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DALLAS — Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said Monday that he will play in Game 1 of his team’s Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center.

Stone had been out of the Golden Knights lineup since Feb. 20 when he was diagnosed with a lacerated spleen. He was moved to long-term injured reserve where he remained until Saturday when he was cleared by the team to practice days before the Golden Knights’ bid to win a consecutive Stanley Cup.

“The first couple weeks were real tough,” Stone said of his injury and the recovery process. “You can’t do anything physical. You’re kind of just sitting around waiting for it to heal. I think it’s even harder because you start to feel better relatively quickly but you look at the scans, and you’re nowhere close to healthy.”

Getting Stone back following a lengthy injury layoff is something the Golden Knights experienced last season.

Stone, who already had one back surgery, needed a second procedure within a 13-month window that led to him being out of the lineup in mid-January. He returned prior to the Golden Knights’ first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets.

Stone described the differences between what he went through last season compared to this season. He said recovering from a back surgery came with a distinct timeline whereas the varying timeline he was given for the spleen injury admittedly made him wonder if he’d even be ready for the start of an opening round series.

“I had some people telling me it was eight weeks. I had some people telling me it was six months,” Stone said. “It was just a wait-and-see, see how the scans go. Obviously, fortunate to be able to get those scans as frequently as I can and I think last week, the last scan I did, I felt like I was moving in the right direction and getting close to playing. The last scan kind of confirmed it, and now I’m ready to go.”

A run of persistent back problems that started in the 2021-22 season along with his multiple surgeries and the lacerated spleen has led to Stone playing in 55 percent — or 136 of the Golden Knights’ 246 regular-season games over the past three seasons.

Stone was also having some of the best performances of his career prior to being injured those seasons. He was averaging more than 0.80 points per game in the first two seasons while his 53 points in 56 games this season saw him average 0.95 points in what would have seen him finish with a career-high 78 points.

“I am not worried about individual stats at all,” Stone said. “I play for this time of year. I am excited for this time of year. I’m excited with our team. We’ve added some good pieces to help us get there. Now, we’re at full health and we’re excited with what we have.”

Stone’s injury played a role in the Golden Knights being one of the most active teams at the NHL trade deadline. Moving Stone and his $9.5 million cap hit to LTIR made it possible for the club to acquire a top-nine forward in Anthony Mantha, a top-pairing defenseman in Noah Hanifin and the shock trade to get a top-six forward in Tomas Hertl.

Stone and Hertl, who’ve never played a game together, are slated to play together on a line centered by Chandler Stephenson.

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said the extensive time Stephenson and Stone have spent together means there’s a proven cohesion. He said the real question lies with how Hertl will fit into the group. Hertl, who has played only six games with the Golden Knights, has spent time playing alongside Stephenson since recovering from knee surgery.

Cassidy said Stone, who also plays on the penalty kill and power play, won’t enter Game 1 on a minutes restriction. But the plan is for Cassidy and his staff to monitor Stone’s conditioning levels.

Last year, Stone logged more than 21 minutes of ice time in his first game back against the Jets. He would ultimately average a little less than 19 minutes per game while scoring 11 goals and 23 points in 22 games.

“His game will tell us, his shift length, himself — he could control some of that,” Cassidy said. “There is no restrictions going in. Could we put some on mid-game? That’s something we’ll decide as we go.”

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Betts (illness) out for Tokyo Series; lost 15 pounds

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Betts (illness) out for Tokyo Series; lost 15 pounds

TOKYO — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts will not play in the two-game Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs because of an illness that has lingered for the past week.

Manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Betts is starting to feel better but has lost nearly 15 pounds and is still trying to get rehydrated and gain strength. Roberts added that the eight-time All-Star might fly back to the United States before the team in an effort to rest and prepare for the domestic opener on March 27.

The Cubs and Dodgers open the Major League Baseball season on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome. A second game is on Wednesday.

“He’s not going to play in these two games,” Roberts said. “When you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to soft tissue injuries. We’re very mindful of that.”

Roberts said Miguel Rojas will start at shortstop in Betts’ place for the two games at the Tokyo Dome.

Betts started suffering from flu-like symptoms at the team’s spring training home in Arizona the day before the team left for Japan. He still made the long plane trip but hasn’t recovered as quickly as hoped.

Roberts said if the team had known the illness would linger this long, Betts wouldn’t have traveled. Betts tried to go through a workout on Sunday but became tired quickly.

Betts is making the full-time transition to shortstop this season after playing most of his career in right field and second base. The 2018 AL MVP hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs last season, helping the Dodgers win the World Series.

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Berry gets first career Cup Series win at Vegas

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Berry gets first career Cup Series win at Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry raced to the first Cup Series victory of his career, taking NASCAR’s oldest team to victory lane Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Berry, in his first season driving the famed No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, had the first victory for a Ford team through five races this season. William Byron opened the year with a Daytona 500 victory in a Chevrolet and Christopher Bell in a Toyota won the next three races.

Berry, meanwhile, had to run down Daniel Suarez following a restart with 19 laps remaining to take control. Although Harrison Burton won at Daytona last summer for the Wood Brothers, Berry’s victory is the first not at a superspeedway since Ryan Blaney won for the team in 2017 at Pocono.

It was the 101st victory for the organization spanning 20 drivers.

Suarez in a Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing finished second, followed by Ryan Preece in a Ford for RFK Racing. Byron was fourth for Hendrick Motorsports, followed by Ross Chastain of Trackhouse, Austin Cindric of Team Penske and Alex Bowman of Hendrick.

AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing was eighth, and Hendrick drivers Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10.

Joey Logano had late control of the race until Las Vegas native Noah Gragson hit the wall with 25 laps remaining to bring out the ninth caution of the race. Berry was in second when the caution came out and second behind Suarez on the restart.

Berry won in his 53rd Cup race and just his fifth race with the Wood Brothers, the team that signed him when Stewart-Haas Racing shuttered at the end of last season.

The 34-year-old Tennessee driver was a 40-1 underdog to win Sunday’s race and his win put the Wood Brothers back into the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

Bell to the back

Bell came to Las Vegas on a three-race winning streak with an opportunity to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup races.

But his chance to extend his streak was stymied when Joe Gibbs Racing had to change the throttle body on the No. 20 Toyota after Bell qualified 13th and the penalty dropped him to the back of the field for the start of the race.

He never recovered in what was an overall subpar day for the four-driver JGR contingent.

Bell, who complained about the handling of his car most of the race, finished a team-high 12th. Only eight drivers have won four straight Cup races in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972.

Chase Briscoe was 17th and Ty Gibbs, who rolled a sprint car Saturday night at the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finished 22nd. Denny Hamlin, winner of more than $200,000 over two nights of playing slots in the Las Vegas casino, couldn’t convert his luck to the track and finished 25th.

Up Next

The Cup Series races next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a track that had been in the playoff rotation the last three years but has now been moved to a spring race. Tyler Reddick won last October and Bell won in 2023.

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Bell to start at rear of field after prerace penalty

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Bell to start at rear of field after prerace penalty

LAS VEGAS — Christopher Bell will have to start from the back of the field in his attempt to win a fourth consecutive Cup Series race after NASCAR penalized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday for making changes to his Toyota.

Bell had been set to start 13th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he is trying to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup races. But JGR changed the throttle body on the No. 20 Toyota after qualifying, resulting in Bell forfeiting his starting spot.

Bell came to Las Vegas coming off victories at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas in Texas and Phoenix. Only eight drivers have won four straight Cup races in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972. Among those who have accomplished the feat, seven are in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame and six are Cup Series champions.

The drivers who have won four consecutive races in the modern era are Cale Yarborough in 1976, Darrell Waltrip in 1981, Dale Earnhardt in 1987, Harry Gant in 1981, Bill Elliott in 1992, Mark Martin in 1993, Jeff Gordon in 1998 and Johnson 18 years ago.

Bell’s three straight wins are the Cup Series’ longest streak since Kyle Larson won three in a row twice in 2021, and Bell is the first to do it in NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022.

His three wins this year tie his career-high victory tallies set in 2022 and matched in 2024. At Las Vegas, Bell has five career top-10 finishes in 10 starts and three poles. He was the runner-up in Vegas’ past two fall races.

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