Stars power past Lightning, take Game 1 of Stanley Cup
The well-rested Stars took it to the banged-up Tampa Bay Lightning hard and early and goaltender Anton Khudobin closed it out with 22 thirdperiod saves as Dallas won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final 4-1 on Saturday night.
Joel Hanley and Jamie Oleksiak continued the Stars’ postseason trend of getting goals from defensemen, and second-round Game 7 hat trick hero Joel Kiviranta scored late in the second period to provide some breathing room. Khudobin continued to shine in his first playoffs as the starter, making 35 saves, some of them in spectacular fashion.
Khudobin was at his best in the third when the Lightning found their legs and tilted the ice toward him. He came up big on two penalty kills and strengthened his case for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
“We obviously got in a little penalty trouble there in the third,” Stars forward Blake Comeau said. “He was there to bail us out.”
Game 1 started out looking every bit like Dallas had four days off since winning the Western Conference final and Tampa Bay just one after clinching the East. The Stars, who grinded their way through the playoffs with tight-checking toughness, came out hitting, knowing the Lightning are not fully healthy.
“They were right on top of us,” said Yanni Gourde, who scored Tampa Bay’s only goal. “They were on top of us right from the get go, so we’ve got to adjust and do a better job.”
NASCAR
HARVICK ROLLS INTO SECOND ROUND OF PLAYOFFS >> Kevin Harvick steamrolled his way into the second round of the playoffs by holding off Kyle Busch on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway for his series-best ninth victory of the season.
Harvick denied the reigning Cup Series champion his first win of the season when he took the lead a little more than 100 laps from the finish and held off every challenge from Busch the rest of the way.
Busch furiously tried to catch him as the two weaved their way through lapped traffic, but Harvick held firm in the No. 4 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Only six cars finished on the lead lap in a tepid event at the 0.533mile bullring revered for bumping and banging. Track officials sold all 30,000 tickets allowed — making Bristol one of the largest sporting events since the pandemic — and the spectators crowded the fence as Harvick celebrated his second win of the playoffs.
Harvick also won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to open the playoffs.
Busch, who failed inspection twice before the race and drove from the back of the field to lead in his Toyota, was disappointed to finish second.
The first elimination race of the playoffs knocked William Byron, Cole Custer, Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto from title contention. All four were below the cutline at the start of the race and failed to produce a finish strong enough to get them into the next round.
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS >> Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 51 points as the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 117-106 Saturday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Boston will now have a chance to even up the series when Game 4 goes Wednesday.
Gordon Hayward returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series last month, too. He finished with six points in 30 minutes off the bench.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 27 points and 16 rebounds. Tyler Herro added 22 points off the bench, and Jimmy Butler finished with 17 points. WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS >> The bigger story wasn’t how the Los Angeles
Lakers manhandled the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Friday. The displeasure of LeBron James over the MVP voting and the distance between his second-place vote tally and that of winner Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks took center stage after the game.
“It pissed me off,” said James, who had 15 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in the Lakers’ 126-114 win over the Nuggets. “That’s my true answer. It pissed me off because out of 101 votes, I got 16 first-place votes. That’s what pissed me off more than anything.”
The Nuggets had better hope James doesn’t take his anger out on them when he and his Lakers resume their bid for a championship in Game 2 on Sunday. In the opener, Denver held James to 15 points, but Anthony Davis had 37 points and 10 rebounds as the Lakers used a second-quarter surge to take control and roll past the Nuggets.
PACERS TO INTERVIEW WARRIORS’ BROWN >> Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown will interview for the Indiana Pacers’ coaching vacancy, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday.
Brown, 50, joined Steve Kerr’s staff in 2016 after head coaching stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.
Wojnarowski previously reported the Pacers plan to interview as many as a dozen candidates before replacing Nate McMillan, who was fired last month after four seasons.
Cycling
POGACAR SEALS TOUR DE FRANCE WIN >> In an incredible climax to the Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar crushed fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic in the last stage Saturday before the finish in Paris, snatching away his race lead to all but guarantee that he’ll win cycling’s showpiece event at his first attempt.
Set, at one day shy of 22, to become the youngest post-World War II champion, Pogacar flew on the penultimate stage, a lung-burning uphill time trial, and devoured the 57-second lead that had made Roglic look impregnable before the showdown in the mountains of eastern France.
Equally amazing: This is Pogacar’s first Tour.
“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Pogacar said. “My head will explode.”