Stars ‘steal one,’ revive series hopes with OT win
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
After falling into a 2-0 series hole while losing six straight and nine of their past 11 games to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Dallas Stars had to do something in Game 3.
And they did. The Stars snapped their losing skid to the defending Stanley Cup champions, with 20-year-old forward Wyatt Johnston scoring twice, including the winning goal in their 3-2 overtime win Saturday in the Western Conference quarterfinals at T-Mobile Arena.
“We knew the situation coming into Vegas,” said Stars center Tyler Seguin, who finished with an assist. “We know these guys are the champs from last year, and we know how good they are on home ice. … We knew we had to come in here, we had to steal one no matter. Now, we want to steal two.”
Coming close but not being close enough to win games had been the narrative for the Stars entering Game 3.
They opened Game 1 with a 4-3 loss and were within striking distance in Game 2 before an empty-netter from Jack Eichel late in the third period created extra separation in a 3-1 defeat.
Game 3 saw Dallas find its footing early. Johnston scored the opening goal near the halfway point of the first period before Miro Heiskanen doubled the lead to 2-0 a little more than five minutes into the second period.
Having a two-goal lead, however, was short-lived. The Golden Knights tied the score on a pair of second-period goals from Brayden McNabb and Eichel.
Both teams struggled to come up with the winning goal in the third and in overtime. Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger finished with 32 saves and a .941 save percentage for what was his strongest performance in the postseason.
Oettinger’s counterpart, Logan Thompson, was one of the main reasons why the Golden Knights even reached overtime. Johnston’s first goal along with Heiskanen’s salvo that gave the Stars a 2-0 advantage was the product of an attack that went from struggling to find consistency in the first two games of the series to one that showed why the Stars are among the teams that could potentially dethrone the Golden Knights this postseason.
Through the first two games of this series, Thompson had faced 50 shots. The Stars already had 33 shots by the end of the second period before finishing with 46 shots, with Thompson stopping 43 of them.
Johnston was responsible for a game-high eight shots, with his final being the winner that he snuck beneath the crossbar and over Thompson’s shoulder from a side angle to bring the Stars within a game of tying the series.
“I tried a couple low, and it didn’t work,” said Johnston, who led the Stars with 33 goals in the regular season. “So, I tried to throw one up high and I’m lucky enough it worked.”
Stars coach Peter DeBoer reiterated afterward that his team had to be the more desperate club Saturday night.
DeBoer’s logic was simple. The Golden Knights were still going to have a series lead no matter what happened in Game 3. The Stars, on the other hand, had to find a way to avoid going back to Dallas trailing 3-0.
Getting off to an early start. Finding ways to constantly get shots. Making sure the Golden Knights were the ones who struggled to find cohesion at times. These are the details that allowed the Stars to win Saturday, and they’re also the attributes DeBoer said proves the team has shown gradual improvement since the start of the playoffs.
“What I do like about our game is that our game’s building,” DeBoer said. “Game 2 was better than Game 1. Game 3 was better than Game 2. That’s a great sign for me on our group.”
BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.
The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.
The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.
“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”
Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.
“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”
Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.
“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”
During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.
“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”
Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.
Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.
Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.
Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.
“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”
Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.
“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”
TORONTO — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, two days after the third baseman left in the third inning because of a mild right ankle sprain.
The six-time All-Star was injured when he stumbled and fell while crossing first base on an infield single. Ramirez went down after being struck in the back by a throw from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Ramirez was batting third Sunday against right-hander Bowden Francis.
Ramírez sat out Saturday when Cleveland beat Toronto 5-3. He went 2 for 2 before departing Friday, boosting his average to .274. He has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.
In last Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Ramirez became the first primary third baseman to reach 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.
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