Stars let 3-0 lead ‘slip away,’ lose yet another G1
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
Not one. Not two. Not three. But six. That’s how many consecutive Game 1s the Dallas Stars have lost after falling to the visiting Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in overtime Tuesday night in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Stars jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period after goals from Ryan Suter, Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn only to then go scoreless the rest of the way and allow four straight goals by the Avalanche, including the winner from Miles Wood nearly nine minutes into overtime.
“We had that game under control, and we let it slip away. But we’ve seen that in the regular season against them,” Stars forward Matt Duchene told reporters. “We had two games like that, so we have bounce back here and split the homestand here.”
The Avalanche jump-started their comeback by capitalizing on their power-play chances. Valeri Nichushkin trimmed the lead to 3-1 a little more than five minutes into the second period, and Cale Makar cut it to 3-2 nearly four minutes later.
Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon, who was named one of the three Hart Trophy finalists on Tuesday, scored the tying goal less than a minute into the third period.
“They’re a great power play,” Benn said. “They’ve got a lot of skill. We’ll have to watch some video, learn from it and move on.”
There were moments in overtime when the Avalanche struggled to find a clear shot before Wood found space on a breakaway and beat Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger for the winning goal.
“We didn’t know we could come back, but we wanted to at least try,” MacKinnon said after the game.
Learning how to make the necessary adjustments following a Game 1 loss has proved to be a familiar theme for the Stars.
The last time they won Game 1 of a playoff series came in 2020, when they took the first game of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a series Dallas would lose in six games.
The Stars opened the 2022 playoffs with a Game 1 loss to the Calgary Flames and fell in seven games. Last season saw the Stars open the playoffs with a Game 1 loss in double overtime in the first round to the Minnesota Wild before winning the series in six games. Dallas lost Game 1 of the second round in overtime to the Seattle Kraken before winning that series in seven games en route to reaching the Western Conference finals, where the Stars lost another Game 1 that went into overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights before dropping that series in six games.
Fast-forward to this year’s playoffs: The Stars lost the first two games of their opening-round series to the Golden Knights before ousting the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round. And now Dallas has pushed that streak to six straight Game 1 defeats with Tuesday’s loss to the Avalanche.
“I think you learn about each other as a series goes on, and what we know about that team is what happened tonight,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “I think we had the lead. … They’re a quick-strike team. You can’t make mistakes in those situations. It’s a tough lesson to learn in Game 1, but glad you’re not learning it in Game 6 or 7 in an elimination game.”
NEW YORK — Yankees reliever Jake Cousins felt pectoral discomfort after throwing a pair of batting practice sessions, another setback in his bid to return to the mound for the first time since last fall.
Cousins won’t throw again for four or five days, manager Aaron Boone said Saturday.
Boone said ahead of spring training’s opening workout that Cousins had a strained right forearm and was uncertain for the March 27 opener.
A 30-year-old right-hander, Cousins threw batting practice to injured slugger Giancarlo Stanton on May 6. Boone said Cousins pitched an additional session before the pec issue caused a shutdown.
“We don’t think it’s anything serious, but enough to hold him back a few days,” Boone said.
Boone said Cousins had tests and that they didn’t show any shoulder issues.
Cousins had a 2.37 ERA in 37 relief appearances last year, striking out 53 and walking 20 in 38 innings.
Boone said a date has not been set for Stanton to start a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment. The five-time All-Star has been sidelined since spring training with pain in the tendons of both elbows.
The Minnesota Twins are on a roll. They extended their winning streak to 11 games Thursday with a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles that completed a series sweep. Their confidence carried over to social media, too, as they trolled the Orioles.
Minnesota used a three-run third inning to propel itself to victory, with home runs from DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton.
The Twins hold the longest win streak in MLB; its their their longest run of victories since winning 12 straight from April 22 to May 4 last season, according to ESPN Research. The franchise record is 15 set in 1991.
Minnesota poked fun at Baltimore’s namesake with a post after the game, referring to the Orioles also being known as the “O’s” — and swapping a zero in for the O.
So that’s why they’re called the 0’s pic.twitter.com/KtL5ss8qS6
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 15, 2025
The Twins have won each of their six matchups against the Orioles this season. All of them have come during Minnesota’s current win streak.
Minnesota (24-20) is fourth in the American League Central behind the Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers.
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