7-3 loss at Dallas in Game 2, took over in the third.
The Wild fell to 5-14 on home ice in the playoffs since the last time they advanced, a first-round win over St. Louis in 2015. They are 4-13 in franchise history in postseason series.
The Stars lost in seven games in the first round to Calgary last year.
With a raucous assist from Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson on the “Let’s Play Hockey!” call, the crowd was buzzing along with the Wild during their strong start. But the fans — not to mention the frustrated home team — just never got rewarded.
Ryan Hartman had an open net for a rebound that rolled just out of reach for a clean shot, and Oettinger and defenseman Ryan Suter immediately covered up the crease to prevent another try. Just seconds later, Hintz went the other way to deke defenseman John Klingberg and deliver a top-shelf shot that sailed over Gustavsson’s glove.
“They’re so good around the net. That was a focal point for us in the series, and I thought tonight was our best defensive game of the whole series,” Oettinger said.
Hintz has five goals and leads the NHL playoffs with 12 points. The fifth-year forward helped the top line continue to thrive without center Joe Pavelski, who has returned to practice but was held out again after a concussion in Game 1.
The Wild finally stayed out of the penalty box, rendering a Stars power play that was 9 for 22 over the first five games a nonfactor. But the Wild might as well have declined the penalties called on the Stars, because their power play — 0-for-2 in the game and 4-for-22 in the series — was again a momentum-killer instead of a momentum-builder. The crowd booed toward the end of their first 5-on-4 dud.
The Wild consistently created good looks at the net, but their passing and shooting touch was just off the mark all series. This time they weren’t able to generate the breakaways they did in the 3-2 loss here in Game 4, and they started to run out of steam midway through the game.
The Stars spoke about the lesson they learned from letting the Wild feed off the crowd in their 5-1 win in Game 3, and they sure responded well. The team that scored first won all six games in the series.
Evgenii Dadonov flipped a no-look pass from behind the net into the slot, where an uncontested Johnston swooped in to score his first goal of the series.
Soon after Mats Zuccarello‘s open shot sailed over the crossbar, the Stars delivered a big blow when Marchment scored with just 0.5 seconds left before the second intermission.
The Wild took a 2-1 lead on St. Louis in the playoffs last year before dropping three straight games, too.
“For the most of the games, I thought we were the better team and we still ended up losing. That’s probably the most frustrating,” Zuccarello said. “Maybe last year I think you have a feeling you lost to a better team.”
Kirill Kaprizov was their heartbeat of that series against the Blues, but the superstar left wing struggled to get going this year after a goal in Game 1. Suter, his former teammate, and fellow blue-liner Miro Heiskanen made Kaprizov work for every inch of ice and frequently met him with punishing checks.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Fireworks in Chicago began early on Independence Day as the Cubs set a franchise record for a single game, hitting eight home runs on Friday, including three from first baseman Michael Busch in a rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Especially to do it at Wrigley Field,” Busch said after the 11-3 win. “It’s really cool. I think that was my first three-homer game, ever. That’s one game I’ll never forget.”
Busch, 27, took Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas deep in the second and third innings then set a career mark with his third home run in the seventh off reliever John King. It was the first time a Cubs player hit three home runs in a game since Rafael Ortega on Aug. 1, 2021.
Busch wasn’t the only Cub to hit multiple home runs as Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two after making a diving catch in the first inning. Both Busch and Crow-Armstrong went 4-for-4 on the day, driving in seven of the team’s 11 runs. Busch drove in five.
The Cubs have been near the top of the league in most offensive rankings since early in the season as they extended their lead on the Cardinals to 6.5 games.
“It’s really easy to appreciate what we’re doing right now,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s also easy to just keep it going and not let that be something that we are dwelling on. It’s the best offense I’ve ever been a part of.”
Also homering for the Cubs on their record-setting day was designated hitter Seiya Suzuki, catcher Carson Kelly and shortstop Dansby Swanson. Manager Craig Counsell was asked to put the day in perspective considering the lengthy history of the franchise. It came a day after they beat the Cleveland Guardians 1-0.
“It’s the sport,” Counsell said with a smile. “It took us 10 innings to score one run yesterday. That’s what’s crazy about it. That’s why you turn the page every single day. We had a really good day, today.”
Mikolas set a Cardinals franchise record, giving up six of the eight home runs — all of which came in the first three innings. The Cardinals did break a scoreless streak on offense extending back to last Sunday when second baseman Brendan Donovan homered in the fourth inning. St. Louis scored two more times in the ninth off Cubs infielder Jon Berti, but by then the game was in hand.
Busch is the third Cubs player with a three-home run game against the Cardinals. In an odd twist, all three did it on Independence Day: Moises Alou on July 4, 2003, and Hank Leiber on July 4, 1939, according to ESPN Research.
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Jorge Castillo
NEW YORK — Juan Soto‘s second Subway Series experience in a Mets uniform was a far cry from his first.
In mid-May, Soto received a three-day onslaught of boos from scorned crowds in his return to Yankee Stadium and looked increasingly uncomfortable as the weekend progressed. On Friday, he felt right at home in the teams’ series opener at Citi Field, receiving a standing ovation from his home crowd before his first at-bat and reciprocating the love with a signature performance against his former team.
The soon-to-be five-time All-Star went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and single, falling just a triple shy of the cycle in the Mets’ 6-5 comeback win over the Yankees to continue his scalding stretch over the past month as the Mets won their third consecutive game and the Yankees lost their fifth straight.
“That was awesome,” said second baseman Jeff McNeil, who slashed a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning. “He had a great day. Huge home run. That’s just who he is. It’s fun to watch and I feel like every time he comes to the plate, he’s going to do something cool.”
The day began with the Mets needing a quick counter after the Yankees took a two-run lead on back-to-back home runs from Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Judge to open the game and put rookie Justin Hagenman on his heels in his first career major league start. Soto, moments after absorbing the warm reception, delivered one, lifting a two-run home run to left-center field for his 21st of the season to tie the score and put Hagenman at ease.
“Juan responded right away, just getting the momentum right back,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That was the setting-the-tone moment. ‘OK, they punch, we’re going to punch back. Here we are.'”
The 26-year-old Soto followed the two-run blast with a 108.6-mph rope of a double to center field in the third inning and a single in the fifth before cracking a 106.8-mph flyout in his final at-bat in the seventh. Two batters later, McNeil, after Pete Alonso walked to extend the inning, drove a changeup from Luke Weaver down the right-field line to give the Mets the lead.
“I just feel good right now,” Soto said. “I’m seeing the ball really well. I feel like I’m trying to take my chances when I swing the bat. I’m trying to do damage every time and try to help the team win some games.”
Much is different from the first time the Mets and Yankees met this season. Both teams have fallen from first place following dreadful stretches stemming from June 12. Both teams are dealing with various injuries to pitchers, the Mets to a greater extent. And Soto, a Yankee last season, has returned to his usual form for his new club.
Soto emerged from that three-game set in the Bronx earlier in the season with a .246 batting average and .822 OPS on the season. The relative struggles continued over the next two weeks, sinking his batting average to .229 and his OPS to .797 through June 5. The relative struggles drew the ire of fans and New York talk radio. The early return on the Mets’ $765 million investment was one of the few blips in the team’s splendid start.
The storyline has since flipped. Since June 6, Soto is hitting .348 with 10 home runs and a 1.185 OPS in 27 games, earning National League Player of the Month honors for June. On the season, his 21 home runs are tied for ninth in the majors and his .916 OPS is seventh. It’s production the Mets expected — and the production the Yankees know all about.
“It’s pretty special,” Mendoza said. “Every time he’s at the plate, you feel good about your chances. And when we got guys that are getting on base and we’re turning the lineup over and getting him at the plate as many times [as possible] when he’s going like that, it’s a pretty special feeling.”
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