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The not-so-long national Knightmare has ended. The Vegas Golden Knights are in the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in their sixth year of existence.

Reaching the postseason is a goal for many teams. Fair or unfair, making it to the playoffs has become the expectation for the Golden Knights. That’s what happens when a franchise advances to the final round in its first season.

Since then, every Golden Knights team has been judged through the prism of whether it could get back to the Cup Final — and possibly win it all. It’s what made last year’s failure to make the playoffs so jarring, leading to many questions and the hiring of former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy.

Those questions were answered by what Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault says is the best team the Golden Knights have had. Here’s how Vegas secured its date with the Florida Panthers and moved within four wins of the first Stanley Cup in team history.

Who’s scoring for the Golden Knights? Everyone

Let’s revisit what Marchessault said about this year’s version of the Golden Knights being the best team in their short franchise history. If anyone would know, it would be him as one of the six players left from their inaugural campaign in 2017-18. One of the reasons he made that statement presented itself in Game 3 against the Stars.

OK, more like two of the reasons. The first came when William Carrier scored to give Vegas a 3-0 lead at the end of the period, with the second coming in the second period when Alex Pietrangelo pushed it to a 4-0 lead. What made those goals from Carrier and Pietrangelo significant is that the Golden Knights have 16 players who have scored at least one goal this postseason.

That pushed them into a tie for the most of any active team in the playoffs with the Stars. Before those goals, that distinction was held by the Panthers with 15 goal scorers. That the Golden Knights and Panthers are among the two deepest teams in terms of scoring goes back to how coaches and general managers stress the need for depth scoring.

Just look at the recent Stanley Cup winners. The Colorado Avalanche had 16 players with at least one goal when they won it last year. The Tampa Bay Lightning also had 16 players who scored at least one goal in each of their back-to-back title seasons. The St. Louis Blues had 20 when they won the Cup in 2018-19, while the Washington Capitals had 18 when they won their first title in 2018-19.


Don’t call them front-runners

What the Dallas Stars learned in the Western Conference final is a lesson the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers also discovered, in that the Golden Knights are more than comfortable playing from behind.

They gave up the opening goal in Games 2 and 4 against the Jets, contests they would win by more than two goals before taking the series in five games. A similar scenario played out against the Oilers. Vegas trailed in Game 3 before scoring five unanswered goals. The Knights also came from behind in Games 5 and 6 to close out the series. Edmonton had a 2-1 first-period lead in both games.

It happened again in Game 1 of the Western Conference final, when the Stars took a 1-0 lead only to see Vegas eventually win when Brett Howden scored in overtime. In Game 2, the Stars held a 2-1 lead before Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev combined to create a scoring chance Marchessault converted to tie the game, then Chandler Stephenson scored the winner in overtime.


They’re having 5-on-5 success against some big names

Roope Hintz. Matthew Tkachuk. Connor McDavid. Leon Draisaitl. Evan Bouchard. They were the top five players in postseason points prior to Game 6 of the Western Conference final. Here’s something else they have in common: The Golden Knights have either played or are about to play all of them.

How the Golden Knights will fare against Tkachuk, who is second in playoff points, is one of the subplots to follow in the Cup Final. But what they have done against the majority of the points leaders at this stage is another one of those items that has yet to attract attention with the idea that it could as the playoffs go forward.

Vegas’ penalty kill is still a work in progress as its 61.4% success rate is 15th out of the 16 playoff teams. But the Golden Knights have made strides in 5-on-5 play against the majority of those aforementioned players. Edmonton’s McDavid was the most consistent of the group, with the superstar center scoring 10 points, six coming on the power play. Draisaitl had six goals in the first two games against Vegas, but did not score again for the rest of the series. He finished with one point — a 5-on-5 assist — in the last four games. Bouchard had three points in the final four games, all on the power play.

As for the Stars’ Hintz? He entered Game 6 leading the NHL with 24 points this postseason. He had three points — one goal and two assists — in Game 1 with all of those points coming in 5-on-5 play. Yet Vegas seemed to find a formula for subduing the hulking Finnish forward as he was held to zero points on five shots in Games 2 and 3, and two assists in Game 4. Thereafter? Goose eggs.


King of the (Adin) Hill

One game. That’s the amount of combined playoff experience that Laurent Brossoit and Adin Hill shared entering this postseason. Brossoit answered a few of the questions about his inexperience when he won five of his first seven starts and helped the Golden Knights reach the second round.

But questions resurfaced when Brossoit sustained an early injury in Game 3 against the Oilers in the second round. Enter Hill, who relieved Brossoit in his first career playoff outing. Hill shut out the Oilers on 24 saves the rest of the way in a 5-1 Vegas win.

All told, Hill enters the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-3 record, a 2.30 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. Aside from the 4-1 defeat in Game 4 against the Oilers, Hill’s worst performance came in Game 5 against Dallas, when he allowed four goals on 34 shots. Among goalies with at least eight games played this postseason, Hill is in the top five in GAA and save percentage.

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Misiorowski perfect into 7th, sets rookie record

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Misiorowski perfect into 7th, sets rookie record

MINNEAPOLIS — Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers lost his bid for a perfect game in the seventh inning of a 17-6 win against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

After issuing a walk to Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner lofted a home run to the flower bed just past the right-field wall, ending Misiorowski’s run of hitless innings to start his big league career at 11, the first starter to do that since 1900.

“I think this is exactly how I ever dreamed of it coming along,” the 23-year-old rookie said. “It’s exciting.”

He threw five no-hit innings against St. Louis on June 12, but left in the sixth with cramping in his right calf and quadriceps.

“I felt calmer and ready to go compared to the first one,” Misiorowski said. “Nerves were going pretty heavy on the first one, so it’s good to finally feel the feet under you.”

The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out six with a fastball topping out at 102.1 mph and a slider and changeup in the mid-90s.

“It’s important to prove to yourself as a young player that you belong in the big leagues and taste success and realize that you do belong here,” said Christian Yelich, who had a career-high eight RBIs. “He should believe he’s a really good major league pitcher because he is. All the nights probably aren’t going to go as smooth as the first two, but you see the ability.

“He’s got a chance to something special every night he goes out there.”

Misiorowski is the only big leaguer since 1900 to have more wins (2) than hits allowed (1) in his first two career starts, according to OptaSTATS.

“He was attacking, but mixing, too,” manager Pat Murphy said. “It wasn’t just heaters.”

After seeing four straight pitches of at least 100.8 mph from Misiorowski, Willi Castro twisted like a corkscrew and dropped to the ground as he struck out on a 95.5 mph slider in the first inning.

“You don’t see a guy throwing a slider 95, 96,” Castro said. “It’s really hard to pick up.”

Misiorowski threw 29 pitches of 100 mph or higher and had 12 of 101 mph or more. Since tracking started in 2008, the only starting pitchers to throw more in a game at 101 mph and above are Hunter Greene (33 on Sept. 17, 2022; 21 on March 30, 2023; 18 on July 26, 2022; and 13 on April 16, 2022) and Jordan Hicks (on July 12, 2022), according to Major League Baseball.

After the homer by Wallner, Misiorowski was pulled for reliever Nick Mears and left to a standing ovation. He threw 86 pitches, 60 for strikes, and departed with Milwaukee leading 8-2.

The Brewers scored five runs in the top of the seventh, a long time for starter to sit in the dugout, but Misiorowski was adamant about going back to the mound.

“He said, ‘Yes I’m getting toward the end, but I want to challenge myself,'” Murphy said. “It was a good time to have him do that.”

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Suarez, managers suspended for Padres-L.A. feud

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Suarez, managers suspended for Padres-L.A. feud

LOS ANGELES — San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez was suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount Friday for intentionally hitting Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a pitch during the NL West rivals’ contentious meeting Thursday night.

Suarez will appeal the suspension, keeping him eligible to play for San Diego on Friday night against Kansas City. He did not pitch in the Padres’ 6-5 loss.

Padres manager Mike Shildt and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also received one-game suspensions and undisclosed fines for their roles in the brouhaha that occurred in both halves of the ninth inning during the Padres’ 5-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.

“I support it,” Roberts said about the league’s disciplinary decision. “I think that obviously I never want to make the game about the managers. It shouldn’t be. It should be about the players and winning, so last night, both managers are protecting their teams, and it just unfortunately got to the point that we became the focus, and that’s not the way it should be.”

Both managers were ejected in the top of the ninth after they ran onto the field and bumped into each other during a vociferous argument that almost got even more physical before their players and assistant coaches intervened.

Shildt believed Dodgers reliever Jack Little intentionally hit Fernando Tatís Jr. in the right hand with a pitch, igniting the latest bench-clearing incident between local rivals with several years of bad-tempered history.

“Circumstances were really challenging this past series, and at the end of the day I don’t regret standing up for a guy that I love in Tati, and a team that I love and a city that I love,” Shildt said. “In that regard, I have no regrets how it got to that point. Again, we can all have our comments and thoughts and theories. But as far as my actions, it’s not something you want to do every night or needs to be done, hopefully ever again. But appropriate actions for the circumstances were taken, and I don’t regret it at all.”

Shildt and Roberts served their suspensions Friday. Bench coach Danny Lehmann managed the Dodgers in their 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals, and Padres bench coach Brian Esposito was in San Diego’s dugout vs. the Royals.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ohtani was hit on the back of his right shoulder by Suarez’s pitch, putting the tying run on base during the Dodgers’ three-run rally. Ohtani’s teammates appeared to be preparing to storm the field for the second time before Ohtani waved them back. The three-time MVP then walked to the Padres’ dugout for some light banter, defusing the tension.

Suarez on Friday insisted he hadn’t retaliated for Tatís.

“I was never trying to get anyone into trouble or hit anybody,” Suarez said through an interpreter. “Unfortunately it happened. I got ejected and I couldn’t finish out the game, but we won as a team, and we were able to salvage that game. … [The Dodgers are] entitled to their opinion. They can say whatever they want. That was not the case. I was out there to try to save the game.”

Ohtani threw a bullpen session as scheduled Friday despite getting hit by Suarez on his pitching shoulder. Ohtani’s second mound start for the Dodgers is still expected to happen Sunday, Roberts said.

Tatís was in the Padres’ lineup as usual Friday. Manny Machado said afterward that the Dodgers should “pray” Tatís had escaped serious injury, encouraging them to “put out a candle.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Devers, facing Boston, clarifies first base mindset

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Devers, facing Boston, clarifies first base mindset

SAN FRANCISCO — As he prepared to face his former team just five days after being traded, San Francisco Giants slugger Rafael Devers wants to leave things in the past as it pertains to the Boston Red Sox.

But he did provide some insight into his feelings when he was asked Friday why he would consider playing first base for the Giants when he refused to do so for the Red Sox.

“I put up some good numbers in Boston and I feel like I earned some respect,” Devers said through an interpreter. “If they would have asked me at the beginning of spring training, yes, I would have played [first].”

Of course, back then the Red Sox didn’t have an opening at first base as Triston Casas didn’t get hurt until about a month into the season. But the overall damage had been done.

The lack of communication between the sides seemingly led to the stunning trade, and now just three games into his career with San Francisco, Devers has to face his old teammates in a weekend series at Oracle Park.

“Whatever happened, happened,” Devers said. “But they’re still my friends.”

Devers actually got to see his friends after they arrived in town Thursday, but as of early Friday afternoon, he had not seen or talked to manager Alex Cora. He’s confident he will.

Devers was pressed about his former manager.

“I don’t want to talk about the past,” Devers said. “I don’t have anything good or bad to say about Alex. I just want to leave everything in the past.”

Cora addressed the subject during his pregame media availability, saying, “There’s a lot of stuff that Rafy did for us that we’re going to miss. We’re very proud of him.”

Asked if the two need to clear the air about anything, Cora replied, “Clear the air about what? It’s a trade. It’s baseball. It’s a business. That’s how it works.

“It’s not the first guy that’s gotten traded. It’s not the last guy. People have their opinions about the whole thing. Communication, first base, DH, third base, the manager, the GM, the owner, whatever. It’s a baseball trade. From my end, I turn the page.”

Cora was then asked if he’s “surprised” Devers is working at first base, to which the manager offered a succinct, “No.”

Devers acknowledged it’s been a “long week” but he’s feeling more relaxed and even happy now. Entering Friday, he was 3-for-11 with two walks and four strikeouts for his new team, which desperately needs his presence in its lineup.

Devers, batting third and serving as the Giants’ designated hitter, got a standing ovation before grounding out in his first at-bat in the first inning Friday and hit a drive to the wall in left-center that Ceddanne Rafaela caught against the wall.

He would finish the game 0-for-5 as San Francisco lost 7-5 and dropped to 1-3 since the trade. It was the second time this season Devers went 0-for-5 or worse (0-for-6 at at Detroit on May 13), and the first time he did so in a home game since Sept. 26, 2023 (Rays at Red Sox).

Eventually, he’ll see time at first base — but only when he’s ready.

“It’s not a position I’m going to learn how to play overnight,” Devers said.

“It’s not the first guy that’s gotten traded. It’s not the last guy. People have their opinions about the whole thing. Communication, first base, DH, third base, the manager, the GM, the owner, whatever. It’s a baseball trade. From my end, I turn the page.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora

He was asked several times when he might get a start there.

“Whenever I feel like I’m comfortable,” he answered.

The conversation eventually came back around to his relationship with the Red Sox, but Devers insisted on putting it behind him.

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “I want to concentrate what’s in the future for me.”

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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