Doc: Night Baseball In The Desert

Colorado Avalanche fell to the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 3 of the second round of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, May 11, 2024. The Avalanche now trail Dallas 2-1 in the series. Related Articles Colorado Avalanche | Avs-Stars Game 3 Quick Hits: Alexandar Georgiev deserved more support than Avalanche offense provided Saturday Colorado Avalanche | Defense-first Stars befuddle Avalanche, win Game 3 to gain control of series Colorado Avalanche | Samuel Girard found the help he needed, and has been inspirational story for Avalanche ever since: “He’s in a better place” Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche’s Jared Bednar on top line after rare quiet night in Game 2 loss to Stars: “They’ve got to go to work” Colorado Avalanche | One year after cartilage transplant surgery, Avs captain has more work left before potential return

Instant reaction from the Avalanche’s 4-1 loss to Dallas in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series. 1. Georgie deserved better: As maddening as the opening 55 minutes played out for a packed Ball Arena, imagine how much worse it might’ve been if not for Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.

Colorado’s high-flying hockey team has run into a problem it’s going to need to solve, and that’s the defensive acumen of the Dallas Stars. The Avalanche dominated Game 3 of this second-round playoff series territorially, but not on the scoreboard. Tyler Seguin and Logan Stankoven both had a pair of goals, while Jake Oettinger made 29 saves Saturday night at Ball Arena to help Dallas prevail 4-1 and reclaim home-ice advantage in the series. The Stars now lead the series 2-1.

COMMERCE CITY — Cristian Espinoza had a goal and an assist, Vitor Costa de Brito added two assists and William Yarbrough had five saves to help the San Jose Earthquakes rally from a two-goal deficit to beat the Colorado Rapids 3-2 Saturday night. San Jose (3-8-1) beat Los Angeles FC 3-1 last time out to snap a five-game winless skid in which the Earthquakes conceded 14 of their MLS-high 28 goals this season. Costa de Brito, on the left side, played a cross to a charging Espinoza, who slipped behind a defender an rolled a shot inside the back post to give the Earthquakes their first lead of the game at 3-2 in the 66th minute. Colorado (5-4-3) lost for just its second time in its last seven matches. Rafael Navarro waited patiently as the play developed and then slipped between a pair of defenders and redirected a corner kick played by Djordje Mihailovic into the net from the top of the 6-yard box to give Colorado a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute Omir Fernández, a 25-year-old who spent his first five MLS seasons with the New York Red Bulls before signing with the Rapids in December, made it 2-0 when he scored his first goal of the season in the 42nd.

The reigning World Series champions got nothin’ on these Rockies. Colorado won its first series on Saturday on its 13th try, snapping a franchise-worst drought to begin the season in that regard. In the 8-3 victory over Texas, the Rockies became the last MLB team to win a series this year, too, a day after winning consecutive games for the first time in 2024. They did it behind a solid outing from Ryan Feltner, who allowed two runs over five-plus innings, plus a seventh-inning rally in which the Rockies batted around while scoring six runs with two outs to cement a season-high three-game winning streak. “We’ve felt close to (breaking out),” catcher Jacob Stallings said.

The tears trickling down Tony Girard’s cheeks would have flowed in straight lines were it not for a smile as wide as Quebec diverting their path. In that moment, there may not have been a happier person on the planet, nor a father more filled with pride. There was his boy, a little misty-eyed as well, looking up at him from the ice inside Bell Centre, hockey’s greatest modern cathedral in Montreal.