Stars beat Blues in OT to tie series at 2 Raptors even series with Heat
Jagr signs 1-year deal with Panthers Pacers, coach Vogel go separate ways
ST. LOUIS — Cody Eakin scored at 2:58 of overtime and the Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Thursday night, bouncing back from a blowout loss two days earlier to tie the second-round series at two games apiece.
Patrick Sharp set up the winner and also scored for the Stars, coming off a 6-1 loss in Game 3. Rookie Radek Faksa had the other goal.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his sixth goal of the playoffs on a first-period breakaway and added an assist for St. Louis, giving him five points in the last two games. Paul Stastny also scored off a def lection from Tarasenko.
Game 5 is Saturday in Dallas.
Eakin has a goal and seven assists in the postseason. He beat Brian Elliott on a 3-on-2 break after the Blues pressured goalie Kari Lehtonen on the opposite end.
The Stars are 1-2 in overtime in the playoffs and the Blues are 2-2.
Tarasenko’s goal was an exception to the rule in a tightchecking first period. Somehow he found the defense napping and scored his 16th career goal in 24 playoff games, beating Lehtonen between the pads.
The Stars looked worse on the play given they had six men on the ice, an infraction that went undetected.
Faksa, who had the deciding goal in the Stars’ Game 1 victory, tied it on an unassisted goal off a giveaway by fellow rookie Joel Edmundson. Sharp had a tap-in for his first point of the series on a power play off an assist by Jamie Benn, giving the Stars two goals in 1:09 and the lead.
They’d been 0 for 12 with the man advantage before Sharp’s fourth of the playoffs overall.
Edmundson played sparingly the rest of the period, totaling 2:38 in four shifts.
Stastny’s first goal of the playoffs on a deflection from Tarasenko tied it on a 4-on3 power play at 13:06 of the second.
PANTHERS: Jaromir Jagr, 44, has agreed to a one-year contract to return to the club. Jagr had a team-best 66 points this season.
FORT MCMURRAY: The NHL and the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are each donating $100,000 to the Canadian Red Cross relief efforts in fire-ravaged Fort McMurray, Alberta. Wildfires have forced the evacuation of more than 80,000 residents. The Canadian Red Cross will facilitate care by providing shelter, food, accommodation and comfort.
TORONTO — DeMarre Carroll scored 21 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Miami Heat 96-92 in overtime on Thursday night to even the Eastern Conference semifinals at one game apiece.
Valanciunas had 11 points and seven rebounds in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Raptors avoided losing consecutive games for the first time this postseason.
DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points, Kyle Lowry had 18 and Terrence Ross 10 for Toronto, which battled back late in the fourth quarter to force the second overtime of the series, then shut the Heat down to start it.
Goran Dragic scored 20, and Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson each had 17 for the Heat. Hassan Whiteside had 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Luol Deng had 12 points.
Game 3 is Saturday afternoon in Miami.
Lowry hit a jumper with 14.9 seconds to go, putting Toronto up 86-83. Dragic tied with a 3 with 10.5 seconds left.
Lowry, whose half-court shot sent Game 1 to OT, got the last attempt for the Raptors but couldn’t hit the rim with a long 3-point attempt.
PACERS: Frank Vogel will not return as Indiana coach next season.
Pacers President Larry Bird said Thursday that the team will not renew Vogel’s contract for next season, cutting ties with a respected name in the coaching ranks. Bird said he believes it’s time for a new voice to lead the Pacers, keeping with his longheld philosophy on short shelf lives for coaches.
“I know it’s not going to be a 100 percent popular move,” Bird said at a news conference. “But my responsibility is do what’s best for the franchise.”
Vogel was 250-181 in 5½ seasons with the Pacers. He led the team to the playoffs five times, including a first-round loss to the Toronto Raptors this season.
Bird has long believed that players start to tune out a coach after three seasons, and Vogel lasted longer than that.
Vogel led Indiana to the Eastern Conference finals in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The
only season Vogel did not lead Indiana to the playoffs was last year, when star forward Paul George broke his leg in a scrimmage with USA Basketball.
WARRIORS: Stephen Curry is unlikely to play Saturday for Golden State in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals at Portland since he still hasn’t practiced on his sprained right knee.
LAKERS: Former Lakers coach Byron Scott said he thought he had more time to right the ship before the team fired him last week.
Scott told ESPN he was “surprised” and “shocked” by the move even though he led the Lakers to the two worst seasons in their history, including this season’s franchise-worst 17-65 mark.
Scott explained that Lakers brass had told him a few years ago that a long-term rebuilding process was needed for the team.