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DALLAS — Radek Faksa broke a tie in his return to the Dallas lineup, 20-year-old Wyatt Johnston scored in another Game 7 and the Stars defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Sunday night to wrap up the first-round series.

After being out with an undisclosed injury since leaving the bench late in Game 2, Faksa scored 44 seconds into the third period with a backhander from the circle to the left of goalie Adin Hill.

“It was a huge relief,” Faksa said on the TNT postgame show. “It was the biggest goal of my career. … I promised (my son) I would score a goal tonight, and I’m glad I did.”

Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger had 21 saves in his second Game 7 victory. He also had the Stars’ only penalty, though they killed that off after he was called for tripping Ivan Barbashev in front of the net midway through the third.

“The last period was a clinic. Just so proud of the guys of how we responded,” Oettinger said. “It’s a long playoffs and you’re going to need different guys to step up at different times. A lot of hockey left so hopefully a lot more heroes. It’s going to be a run ride.”

The Stars, the No. 1 seed in the West, move on to play well-rested Colorado in the second round with the first two games in Dallas. The Avalanche wrapped up their series against Winnipeg with a Game 5 victory Tuesday night.

Brett Howden scored for Vegas, which couldn’t pull off another series winner in Dallas, where last year the Knights wrapped up the Western Conference Final with a win in Game 6. Hill had 22 saves in his third game of this series after Logan Thompson started the first four.

The visitor won the first four games in this series until the home teams held serve the last three games.

Dallas has won Game 7s in each of its first two postseasons for coach Pete DeBoer, who is now 8-0 in his career in such games with four different teams. That includes the Knights’ only Game 7 wins in 2020 and 2021 when he was their coach.

Johnston scored his series-high fourth goal on a wrister from the top of the slot with 5:26 left in the first period after picking off a clearing pass by Shea Theodore that his teammate, Tomas Hertl, missed when taking a twisting swipe at it.

“It was so much fun,” Johnston said in his postgame interview on Bally Sports Southwest. “It’s what we all grew up dreaming about. As hockey players, you want to play in Game 7s. And there was so much energy in the building.”

A day after his 20th birthday last year, Johnston became the youngest player in NHL history with a game-clinching goal in a Game 7. He gathered a puck that ricocheted off the back boards in the third period of the Stars’ 2-1 win over Seattle in that second-round series.

The goal Sunday against came in quick succession after Vegas had two scoring chances. Oettinger made a tough save to deny Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault then shot the rebound off the left post, and got a hit on Johnston before the Dallas youngster skated to the other end and scored about 10 seconds later.

Vegas, which returned 22 of its 27 players from the Stanley Cup-winning roster, tied it in the second period when Michael Amadio made a crossing pass to Howden, who poked the puck into the open left side of the net behind Oettinger.

The only coach other than DeBoer to win eight Game 7s is Darryl Sutter, who was 8-3 in such games over 182 playoff games over 15 postseasons with four teams.

The Knights are 2-2 in Game 7s. DeBoer was also the opposing coach in their other loss, to San Jose in 2019.

It was only the second time of 16 that the Stars won a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games. The only other was the very first playoff series in franchise history, when the Minnesota North Stars were down 0-2 before beating the Los Angeles Kings in seven games to open the 1968 playoffs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Yanks’ Cole rocked by Mets in 4-HR, 0-K outing

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Yanks' Cole rocked by Mets in 4-HR, 0-K outing

NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole‘s first start of the 2024 season went about as well as he and the Yankees could have hoped last week. His second outing Tuesday night against the Mets didn’t.

Cole was blasted over four innings, yielding six runs on seven hits in the Yankees’ 9-7 loss at Citi Field. He gave up four home runs, walked four and didn’t record a strikeout. It was the second time Cole didn’t register a strikeout in his career and the second time he allowed at least four home runs.

“Just disappointing,” Cole said. “Didn’t really give us a good chance to win tonight. Didn’t execute enough pitches. Just kind of dug us a hole.”

Two positives offered a silver lining: Cole threw 72 pitches, more than in any of his three rehab starts in the minors or his season debut, and the right-hander said he was healthy despite his fastball velocity decreasing after the first inning.

Cole’s fastball was 97 to 99 mph for the first time in 2024 in that first frame, an encouraging burst three months removed from being shut down with nerve irritation and edema in his right elbow. His first fastball in the second inning, however, was a 91.5 mph offering that Mark Vientos cracked for a home run. Cole didn’t throw a pitch harder than 95.5 mph for the remainder of his outing.

After the game, Cole insisted the drop-off was by design and that he was healthy. He explained he intentionally dialed back the velocity after issuing three walks and throwing 28 pitches as the Mets jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning because he believed the strategy would give him the best chance to work efficiently and avoid an early exit with a 75-pitch limit.

“It’s a bit like driving a car,” Cole, 33, said. “Too much clutch or too little clutch can slip you out of gear a little bit. So, obviously, it came out really tremendous in the first and had to make a lot of pitches. But the reality is we just weren’t in the strike zone enough. The objective is to try to get as deep in the ballgame as you can.”

Cole issued just one walk over his final three innings, but he couldn’t put hitters away. He induced just five whiffs while the Mets fouled off 11 pitches. Six balls hit into play traveled at least 101.5 mph. Vientos barreled two of those hard-hit balls for home runs — both on fastballs after Cole said he chose to shave velocity off the pitch.

“He’s still working back,” Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge said. “That’s our ace. That’s our guy. And I want him out there every single five days. Games like this happen, and you just got to move on and learn from it. He’ll be fine.”

Cole is slated to next pitch Sunday in Toronto against the Blue Jays, barring a change to the Yankees’ rotation.

“My execution was poor, so I never really gave myself a chance to learn anything,” Cole said. “To get a foul ball or to get a mishit, it ended up in damage. This league is really hard. I certainly had the stuff tonight to give us a chance, and I just pitched poorly.”

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Ohtani ‘growing as hitter’ sans pitching workload

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Ohtani 'growing as hitter' sans pitching workload

CHICAGO — Halfway through his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani looks quite comfortable with his new surroundings.

The Japanese slugger has been a sweet-swinging Hollywood blockbuster so far.

The Dodgers are on top of the NL West with a 50-31 record, and Ohtani has played a major role in their strong start. The two-time AL MVP is batting a career-high .320 with 24 homers, 60 RBIs and a 1.032 OPS in 78 games.

“It’s really about getting to know the guys,” Ohtani said Tuesday night through an interpreter. “You know I had my first impression, but really getting to know who the people are and the organization.

“As I stated before, I decided to sign with this team and wanted to do the best that I can to fit in. So I think overall, looking back, it’s been a really good first half.”

Ohtani, who turns 30 on July 5, agreed to a record-shattering $700 million, 10-year contract in December. The two-way sensation isn’t pitching this year while he recovers from elbow surgery, and it looks as if putting more of his focus on hitting is helping him at the plate.

“The reality is the workload has been a lot less,” Ohtani said. “So I can’t deny that. But at the same time, as a hitter, I’ve been getting better and overall I think I’ve been growing as a hitter, too.”

Ohtani hit a leadoff homer during Tuesday night’s 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox, extending his RBI streak to a career-high nine consecutive games — matching a franchise record. He walked and scored in the third inning, and then hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the fourth.

Ohtani moved into the leadoff spot after Mookie Betts was sidelined by a broken left hand. He is batting .419 (13-for-31) with five homers and 14 RBIs in eight games since Betts got hurt.

“I don’t know what more we can really say about him,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “I think we’ve said everything we can since he entered this league, about what an amazing player he is. But when you come over here, you just never know how first year’s going to go on any team.

“Sometimes you just got to step back and just appreciate a player like this.”

Ohtani drove a hanging curveball from Chris Flexen into the visitor’s bullpen in right-center for his NL-best 24th homer. White Sox right fielder Tommy Pham tried to make a leaping grab on the play, but was unable to bring it in.

Ohtani got so caught up in tracking the ball that he carried his bat as he jogged up the line. After discarding his lumber, he went back to touch first base because he was concerned that he missed the bag the first time around.

“Just wasn’t quite sure that I stepped on the bag,” he said.

It was Ohtani’s second leadoff homer of the season and No. 8 for his career. He is the first player to drive in at least one run in nine consecutive games for the Dodgers since Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella in 1955.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani is being more selective at the plate, and it’s paying off.

“When you do that,” Roberts said, “you earn pitches in the strike zone, and when he does that, a lot of special things happen.”

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Mets’ Díaz won’t appeal ban; Marte lands on IL

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Mets' Díaz won't appeal ban; Marte lands on IL

NEW YORK — The New York Mets, streaking in June following a turbulent May, will be without two key contributors for considerable time after closer Edwin Díaz chose not to appeal his 10-game suspension for violating prohibitions on foreign substances and right fielder Starling Marte was placed on the injured list with a right knee bone bruise Tuesday.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Marte, whose IL stint is retroactive to Sunday, will not return to the team for at least a month. The club called up veteran outfielder Ben Gamel to take Marte’s place on the roster.

While the Mets could replace Marte, their bullpen will be a man down without Díaz for the next 10 games. Díaz was ejected before throwing a pitch Sunday in a win over the Chicago Cubs. He was issued the ban Monday and decided not to appeal the decision Tuesday, leaving the Mets relief corps shorthanded as they began a two-game Subway Series with the New York Yankees at Citi Field.

“We want to move on from it,” Mendoza said when asked why Díaz didn’t appeal the suspension. “We don’t want this cloud to be hanging over the team for too long. And we decided it was best.”

On Sunday, Díaz said he used the same legal concoction he’s always used to better grip the baseball: rosin, sweat and dirt. But crew chief Vic Carapazza said the sticky, discolored substance the umpires discovered “definitely wasn’t rosin and sweat.”

Major League Baseball has suspended eight pitchers for foreign substances since it started cracking down on them during the 2021 season. Three have been Mets: Max Scherzer and Drew Smith last year, and Díaz on Sunday.

Mendoza indicated the team planned on making changes to avoid another violation.

“You hate to see it,” Mendoza said. “And as far as doing anything different, from day one, we’ve been very specific and very direct. You hate to see it. I obviously don’t want to get into the details of what we’re going to be doing moving forward, but, obviously, the rules are the rules. Talking to Edwin, obviously, I got his back. I truly believe what he was telling us.”

The suspension was the next chapter in a miserable return to the mound for Díaz, who missed the 2023 season with a torn knee ligament. The 30-year-old right-hander has a 4.70 ERA in 24 appearances and has blown 4-of-11 save opportunities.

Mendoza said he will “mix and match” with the closer role, depending on availability and matchups. The bigger challenge will be navigating a stretch starting Friday of eight games in eight days with an undermanned pitching staff.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to reshuffle some things here, but we just got to take it one game at a time,” Mendoza said. “See where you’re at bullpen-wise and then go from there. The good thing is we got depth. We got people with options and we’ll get through it.”

Marte, meanwhile, is slashing .278/.328/.416 with seven home runs in 66 games this season. Mendoza said Marte, 35, first started feeling knee discomfort during the team’s three-game series in Washington at the beginning of the month. As a result, Mendoza said, the club was careful with Marte’s usage, but “something didn’t look right” after his first at-bat Saturday against the Cubs, so he was pulled.

Mendoza named DJ Stewart, Tyrone Taylor, Jeff McNeil and Gamel as options to play right field in Marte’s absence. Stewart started in right field Sunday. Taylor got the start Tuesday.

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