Fast start carries Lightning
Postseason work makes Lester city’s best baseball free agent
EDMONTON, Alberta — Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning got themselves up off the ice to get even in the Stanley Cup Final.
After the Lightning got knocked around in Game 1 and Kucherov took some more hard hits early in Game 2, he had the primary assists on power-play goals by Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat in the first period. Kevin Shattenkirk then scored for an early three-goal lead, and the Lightning held on for a 3-2 win over the Stars to even the series Monday night.
“It was a tough start, I guess,” Kucherov said. “It’s the playoffs. You have to play. It doesn’t matter what happened.”
All of the Lightning’s goals came in a span of four shots in less than four minutes against Anton Khudobin, who made a Stanley Cup Final-record 22 saves in the third period for the Stars in their 4-1 win in Game 1. It was the first time in seven games that the Lightning scored the opening goal.
Joe Pavelski and Mattias Janmark scored for the Stars on passes from John Klingberg, with Alexander Radulov also assisting on both.
“After that, we really got back to what makes us successful as a team — we got pucks deep, we were good on the forecheck, we got some good opportunities,” said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who had two assists. “I liked the way we responded . . . to close them out.”
Kucherov left the bench momentarily early in the game after slamming into the boards during a collision with defenseman Jamie Oleksiak after trying to block a shot. Kucherov had already ended up on the ice twice before, when he was popped by Stars captain Jamie Benn and when he drew a highsticking penalty against Janmark. He was back quickly.
“I left because my visor was broken or something,” he insisted. “I went back in the room and changed it. Nothing bad happened.”
On their second power play, the Lightning cycled the puck to set up Kucherov’s pass to Point to open the scoring 11:23 into the game. Three minutes later, with a man advantage again, Palat finished a nice passing sequence, taking advantage of a half-open net and another setup by Kucherov.
“It’s easy to explain: We lost faceoffs, and we were turning the puck over, and we were taking penalties,” Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said. “It was an even game until we started taking penalties.”
Shattenkirk scored less than a minute after Palat to make it 3-0. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots for the Lightning. Khudobin had 28 saves.
The Lightning had failed to score on their previous 14 power-play chances since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finale.
The Stars finally got on the board on a power play with 5:17 left in the second period. Klingberg took a shot from near the blue line, and Pavelski redirected the puck with his raised stick even with Ryan McDonagh all over him in front of the net.
In the third period, Klingberg was in the right circle when, instead of taking a shot as Vasilevskiy expected, he passed to Janmark, who had charged and suddenly stopped behind Shattenkirk just beyond the crease to score.
NHL awards
Oilers star Leon Draisaitl became the first German player to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player after leading the league in scoring with 110 points in 71 games. He also won the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player as voted by peers.
The Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender, the Predators’ Roman Josi got the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman, and the Avalanche’s Cale Makar won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
If Jon Lester has started his last game at Wrigley Field for the Cubs — something that’s not written in stone — he leaves a rich legacy.
When Sun-Times Cubs reporter Russell Dorsey suggested Lester might be the best free-agent signing in Chicago sports history, it was with cause. Signed to anchor a pitching staff when the Cubs’ crew of upand-comers were all position players, Lester was a huge part of three NLCS appearances and a World Series championship in his first three seasons with the team.
Who else could contend as best free agent? This isn’t hockey by the numbers, so let’s give a passing nod to the Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa before glancing at numbers for four baseball contenders.
Jon Lester
By traditional numbers, Lester is 76-43 with a 3.61 ERA since 2015. The wins rank fifth in MLB, nine behind Zack Greinke.
Lester’s 16.9 Fangraphs WAR as a Cub ranks 17th among MLB starting pitchers for 2015-2020. In 2016, he was 19-5 with a 2.44 ERA but might have pitched better with less luck on balls in play in 2015, when he went 11-12 with a 3.34 ERA but had a 4.9 FIP-based fWAR vs. 4.2 in ’16.
He was second to Max Scherzer in Cy Young voting when the Cubs won it all in 2016, then ninth in 2018, when he went 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA.
Andre Dawson
Dawson’s six Cubs seasons starting in 1987 included an NL East title in 1989.
He opened his Cubs career with a .287 BA, .896 OPS, 49 home runs, 137 RBI and an NL MVP award. For his Cubs career, Dawson slashed .285/.327/.507 with an .834 OPS, 174 homers and 587 RBI.
His 122 work+ meant Dawson was 22% more productive than the average hitter, and his 17.2 Cubs fWAR is part of the 59.5 he took to the Hall of Fame.
Carlton Fisk
Joining the White Sox in 1981 and staying through 1993, Fisk slashed .257/.329/.438 for a .766 OPS. Of 376 career home runs, 214 came with the White Sox, fourth on the South Siders’ career list. In his third Chicago season, the Sox won the AL West for their first postseason berth since 1959.
A Hall of Fame catcher, Fisk’s 108 wRC+ signifies a good offensive player, but much of his value was on defense. Fangraphs lists him with 51 offensive runs, 56.2 defensive runs and 0.6 on the bases, contributing to his 30.2 White Sox career fWAR.
Jose Abreu
International free agent Abreu is in his seventh season with career numbers of .295/.351/.521 with an .872 OPS, 197 homers and 664 RBI through Sunday. That includes a .335 BA with a 1.032 OPS this season. With a 134 wRC+, he has hit at a level above Dawson.
Fangraphs shows Abreu at 149.7 offensive runs but -90.8 defensive runs and -17.9 baserunning runs. That figures into a 20.7 fWAR in 4,137 plate appearances. Pro-rated, that’s a similar level to Dawson’s 17.2 in 3,520 Cubs PAs.
In team postseason success, Lester has a big edge. Strictly based on individual performance, it’s tight, and Abreu is pushing hard.