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EDMONTON, Alberta — Jason Robertson completed his first career playoff hat trick midway through the third period as the Dallas Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the NHL’s Western Conference finals.

Wyatt Johnston and Miro Heiskanen, into the empty net, had the other goals for Dallas. Jake Oettinger made 26 saves. Roope Hintz, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn had two assists each.

“You want to help the team win, you want to score goals,” said Robertson, who hadn’t found the back of the net since Game 6 of the first round. “Scoring one gives you confidence … like a domino effect.”

Connor McDavid, with a goal and an assist to give him 100 career playoff points, Zach Hyman and Adam Henrique all scored for Edmonton, which got 17 stops from Stuart Skinner.

“A real good start,” McDavid said. “I’m not sure where those 10, 15 minutes come from, but it’s as bad as it’s been throughout the playoffs.”

Dallas, which reestablished home-ice advantage with the victory after owning the league’s best regular-season road record, is now 6-1 in the playoffs away from American Airlines Center.

The Stars saw the return of Hintz, their No. 1 center who hadn’t dressed since suffering an upper-body injury in Game 4 of the second round against the Colorado Avalanche.

“We gutted it out while [Hintz] was out of the lineup,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t as pretty as it was tonight when he was out, but we still found ways. Guys still found ways to contribute without a key player.

“That’s what I’m most proud of. It was great that he was back tonight, but I’m really proud of how we handled his absence.”

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is set for Wednesday night in Edmonton.

Henrique returned to the lineup after sitting out seven of Edmonton’s previous eight games with a suspected ankle injury.

“You never know what a player’s going to bring after a stretch of not playing,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said after Monday’s loss. “Usually, it’s very hard for a player to find their game, but I don’t think he had any problems.

“He made a lot of nice plays, obviously with the goal. I thought he was pretty good on the faceoff, and it was nice having him.”

After the Oilers dominated the opening 20 minutes and the Stars grabbed momentum back in the second period, Robertson snapped a 3-3 tie at 11:54 of the third on a jam play that squeezed past Skinner.

Edmonton pulled the goaltender late looking to force overtime, but Heiskanen iced it into an empty net with 1:55 left in regulation.

The Oilers came out flying in the first period inside a deafening Rogers Place.

McDavid wheeled out of the corner and fired a shot that went in off Hyman just 2:02 into the game as he battled with Stars defenseman Ryan Suter for position in front for Hyman’s NHL-leading 13th goal of these playoffs.

The Oilers went ahead 2-0 at 7:37 of the first when blueliner Mattias Ekholm circled the Stars’ net and fired a pass for McDavid, who won a battle with Seguin for the puck in the crease for the superstar captain’s fourth goal of the postseason and second of the series, after his double-overtime score in Game 1.

The Stars pushed back in impressive fashion coming out of the intermission.

Robertson blasted his fourth goal of the playoffs at 5:35 of the second on a one-timer past Skinner’s ear before shoveling another upstairs on the Edmonton goaltender at 8:05 as Dallas came in waves against the disjointed and flat home side.

Johnston then made it 3-2 just 63 seconds later to complete the barrage with his eighth in front of a stunned crowd.

The three goals in 3:33 were the quickest trio in Dallas postseason history since moving to Texas in 1993.

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Michigan star TE Loveland ruled out vs. Trojans

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Michigan star TE Loveland ruled out vs. Trojans

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan star tight end Colston Loveland has been ruled out of Saturday’s game against No. 11 USC with an undisclosed injury.

Loveland suffered an apparent shoulder injury in last weekend’s win over Arkansas State. Michigan coach Sherrone Moore hasn’t specified the nature of the injury.

A preseason All-American, Loveland leads the Wolverines with 19 catches for 187 yards; no other Michigan pass catcher has more than nine receptions.

The No. 18 Wolverines also changed starting quarterbacks this week, moving from Davis Warren to Alex Orji. Warren had thrown six interceptions in three games, including three last weekend. He threw two picks in a 31-12 loss to Texas on Sept. 7.

Orji has only seven career passing attempts but has rushed for 58 yards in a relief role this season.

Moore said this week that he wants to see Orji “take the reins” of the Michigan offense with his opportunity.

“Excited for him,” Moore said. “I know he’s chomping at the bit.”

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Sources: Nats demote All-Star after all-nighter

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Sources: Nats demote All-Star after all-nighter

The Washington Nationals demoted All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams to the minor leagues after he stayed out all night at a Chicago-area casino, leaving only hours before a Friday day game against the Chicago Cubs, sources told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.

The 23-year-old Abrams led off for the Nationals and went 0 for 3 with a walk and strikeout in Friday’s game, which started at 1 p.m. CT. He was informed of the demotion Friday night, sources said. He will be sent to West Palm Beach, home of the Nationals’ minor league complex.

Because Abrams has been with Washington for the entirety of the season, the demotion will not affect his service time. Players earn a full year of service with 172 days on the major league roster, and Abrams already has exceeded that threshold.

Abrams could, however, file a grievance through the Major League Baseball Players Association to fight for lost pay if he believes the demotion unjust. He would lose around $30,000 of his $752,000 salary for missing the season’s final week. Abrams will be arbitration-eligible this winter, entering the system for the first of four times as a Super 2.

Acquired as one of the centerpieces of the Juan Soto trade two years ago, Abrams parlayed a breakout first-half into an All-Star selection, hitting .268/.343/.489 with 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases over the Nationals’ first 89 games. He struggled significantly in the second half, slashing .203/.260/.326, and Abrams’ defense has been a weakness throughout the season.

Still, the Nationals did not intend to send him to the minor leagues until they learned of his time spent at the casino, which was first reported Friday by CHGO.

“I just want it to be known it wasn’t performance-based,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters Saturday. “It’s an internal issue. I’m not going to give specifics.”

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Sources: Utah QB Rising (hand) game-time call

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Sources: Utah QB Rising (hand) game-time call

Utah quarterback Cam Rising is a game-time decision with an injury to his throwing hand, sources told ESPN, with the expectation that he will attempt to start.

No. 12 Utah plays at No. 14 Oklahoma State on Saturday, one of the biggest games of the season in the Big 12.

Rising has been limited in practice this week with the injury, and he is not expected to be 100% if he does play. He will be monitored closely to see how his injured fingers impact how he throws. The fingers play a huge role in both spin and velocity, which will impact his effectiveness in the passing game.

He injured his hand Sept. 7 against Baylor in the second quarter when he threw a ball away and was pushed out of bounds and landed awkwardly on the water coolers on the Bears sideline.

Rising warmed up with a glove on his hand before last week’s game against Utah State but did not play, and he was spotted with two fingers wrapped on the sideline against Baylor. It’s uncertain if he will use the glove on Saturday.

Utah’s offense plays a majority of its snaps under center and uses clapping as a mechanism in its snapping operation, which would both stress the fingers.

Backup quarterback Isaac Wilson is a true freshman who made his first career start against Utah State, going 20-of-33 passing for 239 yards and three touchdowns. He took first-team reps in practice this week when Rising wasn’t out there.

Wilson is the brother of former BYU quarterback Zach Wilson, who now plays in the NFL for the Denver Broncos.

Rising is a seventh-year senior who had emerged as one of the Pac-12’s top quarterbacks in 2021 and 2022. He has been snakebit by injuries in recent seasons, as an injury in the Rose Bowl following the 2022 season ultimately led to him missing the entire 2023 season.

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