Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 5.4.26
Looks like we’re five days a week this week. Nice not having Wild and Wolves on same night until potential Game 6’s.
Anthony Edwards is listed as questionable for tonight’s Game 1 in San Antonio. It would be a remarkable recovery. Still think he’s maybe a game away.
Montreal chose the Frost as its first round opponent because the Victoire went 4-0 in the regular season against them. Yet it’s Minnesota with a 1-0 series lead as trade-deadling acquisition Jincy Reose scored in overtime in a 5-4 win. Game 2 is Tuesday in Montreal. The Frost will host back-to-back home games if necessary on Thursday and Friday due to the Wild playoff schedule.
Gophers QB Drake Lindsey getting busted for underage drinking and a fake ID in Arkansas is the most manufactured “news” story I’ve read in quite some time…
Loons beat Columbus 3-2, coming back from two goals down to win for the first time as an MLS franchise. Kelvin Yeboah scored twice.
Avs Score Early, Often in 9-6 Game 1 Win
Full strength and rested, winning Game 1 in Colorado seemed a longshot. Shorthanded and tired? Too much to overcome.
The Wild rallied from an early three-goal deficit but was outgunned in the third period of a crazy, back-and-forth 9-6 Avs win at Ball Arena. It marked just the fifth game in NHL playoff history with 14 different goal scorers; Cale Makar’s second of the night - the Avs’ eighth goal - was the only one scored by someone who had already scored in the game. Colorado got five goals from its blueline.
Game 2 is Tuesday in Denver. Minnesota, coming off the emotional series against Denver, played without injured Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin, who didn’t even travel to Colorado. The Avs had more than a week off after their first-round sweep.
This series features two great offensive teams, but I’d say there’s unlikely to be another game quite like this one. The Wild should hope there isn’t.
The first two periods were mostly about the role players trading punches, and it was still 5-5 through 40 minutes. The Wild did hold an unlikely 5-4 lead late in the second.
Makar, who played just two shifts in the first period after getting injured on a Marcus Foligno hit, put the Avs on top for good early in the third off the faceoff. With the Wild still reeling, Nazem Kadri’s seventh of eight shots on the night made it 7-5.
It stayed that way until a bouncing pass from Matt Boldy hit Mats Zuccarello and caromed into the net with less than four minutes left. But on the very next shift, Makar became the game’s first multi-goal scorer.
It wasn’t Jesper Wallstedt’s night, but at least the two first periods were not his fault. I’ve watched 1980’s All-Star Games with better defense. And how does he respond, if given the opportunity? Wally was shook by his seven-goal performance in his NHL debut against Dallas in 2023-24…
The Avs scored three times in 121 seconds in the first period, and it looked to be lights out early for the State of Hockey. Lakeville’s own Sam Malinski got the first goal. That came after the Wild’s inept power play killed any momentum they had. Spoiler alert - it happened again in the second period and a final time midway through the third with the Wild down two goals.
It’s clear the Avs got a wakeup call, too. They were able to sleepwalk through a first-round sweep of the Kings, allowing as many goals in four games as the Wild scored in 40 minutes.
The Wild, meanwhile, desperately needs a Game 2 win, of course. They’re going to get an unusual three day break before Game 3, with the possibility of at least getting Eriksson Ek back. Minnesota didn’t get much out of Kirill Kaprizov (one SOG, four attempts), and the top D pair of Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber took a step back. Minnesota’s No. 2 pair of Jake Middleton and Jared Spurgeon was -3. Without Eriksson Ek, the Wild actually won more faceoffs than they lost, and still lost by three goals.
The Wild got goals from Foligno, Ryan Hartman (seven shots), Marcus Johansson and Vladimir Tarasenko. And Minnesota needs to be more physical, but outside of Moose it doesn’t look like any Wild players can catch any of the fleet-footed Avs.
Ryan Leaves in First Inning as Twins Salvage Split
The Twins beat the Blue Jays 4-3 yesterday to split a four-game series, but at what cost?
Ace Joe Ryan existed with elbow stiffness after just two batters. The biggest shock is the Twins’ bullpen went almost nine innings and allowed just three runs - the night prior, the Blue Jays scored eight times in the eighth before Minnesota’s bullpen even recorded an out.
Andrew Morris earned his first MLB win in relief for the Twins who won for just the fourth time in 17 games.
Still, the Twins are only three behind Cleveland for first in the Central. Minnesota visits an also below average Nationals team starting Tuesday.
Oh, and top prospect Walker Jenkins collided with the wall after making a catch and had his arm in a sling after the game…
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