Stars put Game 1 behind, hang on to tie series
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.
CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.
The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.
The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.
“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”
There haven’t been many games like this, though.
The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.
The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”
On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.
“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”
The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.
Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.
Eugenio Suarez cut it to 7-5 with a grand slam against Porter Hodge, Geraldo Perdomo singled in a run and Randal Grichuk put Arizona on top by one with a two-run double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run homer, making it 11-7.
The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.
Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.
“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.
Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.
“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.
“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”
Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”
MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”
Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Shohei Ohtani is away from the Los Angeles Dodgers for the birth of the two-way superstar’s first child.
Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.
“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”
The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.
“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.
Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.
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