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DALLAS — The Dallas Stars built another multigoal lead against high-scoring Colorado. This time, they held on to win and avoid another 2-0 hole in the NHL playoffs.

“Found a way to win the game, and that’s the most important thing,” Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said.

Heiskanen scored two power-play goals, Roope Hintz had a goal and three assists and the Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in Game 2 on Thursday night to even the second-round Western Conference series.

Tyler Seguin got his first goal this postseason on a short-hander at the end of a 3-on-1 breakaway for the Stars that put them up 4-0 late in the second period. Esa Lindell added an empty-netter with 20 seconds left, with Hintz getting his final assist.

Jake Oettinger had 28 saves against a Colorado team that led the NHL in scoring during the regular season and had averaged an NHL-high 5.33 goals in its first six games this postseason.

Joel Kiviranta, Brandon Duhaime and Valeri Nichushkin scored in the third period for the Avalanche, but they failed to score on a power play in the final three minutes that was partly a 6-on-4 after goalie Alexandar Georgiev skated to the bench.

“Obviously, I think we can handle those situations better. But I think that the silver lining is that we built 3-0 and 4-0 leads, so we’ve played some very good hockey for long stretches against them,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought tonight was better than Game 1. We did most of the things that we wanted to do tonight. Building that lead, the right guys scored, got on the board for us.”

Game 3 is Saturday night in Denver.

Colorado had also trailed 3-0 in the first period of Game 1 two nights earlier before coming back to win 4-3 in overtime, and extend its postseason winning streak to five games. That was the third time this season the Avs had come back from a multigoal deficit to win in Dallas.

They came up short this time in a game when hurt by some self-induced penalties and going 0 for 3 on power plays. Of their six penalties, two were for delay of game wo for delay of game after knocking pucks into the stands, and two more for having too many men on the ice.

“The second period for me is when it fell apart. Just not sharp,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Then we turn around in the third and go to work, and that’s what happens.”

Hintz, whose only previous point this postseason had been an empty-net goal in Game 4 of the opening series against Vegas, put Dallas up 2-0 less than two minutes into the second period. That came after the Avalanche had failed to score on a power play that carried over from the end of the first period, when Oettinger had a couple of impressive saves in the closing seconds.

It also was soon after Miles Wood, who scored in overtime for Colorado in Game 1, had a shot blocked by Oettinger and the Stars took the puck the other way. Hintz was to the left of Alexander Georgiev when he got a cross-ice pass from Nils Lundkvist.

Georgiev stopped 26 shots.

Dallas, which in the first round against Vegas lost the first two games at home before winning the series in Game 7, led 3-0 with four minutes left in the second period Thursday when captain Jamie Benn and Hintz had assists as Heiskanen scored on a shot that went off the stick of former Stars center Andrew Cogliano.

Benn had been called for a major penalty a few minutes before that for a big hit that leveled defenseman Devon Toews behind the Colorado net. But officials reviewed the play and didn’t call any penalty after replay showed a shoulder-to-shoulder hit. Toews left the game briefly, but returned before the end of the second period.

“It’s a physical game, it’s a physical player. … I don’t want to say. I mean, does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah. I guess you could argue that,. but he target is high and it’s at his head, and it makes contact with the head,” Bednar said. “I’ve seen many times guys get called for the head shot penalty with a lot less than that, but I guess they didn’t think so. And this time of the year you’ve got to play through some of that stuff.”

Hintz was serving a holding penalty when Seguin got his first short-hander in his 123rd playoff game to make it 4-0.

League MVP finalist Nathan MacKinnon had the first delay of game penalty against Colorado, knocking the puck out of his own zone. Dallas capitalized, going up 1-0 after a circle-to-circle pass from Hintz to Heiskanen with 5:14 left in the first period.

The Avalanche were about midway through their first power play in the closing seconds of the first period when Oettinger made two saves in quick succession, knocking away Artturi Lehkonen’s shot and then making a glove save when Nichushkin took a backhanded swat at that rebound.

Nichushkin has nine goals this postseason, with goals in all seven games for the Avalanche.

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First-place Phillies to use 6 SPs with Nola return

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First-place Phillies to use 6 SPs with Nola return

WASHINGTON — Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Thursday that he will utilize a six-man rotation beginning this weekend when Aaron Nola returns from the injured list.

Nola is lined up for the series finale Sunday at Washington. The 32-year-old right-hander is coming back from a right ankle sprain.

Left-hander Ranger Suárez takes the mound Monday against the Mariners. The NL East leaders also have ace right-hander Zack Wheeler, lefties Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo and right-hander Taijuan Walker.

Thomson said he isn’t sure how long he is going to use the six-man rotation.

“Once for sure and then we’ve got some other ideas how to attack this thing as we move forward,” he said.

Philadelphia starters lead the majors with 687⅓ innings pitched. Sánchez is up to 150⅔ innings, and Wheeler is at 144⅔.

“Just getting some of these guys some extra rest ’cause we’ve been grinding on them pretty hard all year,” Thomson said before the opener of a four-game set against the Nationals. “The one downside to it is you’ve got to take somebody out of your bullpen, so you’re a little short there but we’ll just have to figure it out.”

Nola hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 14. He posted a 2.19 ERA in three rehab starts with Triple-A Lehigh Valley while striking out 17 batters in 12⅓ innings.

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Padres put King back on IL, this time for knee

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Padres put King back on IL, this time for knee

The San Diego Padres placed right-hander Michael King on the 15-day injured list Thursday because of left knee inflammation.

King (4-2, 2.81 ERA) had just come off the IL on Saturday, allowing two runs in as many innings of a no-decision against the Boston Red Sox.

It was his first start since May 18 as he dealt with shoulder inflammation.

Now, he’s back on the IL with a knee issue in a move retroactive to Monday.

It’s a setback for a red-hot Padres team, who will carry a five-game winning streak into a weekend showdown against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. First-place San Diego is one game ahead of L.A. in the NL West.

King had been scheduled to start the series opener Friday.

In the corresponding roster move, the Padres recalled right-hander Randy Vásquez from Triple-A El Paso.

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Fire up the grill: Brewers free burger promo Wed.

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Fire up the grill: Brewers free burger promo Wed.

While the Milwaukee Brewers keep on rolling, another Wisconsin business is stocking up on beef and buns.

For the third time in its history, George Webb Restaurants will make good on its promise of giving away free hamburgers as part of a longstanding promotion to celebrate the Brewers winning 12 consecutive games.

The free burger giveaway will be held Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. CT at all 23 of the restaurant’s locations throughout Wisconsin. Vouchers for a burger at a later date will be available at all locations starting Friday.

“Hungry fans are welcome to stop by any location for a free, juicy burger and some camaraderie with fellow baseball fans,” the restaurant said on its website.

Starting way back in the 1940s, when Milwaukee was home to the minor league Brewers of the old American Association, George Webb promised free burgers if the local baseball team won 17 consecutive games.

The promotion dropped to 13 games by the time the Braves made Milwaukee a big league city in 1953, but that franchise couldn’t make it happen before departing for Atlanta in 1966.

George Webb changed the promotion to 12 games when the Brewers moved from Seattle in 1970. In 1987, the Brewers opened the season with 13 wins in a row, and more than 170,000 burgers were given away to mark the occasion.

The Brewers accomplished the feat a second time in 2018, closing the regular season with eight victories followed by four playoff wins. That streak led to 90,000 free burgers being given away in addition to 100,000 redeemable vouchers.

Prior to reaching the magic mark on Wednesday, the Brewers had come close on a few occasions, including an 11-game winning streak earlier this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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