Kiviranta caps hat trick in OT as Stars eliminate Avalanche
Joel Kiviranta completed a hat track 7:24 into overtime to give Dallas a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday in Game 7, sending the Stars to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2008.
Kiviranta scored on a quick shot after a pass from Andrej Sekera from behind the net. Kiviranta was playing only his third postseason game, on the ice for the series finale in the bubble in Edmonton with Andrew Cogliano unfit to play, after scoring once in 11 regularseason games.
Dallas will open the conference finals Sunday night against Vancouver or Ve- gas, who played a Game 7 of their own late Friday night at Rogers Place.
The Avalanche were trying to get to their first Western Conference finals since 2002, and forced Game 7 after being down 3-1. Thirdstring goalie Michael Hutchinson, a 30-year-old journeyman who had never started a playoff game before winning consecutive elimination games, couldn’t make one more save. He had 31 saves in the final game.
Golf
JOHNSON, RAHM BATTLING
AGAIN AT TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP>> Five days later, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm are still going at it. They dressed about the same in the Tour Championship, matched birdies on five holes and wound up tied for the lead at East Lake in Atlanta.
That required Rahm getting the better of Johnson again.
Rahm, whose 65-foot birdie putt beat Johnson in a playoff at Olympia Fields last week, had a 5-under 65 that allowed him to make up the two-shot deficit at the start of the round that was awarded Johnson as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup.
Johnson did his part with a 67, losing a three-shot edge early with back-to-back bogeys to end the front nine, and then missing a birdie putt from just over 4 feet on the final hole that would have given him the lead.
“The only birdie we didn’t share was mine on 16. Besides that, we birdied every single hole together, which is kind of unique, right?” Rahm said.
They were at 13-under par based on their starting positions in the FedEx Cup finale.
Justin Thomas was in the top spot a year ago and opened with a 70. He said later it felt awkward to start the tournament with a twoshot lead before hitting a shot. This year, he began at 7 under and shot a 66 to end the day two shots behind.
The biggest move belonged to the player who might have had the least expectations. Rory McIlroy left Chicago on Sunday and spent three days with his newborn daughter, Poppy, arriving in Atlanta only on Thursday.
He finished with three straight birdies for a 64. He started seven shots behind and finished the opening round only four back.
Abraham Ancer also had a 64 and was cut three shots off the deficit, getting within six shots of Johnson and Rahm. AMERICAN CATLIN LEADS PGA EUROPEAN EVENT>> American John Catlin will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at the Andalucía Masters after being the only player in the field to have carded two underpar rounds at Valderrama in Cadiz, Spain.
Catlin started the day in a four-way tie for the lead and added a 1-under 70 to his opening round of 69 at the notoriously tough venue.
NFL
WASHINGTON RELEASES PETERSON >> Washington released veteran running back Adrian Peterson, 35, a stunning move by first-year coach Ron Rivera in the name of getting younger.
Peterson played the past two seasons with Washington, rushing for 1,940 yards and 12 touchdowns in the fourth stop of a career that will likely earn him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. At running back, Washington will use a committee approach between rookies Antonio Gibson and Bryce Love and free agent additions Peyton Barber and J.D. McKissic.
Soccer
MESSI SAYS HE’S STAYING WITH BARCELONA>> Putting an end to uncertainty about his future, Lionel Messi announced that he will stay with Barcelona for the upcoming season.
Messi made the announcement in a video interview published by Goal.com. He said he wanted “to seek a new direction” in his career but would not “get into a legal dispute with the club.”
The decision ended an impasse over his future that started when he told Barcelona 10 days ago that he wanted to leave the club for free at the end of the season.
Barcelona wanted him to finish his contract that runs to June 2021. It claimed that the clause invoked by Messi to leave had expired on June 10 and said that he had to pay the buyout clause of 700 million euros ($837 million) if he wanted to depart now.
RED BULLS FIRE COACH>> New York Red Bulls fired coach Chris Armas after a little more than two years on the job. The Red Bulls are 3-4-2.
Colleges
CAL’S TURNER DIES AT 84>> Bud “Dog” Turner, who worked in various roles for the Cal football program for a half-century, died. He was 84. Cal said Turner died Thursday night from heart failure at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. Turner began working at Cal in 1970 working the field phone for the public address announcer. He later worked in the equipment room and then with the program’s operations staff.
TCU, SMU POSTPONE FOOTBALL GAME >> TCUandSMU postponed their Sept. 11 football game in Fort Worth after TCU said some players and support staff tested positive for the coronavirus.
Cycling
BELGIAN WINS STAGE 7 OF TOUR DE FRANCE >> Wout Van Aert took the Tour de France’s Stage 7 victory en route to Lavaur. It was the resurgent Belgian rider’s second win at this year’s race.
Briton Adam Yates kept the overall leader’s yellow jersey.