HENDERSON, Nev. — All it takes is walking a few paces to discover the dressing room at the Vegas Golden Knights‘ training facility is designed to attract attention.
Everything about this cavernous space is sleek. From the team’s alternate logo etched in black within the steel gray wooden dressing room stalls, down to the contemporary carpet tile patterns that are largely black, steel gray and white along with slivers of red and gold that match the full array of the Golden Knights’ color scheme.
Nothing about this room is subtle, which makes Chandler Stephenson‘s presence even more ironic. Then again, subtlety is the prism through which Stephenson operates. Consider all the names that are on the Golden Knights’ roster. It’s likely Stephenson’s might not be among the first, second or even third to get mentioned.
At 6 feet, he’s one of the shortest players on the NHL’s fourth-tallest roster, and his salary-cap hit isn’t even in the top 10 on the team. Now, guess who led all Golden Knights forwards in the regular season in 5-on-5 and power-play minutes while being second in short-handed minutes?
It’s the same person who led the Golden Knights in assists, was second in points and currently leads them in postseason goals. He also has more goals (six) through nine playoff games this year than he had in his previous 66 postseason contests combined (five) — and that’s with a Stanley Cup on his résumé.
“He has no ceiling. His ability to do what he does, his skill set, the way he handles the puck, the way he reads the play, he’s a star,” Golden Knights forward Brett Howden said of Stephenson. “He’s a star in this league. He was given the opportunity here to play with confidence, make mistakes, have that be all right and to push past that, and it just adds to his confidence.”
Again, subtlety. How Stephenson operates is why his play has become one of the more fascinating stories in these Stanley Cup playoffs. Further evaluating that impact is complicated by the realization that there are other ways of quantifying his contributions.
Teammate Jack Eichel rattles off all the details that make Stephenson such a strong player, to the point Eichel shares how he told his dad one day, “This Stephenson is a player.” Mark Stone speaks about Stephenson, who is one of his close friends and also his linemate, on a level that is both grand and granular. Howden, who sits next to Stephenson at the practice facility, can do more than just rave about Stephenson’s game. He’s also forthcoming about how Stephenson has become his mentor.
“I think the thing that a lot of people don’t understand is he creates a lot of space for his linemates by skating to the middle of the ice,” Stone said. “He gets deep, gets the defense on their heels and that’s what he’s done a really good job with here. You put him in the middle of the ice at center and he backs people off with his speed. He’s also able to handle the puck at that speed, which is something not a lot of people can do.”
Some wondered if the 64 points that Stephenson scored in the 2021-22 season might have been an anomaly for a forward who entered that campaign with 90 career points in five seasons. He silenced those concerns with 65 points this season and made his first NHL All-Star Game appearance.
Stephenson is, much like Nevada itself, “battle born,” as one of the state’s nicknames attests.
“I think it’s just I got a really good opportunity when I came here,” Stephenson said. “It was just sort of this, ‘Let’s see what you got’ and they just let me play. I already had three years with Washington. I knew what to expect, knew how the games were played, how fast it was, physical and all that stuff. But when I came here, I felt like myself and that I could just play.”
TO FULLY UNDERSTAND Stephenson’s place in Vegas, one must consider the circumstances that led to him coming to the Golden Knights in the first place.
Stephenson was also part of that group. He was a third-round pick in 2012 who projected as a potential middle-six forward at a time when the Capitals were drafting and developing players like a factory trying to meet a deadline.
Those promising prospects became NHL contributors, with a number of them — including Stephenson — playing a role in the Capitals winning the Stanley Cup following the 2017-18 season. Led by Ovechkin and Backstrom, the Caps had 15 homegrown players on the team that won the first title in franchise history.
Having those players, however, came with a cost. Whether those players were seeking an increase in their role, salary or both, the Capitals could not afford to keep everyone. Stephenson fit into both categories — the Caps wanted to get his $1.05 million cap hit off the books and he was in a limited role on a team that already had Backstrom, Kuznetsov and Lars Eller down the middle.
So the Capitals parted with a future All-Star, sending Stephenson to the Golden Knights during the 2019-20 season for a 2021 fifth-round pick.
“The team we had in Washington was loaded,” Stephenson said. “It was tough to slot into some of those spots. Just as it went on, it was tough for me to just play there toward the end because you’re not really just playing. You’re thinking more about trying to stay in the lineup, get up in the lineup, you’re overthinking things.”
Stephenson said when he came to Vegas, there were no expectations, meaning he could just play his game.
The results were instant. He went from having four points in 24 games with the Capitals to eight goals and 22 points in 41 games with the Golden Knights while receiving nearly four minutes more ice time per game.
How he followed that up in the pandemic-truncated 2020-21 season might have previewed what was to come. Stephenson scored a career-high 14 goals and a career-high 35 points in 51 games while averaging 18:05 in ice time, the most of his career. The next season (2021-22) saw Stephenson top those marks with career highs in goals (21), assists (43), points (64), games played (79) and ice time (19:18).
“I remember when I came here last year and you only play Vegas a few times a year and when you are on the East Coast, you don’t watch them a ton,” Eichel said. “I was taken aback by how good he was. Just getting on the ice with him in practice and seeing how fluid his skating is and seeing how effortless his skill is, his hockey IQ and his strength.”
Stephenson is one of those complete, two-way centers executives want on their roster — and with good reason. Depth might be the Golden Knights’ strongest asset. They have 12 players who scored more than 10 goals in the regular season, and one of them — Paul Cotter — has yet to even play a game in the postseason.
Vegas has the sort of depth down the middle that allows it to have Eichel anchoring the top line, Stephenson driving the second line, William Karlsson on the third line and Nicolas Roy on the fourth. That’s four centers who each finished with more than 14 goals in the regular season and can be trusted to play in a number of scenarios.
Stephenson is one of several players who have blossomed after coming to Vegas and become an integral part of the franchise’s success.
“You ask a lot of guys around the league, and it’s nice when you get to play with a guy for an extended period of time,” Stone said. “That’s not just 10 games, 20 games. That’s years. You see it with [Patrice] Bergeron and [Brad] Marchand in Boston. [Reilly] Smith, Karlsson and [Jonathan] Marchessault here. They’re not playing together now, but they’ve played together for four or five years and they’ve had success. … That’s how you develop that high-end chemistry that allows you to know where a guy is going to be.”
NEED ANOTHER WAY to measure Stephenson’s impact? Go ask Howden. He will describe how Stephenson is one of Golden Knights’ quieter personalities but is capable of delivering a good one-liner when the time is right.
Howden will also share how their relationship has gone from that of teammates to something far more meaningful than just wearing the same sweater. It started when Howden was traded by the New York Rangers to the Golden Knights before the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
“I was pretty nervous, and having him to look up to and for him to help me out made me feel comfortable,” Howden said. “He’s been great to me.”
Would it be fair to say Stephenson has mentored Howden?
“Yeah, for sure he has,” Howden said. “I think as I got more comfortable and he helped me get out of my shell a little bit, I was just able to be myself. Whether it was him sitting next to me when I was fresh and new here last year, I’m more of a quiet guy and I’m shy. I think he kind of helped me get me out of my shell. … He’s really helped me come a long way.”
Stephenson speaks with a level of context and depth that can leave the person he’s speaking with wanting to hear more. Howden knows this, and he said it’s why he has leaned on Stephenson for advice about what comes with being a first-time father trying to juggle a career as a pro hockey player.
Exactly how does Stephenson manage that himself? How does he balance having the success he has sought for years while also handling what comes with being a father?
“Having a little guy now, that’s kind of everything,” Stephenson said. “In a way, that’s the only thing that matters.”
Stephenson and his wife, Tasha, became first-time parents last May. They were going through possible names, and in the last three months of Tasha’s pregnancy, they came up with the name Ford, which Stephenson liked.
“Just seeing him and his personality, he just looked like a Ford,” Stephenson said. Does that mean he looks like a Mustang?
“He’s an F-150!” Stephenson said with a giant grin. “He’s now the reason why I do it. He’s the reason I play games. He’s the reason why I am excited to have a long career. Having him around now, that’s kind of everything. Hockey is second. Family is No. 1 for me.”
CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.
The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.
The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.
“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”
There haven’t been many games like this, though.
The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.
The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”
On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.
“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”
The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.
Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.
The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.
Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.
“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”
Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.
Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.
“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.
“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”
Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”
MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”
Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.
“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”
The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.
“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.
Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.