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Tag: lpunko@denverpost.com

  • Slow start dooms shorthanded Avalanche in loss to Lightning

    Slow start dooms shorthanded Avalanche in loss to Lightning

    For 54 minutes Wednesday night, the severely shorthanded Colorado Avalanche played about as well as expected, considering the circumstances.

    That, however, came after the first six minutes went about as poorly as someone could imagine. The big guns on the Tampa Bay Lightning had a huge night, and the Avs’ pushback was met by one of the best goalies in the world in a 5-2 loss at Ball Arena.

    Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel combined for three goals and seven points for the Lightning. After allowing three goals on the first five shots, new Colorado goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen did find his way and finished with 16 saves.

    “Against teams like that with that high-end skill, you expect them to make those plays, but it’s still not easy to make the saves on those plays,” Kahkonen said. “Especially early like that. But it’s … what are you going to do? You just play. You try to stop the next puck and you try to get into a rhythm.”

    The Avs have been without Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder), Valeri Nichushkin (suspension) and Gabe Landeskog (knee) all season and Jonathan Drouin (upper body) joined them after getting hurt in the opener against Vegas. The situation got worse for Colorado before this game.

    Ross Colton is out 6-to-8 weeks with a broken foot after blocking a shot Monday night against Chicago, Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday morning. Miles Wood is also out for 7-to-10 days with an upper-body injury that he’s been trying to play through.

    “Our (missing) payroll is outrageous,” Nathan MacKinnon said. It’s not excuses. It’s just facts. I do like how we’re playing overall. When guys come back, I feel like if just keep with this, we’ll have better results, but that’s not the point right now.”

    While there were some positives to build from for a team missing six of its top-10 forwards, the Avs were down 3-0 before the first TV timeout.

    Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper gets an assist on each of the first two Lightning goals. Both times, the play began with his third line against Colorado’s makeshift third line, which included defenseman Oliver Kylington.

    The Lightning gained control of the puck and made an on-the-fly change to its top line, and then quickly scored in similar fashion. Point took the puck behind the Colorado net and found Kucherov wide open in the slot for a one-timer 61 seconds in.

    Kucherov collected the puck behind his own net at the start of his next shift and went coast-to-coast. He went behind the net like Point did, but sent a reverse pass back to where he came from. Guentzel was waiting near the right post for an easy one at 3:36 for a 2-0 lead.

    “It’s awareness mistakes,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Young players just not reading it quick enough and not getting in quite the right spots.

    “Overall, I thought we were engaged in the game. We played pretty hard, played pretty well. Definitely had a better second than the first, and the third was pretty good again. It didn’t come easy for us on the offensive side of it, either.”

    Sam Malinski fell near the offensive blue line and tried to swipe at the puck, but the end result was a 3-on-1 the other way and a highlight-reel goal for Tampa Bay. Conor Geekie started the passing play and then finished it at 5:32 of the first after all three forwards touched the puck in quick succession.

    The Avs did settle into the game after the opening flurry. Ivan Ivan scored his second career goal to cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-1 at at 14:56 of the first.

    Ivan tipped a point shot from Cale Makar past Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy from the high slot. He has been the replacement for Ross Colton in that spot, and both of his goals have come with PP1.

    Colorado’s first six minutes of the second period went very well, except the Avs couldn’t beat Vasilevskiy. Then, with a jumbled Avs line on the ice after a Colorado power play ended, Tampa Bay’s big guns feasted again.

    Corey Masisak

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  • Justus Annunen, Ross Colton help Avalanche win second straight

    Justus Annunen, Ross Colton help Avalanche win second straight

    SAN JOSE — The high-flying, supercharged Colorado Avalanche did not show up Sunday at SAP Center, but Justus Annunen made sure that version of the club wasn’t needed.

    Annunen made 25 saves, including a few key ones while the Avs were clearly on the back foot, and Colorado defeated a plucky San Jose Sharks outfit, 4-1. Given the roster limitations — Colorado was again without five of its 10 best players — the Avs need to scratch out as many points as possible.

    “It was huge to get a solid goaltending performance,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Wasn’t a lot of work but he made key saves at key times. We did a nice job of blocking shots in front of him. He looked solid in there. He looked big in there.

    “He lets the one squeak through him on the power play, and from then on he looked better and better as the game went on.”

    After beginning the season with four straight losses, the Avalanche has now won back-to-back contests. Colorado’s next four contests are all against teams that, like Anaheim two nights ago and San Jose, did not make the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Ross Colton scored twice early, then Joel Kiviranta provided a critical insurance goal early in the third period after the Sharks controlled play at times in the middle of this penalty-filled affair. Cale Makar added an empty-net goal as part of a three-point night.

    Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen combined for six points in this game. They have 34 in six games — Makar has 12, which is tied for the NHL lead, while MacKinnon and Rantanen have 11 each.

    “It’s been huge to have them going, because the bulk of our offense is coming from those guys as we’d expect it to, at this point,” Bednar said. “It’s a lot of pressure on them. We talked a little about making sure we’re still focusing on the defense side of it, which they really have in the last (few) games. It’s really paid off, and everyone else is sort of following suit and doing what they can.”

    The first period went exactly as the Avs might have planned, save for the final couple of minutes. Colton gave Colorado a 2-0 lead with his fifth and sixth goals of the season.

    Colton’s first game at 6:23 on the power play. He’s become a fixture in the bumper spot for the top power-play unit with Jonathan Drouin, Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen not available. MacKinnon fed him for a one-timer in the slot. Colton’s first five goals of the season came on one-timers.

    He did not need a one-timer to make it a two-goal advantage. Rantanen feathered a perfect pass to Colton as he got behind the San Jose defense for a goal at 16:37 of the period.

    “(Colton) plays hard. He plays with the edge,” Rantanen said. “On the power play, he’s good in little spots, good at finishing plays like we’ve seen this year. (Jonathan Drouin) is obviously a big part of the power play, but (Colton) has been stepping up.”

    Josh Manson took exception to a hit on John Ludvig and ended up with two roughing penalties instead of a fighting major. The Sharks scored 18 seconds into the power play when William Eklund was left open to the left of Annunen and roofed a shot from in tight with 1:35 left in the period.

    The first period might have been one of Colorado’s best of the season to date, but the second was probably the worst outside of the loss against the New York Islanders. The Avs failed to take advantage of a 5-on-3 early in the period, then took four minor penalties themselves.

    Corey Masisak

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  • Avalanche have issues to sort out, regardless of who is missing from the lineup

    Avalanche have issues to sort out, regardless of who is missing from the lineup

    No team in the NHL is going to win much when five of the top nine or 10 players on the roster are not available.

    For the Colorado Avalanche, that’s just the state of things right now. But the issues for the Avs during an 0-3 start, particularly in an ugly 6-2 loss Monday night to the New York Islanders, go beyond just missing some very good players.

    It’s a pretty simple message: Focus on the process and clean up the areas that the healthy players can control.

    “I think we recognize what we have to improve on,” Avs forward Logan O’Connor said. “We played good enough in games one and two to sort of try and replicate that. Then, for whatever reason, we deviated from our entire game plan and you saw the result (against the Islanders). It wasn’t pretty for us. 

    “We know the aspects of the game that we have to focus on.”

    Most of those aspects involve the part of the game where Colorado does not have the puck. It’s still an incredibly small sample size, but the volume of what the Avs are yielding to the other team has not been the issue.

    It’s the quality. The Avs entered their game Wednesday night against Boston ranked 10th in the NHL in scoring chances against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, and in the top five in shot attempts allowed per 60.

    High-danger scoring chances are another matter — Colorado is 19th. Given the troubles the goaltenders have had, and the missing players, the margin for error is very slim. Allowing too many Grade-A chances is a recipe for disaster, as the Avalanche has found out.

    “Defensively, we’re giving up too many rush chances, too soft in front of our net,” O’Connor said. “I think it’s just stick to the habits that have given us success in the past, the execution and the competitiveness. That’s an area we probably lacked in last was our competitive urgency, especially in the defensive zone.

    “Giving guys too much time and space, not playing hard enough at our net front — I think those are areas that if we clean those areas up within our structure, we should be able to have success. We have been pretty good offensively with generating chances, but we’re giving up way too much.”

    The Avalanche began this season without Gabe Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen, three forwards who are all dynamic offensive players. Colorado lost Jonathan Drouin after the first game, and defenseman Devon Toews is set to miss his second straight contest against the Bruins.

    While those are all strong offensive players, the Avs have not felt their absence with the puck nearly as much as they have without it. All of the offensive numbers, traditional or advanced, have been strong.

    But those four forwards are also all strong two-way players. They make a significant impact without the puck as well. That’s the part of their games that Colorado appears to be missing the most so far this season.

    “They’re very trusted, highly reliable, good-to-great defensive players,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “But, the message is … realistically, checking and playing away from the puck — yeah, there’s skill and ability involved in that, but it’s hard work and commitment. Those are two (things) that we keep bringing up. 

    Bednar thought Toews could be a possibility to play Wednesday night, but he remains out with a lower-body injury. There isn’t a timeline for any of the four forwards right now, though Lehkonen could return early next month if the checkup on his surgically repaired shoulder at the end of this month goes well. Nichushkin can’t return until mid-November at the earliest, but he’ll likely need time after being reinstated to get up to game speed.

    Corey Masisak

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  • Broncos QB Bo Nix’s ability to avoid sacks has been strong suit through five games

    Broncos QB Bo Nix’s ability to avoid sacks has been strong suit through five games

    During Sean Payton’s study of Bo Nix ahead of the 2024 NFL draft, the Broncos head coach was galvanized by the quarterback’s ability to avoid getting sacked.

    In his first season in Denver, there was a sense of frustration about the amount of sacks former quarterback Russell Wilson had taken. And he knew his next signal caller had to prevent putting himself in those minus yard situations.

    Five weeks into the season, Nix hasn’t been perfect but has proven to be a hard player to take down, which Payton attributes to his sneaky quick speed and being a quality processor.

    “Getting through a progression quickly is extremely helpful in avoiding unnecessary sacks,” Payton said after Wednesday’s practice. “His ability to process has helped that greatly.”

    In Wilson’s final season of his short two-year tenure with the Broncos, he was one of the league’s most sacked quarterbacks. He was taken down 45 times — fourth-most in the NFL — despite having the second-longest time to throw (3.06 seconds), according to Next Gen Stats.

    Part of the issue was Wilson holding on to the ball longer than he should. Wilson was responsible for 24.3% of his sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, the highest percentage among quarterbacks in 2023.

    Nix has had his fair share of struggles, but evading pressure has been his strength thus far. The former Oregon star has been sacked seven times, with three of those takedowns coming in Sunday’s win over the Raiders.

    “I think it’s understanding timing and protections,” Nix said. “I took three on Sunday and I wish I could have them back (because) sacks kill drives.”

    Nix was sacked six times in each of the two seasons with the Ducks, according to Pro Football Focus. Even though the pro level is more sped up compared to college, he has figured out a way to avoid getting hit.

    Ryan McFadden

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  • Charlie Blackmon triples and doubles, but Cardinals cruise past Rockies

    Charlie Blackmon triples and doubles, but Cardinals cruise past Rockies

    On cue, that old Blackmon magic showed up Tuesday night at Coors Field, but the Rockies’ chances of beating the Cardinals disappeared with the return of late-inning pratfalls.

    St. Louis scored a run in the seventh and four more in the eighth to turn a tight game into a 7-3 cruiser.

    Colorado lost when leading after six innings for the 15th time this season (a 43-15 record), the second-most such losses in the National League behind the Mets (61-16).

    A day after announcing his retirement, 14-year veteran Charlie Blackmon swung his magic wand and gave the Rockies a short-lived 3-2 lead in the fifth with an RBI triple into the right-center gap.

    Blackmon is 38, but he still has the wheels of a much younger player, and he burned up the basepath on his way to third. The triple was Blackmon’s team-leading fifth of the season and the 68th of his career, the most in franchise history and the most among all active major leaguers.

    Blackmon also led off the eighth with a double, but the Rockies failed to bring him home. Colorado has now scored three runs or fewer 34 times at home, extending a franchise record. The old mark was 31 times in 2011.

    The Cardinals turned four hits and a walk into four runs in the eighth off right-handed relievers Angel Chivilli and Jake Bird. The clutch hits were RBI singles by Jordan Walker and Victor Scott off Chivilli and a two-run double by Masyn Winn off Bird.

    “When you elevate the ball, you are putting yourself in danger,” Rockies manager Bud Black said, referring to Chivilli. “You look at the changeups to Walker and they were all elevated. That gave them the go-ahead run, at 4-3. And then they got the seeing-eye groundball from Scott — that’s baseball.”

    St. Louis tied the game, 3-3, in a bizarre seventh inning.

    Rockies starter Ryan Feltner, working on a fine game, left with cramping in his pitching arm while facing leadoff hitter Lars Nootbar. Feltner said after that game that he should be fine and expects to make his final start on Sunday in Colorado’s season finale against the Dodgers at Coors.

    Right-hander Victor Vodnik replaced Felnter in the middle of the at-bat and walked Nootbar before striking out Walker.

    Then pinch hitter Matt Carpenter crushed a double to right-center, advancing Nootbar to third. Winn hit a shot back to Vodnik, who caught Nootbar in a rundown, but the Rockies botched it when they failed to tag Nootbar and second baseman Aaron Schunk failed to cover the second-base bag. As Nootbar scampered back to third, Scott (pinch-running for Carpenter) scooted back from third base to second, and Winn ended up on first on a fielder’s choice.

    The Cardinals then cashed in on Alex Burleson’s RBI groundout to short.

    St. Louis struck first when they rocked Feltner for two runs on four hits in the third. Michael Siani led off with a single and stole second. Siani waltzed home on Winn’s two-run homer to left on Feltner’s hanging slider.

    The inning could have gotten away from Feltner — he gave up a one-out single to Paul Goldschmidt and a two-out single to Brendan Donovan — but Feltner struck out Nolan Arenado and got Ivan Herrera to fly out to right to put down the St. Louis rally.

    Feltner said he handles dangerous innings like that much better than he used to.

    “Those are situations where offenses can get a little bit more aggressive, and I had the tools, but I just didn’t have the consistency or wherewithal in terms of where we are in the game,” Feltner said. “I need to know that I have to make a pitch here, or that this guy will be aggressive here. Little things like that add up, so just having been through those experiences has helped me.”

    Colorado countered in the bottom of the third on Schunk’s solo homer off right-hander Michael McGreevy. It was Schunk’s second homer of the season. Schunk also hit an RBI infield single in the fifth, extending his hitting streak to six games. He’s batting .400 (10 for 25) through his last nine games.

    Feltner made another quality start, his third straight in September. He pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He walked only two. He has a 2.22 ERA in September and has posted a 3.21 ERA through 14 starts since June 26.

    “I have had a lot of help with (catcher Jacob) Stallings behind the plate, guiding me,” he said. “He’s helping me use my stuff in the best way possible. Also, I’m just feeling super sharp with all of my pitches and I’m able to land them or put them in the dirt for a chase. Throughout the season I think I’ve just gotten more sharp.”

    Wednesday’s pitching matchup

    Cardinals RHP Erick Fedde (8-9, 3.38 ERA) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (5-11, 4.67)

    6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Coors Field

    TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

    Radio: 850 AM, 94.1 FM

    Patrick Saunders

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  • Rockies’ “kids” shine in 7-5 victory over Orioles

    Rockies’ “kids” shine in 7-5 victory over Orioles

    The Kid Rox were more than all right Saturday night in a 7-5 victory over the Orioles at Coors Field.

    Rookie right fielder Jordan Beck delivered a clutch RBI single in the eighth to drive in Nolan Jones, who had reached on a one-out double to left-center. Beck then swiped third base and scored on rookie catcher Drew Romo’s infield groundout.

    Beck delivered the first game-winning RBI of his career and Romo drove in a career-high three runs.

    Colorado’s two-run, game-clinching rally came against veteran right-hander Craig Kimbrell, who’s become a weak link for a Baltimore team that is now 20-21 since the All-Star break but remains just 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the American League East.

    The Rockies, with a 51-86 record, are on pace to lose 102 games, and they face a tough schedule in September. But manager Bud Black likes the idea of throwing his young players into the fire.

    “This is good for our guys to go against these types of teams in September,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We talked about it last year. We don’t want to be in this position, but we are. The reality is we are. But is good for our guys to be in these games against teams that are vying for a playoff spot.”

    Colorado’s unheralded heroes Saturday night were rookie relievers Luis Peralta, Seth Halvorsen and Jeff Criswell, who combined to pitch 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Criswell picked up his first career victory.

    Rockies veteran right-hander Tyler Kinley scored his eighth save of the season, but it wasn’t easy. He gave up a leadoff walk to Cedrick Mullins, threw a wild pitch, and plunked Gunner Henderson to paint himself in a corner. But Kinley struck out three, including Adley Rutschmnan, to end the game.

    Romo was pumped that Colorado’s young players delivered with the game on the line.

    “This feels awesome,” said Romo, who extended his hitting streak to five games and his RBI streak to four games  “Beck hit the ball well tonight and did a great job stealing third in the eighth.

    “And it’s crazy how many rookie relievers we have right now. I feel like there is a good connection with them. I’ve worked with them before, and they’re comfortable with me, and I’m comfortable out there with them.”

    Colorado had a chance to take control in the seventh but couldn’t cash in. Ezequiel Tovar and Ryan McMahon drew back-to-back one-out walks, but reliever Yennier Cano struck out Brenton Doyle and got Brendan Rodgers to ground out to third.

    The Rockies keep waiting for starter Ryan Feltner to turn the corner, but the hard-throwing right-hander keeps spinning out.

    Feltner pounded the strike zone for the first three innings and kept the Orioles on the defensive. That changed in the fourth, and then the wheels came off in the fifth.

    An infield hit by Rutschman, followed by a 437-foot, two-run homer by Anthony Santander got the Orioles on the board in the fourth.

    The O’s tied the game, 5-5, in Feltner’s erratic fifth inning. Eloy Jimenez led off with a 441-foot homer to center. The Feltner hit Ramon Urias, gave up a single to Jackson Holliday, and jammed the bases by issuing a two-out walk to Rutschman.

    Feltner needed one big pitch to escape the jam. He didn’t get it.  Ryan O’Hearn ripped a two-run single to center. Feltner’s night was over, meaning he hasn’t notched a victory since April 10 at Toronto.

    The next step for Feltner, Black said, is “finishing off an inning and finishing off an outing.”

    “He knows, and you learn through these battles,” Black continued. “He’s got the aptitude and the smarts to learn when you really have to get and out and when you really have to make a pitch. There’s an art to that.”

    Feltner, however, didn’t think he pitched much differently in his first three innings vs. his last two.

    “It was nothing about how I felt or any of the pitches I was throwing,”  he said. “It was just kind of results. Things went sideways, but I thought I stayed pretty consistent with the game plan.”

    Feltner said he’s improved this season when it comes to keeping games in control.

    “I definitely feel like I’ve done that throughout this year, and I feel like I’ve gotten better at that,” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s the next step for me. I think tonight just wasn’t my night.”

    Colorado took a 3-0 lead in the second off Dean Kremer with a leadoff double by  Doyle and an RBI single by Rodgers. Then rookie catcher Drew Romo blooped a two-run double into left field.

    Baltimore lost Kremer to injury in the fourth inning, when Beck hit a 103.1 mph comebacker off the right-hander’s forearm. Kremer was later diagnosed with a right forearm contusion and X-rays came back negative for a fracture.

    Charlie Blackmon’s two-run triple to the gap in left-center off reliever Keegan Akin gave Colorado a 5-2 lead after four innings.

    Quantrill scratched. Right-hander Cal Quantrill, who was scheduled to start Sunday afternoon’s game against Baltimore, was scratched because of right triceps inflammation, the club announced after Saturday night’s game.

    They will start left-hander Ty Blach, whose contract will have to be selected from Triple-A Albuquerque. So a move will be necessary to create room for Blach on the club’s 40-man roster.

     

     

    Originally Published:

    Patrick Saunders

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  • Rapids hold off Liga MX giants Club América in penalties to move onto Leagues Cup semifinal

    Rapids hold off Liga MX giants Club América in penalties to move onto Leagues Cup semifinal

    Why not the Colorado Rapids?

    The Rapids have spent the Leagues Cup wondering how much magic was stored in their reserves. Saturday night against Club América in the quarterfinal, every last drop was required.

    Tense at every touch of the ball and turn of the feet, the Rapids somehow held on against Liga MX giants — and arguably the best team on the continent — Club América. Colorado held them scoreless, then beat them in penalties, 9-8, to move onto a semifinal date with LAFC.

    Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen once again came up huge for the Rapids in penalties. After forward Rafael Navarro missed his team’s third penalty and América not yet missing, Steffen had to come up with an enormous save on the last of five penalties to send the shootout to sudden death.

    All four of each team’s next shooters stepped up and scored, including one by América that bounced off the post, ricocheted off of a diving Steffen’s head, then right back in the net. Last up were the goalies: América’s Luis Malagon and big-game Steffen. Steffen sent Malagon the wrong way; Malagon painted the grass outside of the left post.

    Ball game.

    That late in the order, Rapids coach Chris Armas said the next penalty-taker would be decided by who wanted it more. Defender Lalas Abubakar was halfway done with the long walk from midfield to the spot for the Rapids’ 10th penalty of the night. Steffen, who admitted to having to overcome mental and confidence struggles this year, waved Abubakar off.

    He wanted it more.

    “At one point, there were a lot of critics out there about Zack Steffen, but what I’ve gotten to see on the inside of our locker room and on the pitch is a professional, top talent,” Armas said. “He’s a real man on the pitch and he’s a leader, leads by example. He’s everything we want the Colorado Rapids to be about: quality, aggressive, humble.

    “Another day in the office for Zack Steffen.”

    In regulation, the match felt much like last Tuesday’s jaw-clenching win over Deportivo Toluca, sans the ball hitting the back of the net.

    The best first-half chance for the Rapids was in the 44th minute, when midfielder Cole Bassett made a nice move at the top of the box to free up space for a finesse shot to the bottom right corner which went just wide.

    In the second half, the Rapids’ best chance came from winger Calvin Harris after midfielder Djordje Mihailovic glanced a header to a streaking Harris down the middle. Harris took a long distance shot which Malagon had to save. That went down as the Rapids’ lone shot on goal all night.

    América, like Toluca, shot 21 times (four on goal). The possession wasn’t as one-sided as it was four days ago, but América still led in that category, 58% to 42%.

    The Rapids were forced into uncomfortable possession for long stretches of the game as América sat in a compact defense, not allowing for any easy build-up play or transition moments.

    Defensively, the Rapids suffered. Bent, but didn’t break. Lots of talk around the club over the past week has been around being able to come out on top of games in which they suffer.

    For Armas, that mentality has been forged from day one. As the stakes get bigger and the suffering gets worse, the feeling of advancing gets stronger.

    “I think it’s rare that you get to be a part of groups that are really team first, all about the team, who run for each other, suffer together,” Armas said. “They win together, they lose together, they are together. I try to remind them that it’s rare and you’ve got to keep fighting for it and appreciate it (in real time). It’s pure joy that only football and sport can do for you.”

    With the win, the Rapids have now beaten four Liga MX teams in a row and have knocked out the last Mexican team left in the tournament. Before this tournament, the Rapids had never beaten one in sanctioned play.

    They’ll stay in Los Angeles to face LAFC next Wednesday after it beat the Seattle Sounders, 3-0, earlier on Saturday.

    Perhaps even bigger for the Rapids: advance to the Leagues Cup final or win the third-place game, and they’ll punch their ticket to the CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time since 2022.

    Colorado Rapids teammates celebrate as Club America goalkeeper Luis Malagón, bottom right, reacts on the ground after Malagón missed a penalty shot during the penalty shootout of a Leagues Cup quarterfinal soccer match Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo/Raul Romero Jr.)

    Braidon Nourse

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  • Pérez shines in his Padres debut, a 3-2 win over the Rockies

    Pérez shines in his Padres debut, a 3-2 win over the Rockies

    By BERNIE WILSON

    SAN DIEGO (AP) — Xander Bogaerts hit a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning and Martín Pérez pitched six strong innings in his debut for the San Diego Padres, who beat Colorado 3-2 on Saturday night to snap a five-game losing streak to the last-place Rockies.

    The Padres have won 10 of 13 since the All-Star break. They followed up a two-game home sweep of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by losing 5-2 to the Rockies on Friday night.

    After being held to one run and one hit in six innings by rookie Tanner Gordon, the Padres broke through against reliever Peter Lambert (2-5) in the seventh.

    Jake Cronenworth hit a leadoff single, Manny Machado doubled and Bogaerts singled to left to give the Padres a 2-1 lead. Rookie Jackson Merrill followed with a sacrifice fly.

    “It started off the same. The guy was throwing good, a young guy, and got to the bullpen and got some guys on base,” Bogaerts said. “We started a nice rally once we got to the bullpen.”

    Rockies pinch hitter Jacob Stallings homered with one out in the eighth off All-Star Tanner Scott, who was making his Padres debut after being obtained from Miami on Tuesday. That snapped Scott’s scoreless streak of 17 2/3 innings since June 17.

    Pérez held the Rockies to one run and three hits, struck out seven and walked none. His only big mistake was allowing Hunter Goodman’s homer to left-center with one out in the third.

    “It was awesome to go out there and do my job and we scored runs and we won the game,” Pérez said. “That’s why I’m here. I’m here to help the team win.

    “The support I have from my teammates is awesome,” he added. “It makes me feel comfortable and makes me feel like I was here before. That’s really good and mentally I’m good. I think this is just the start. We’ve got to keep doing our things and we’re going to have a good future for the last two months.”

    It was the first time this season the Padres started a left-hander, in their 112th game.

    “Loved his pace, his control,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Good rhythm what he was doing. Everything was for quality strikes.

    “It took a second to get adjusted to seeing a left-hander start a game,” Shildt added. “He was fantastic and very efficient.”

    The game took just 1 hour, 59 minutes.

    “We were talking about the fifth or sixth, like we went back in time for a second,” Shildt said. “We had guys that were really working quick, hitting their spots.”

    Jason Adam (5-2) pitched the seventh for the win and Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his 24th save.

    Gordon, a 26-year-old rookie making his fourth start, was perfect through four innings. The Padres finally got baserunners when Gordon walked Machado leading off the fifth and allowed a single to Bogaerts. Merrill had a sacrifice bunt and David Peralta’s groundout brought in Machado to tie it at 1.

    Gordon came in at 0-3 with an 8.80 ERA. He made his big league debut July 7 against Kansas City at Coors Field. He was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque earlier in the day.

    TRAINER’S ROOM

    Rockies: DH Charlie Blackmon wasn’t in the starting lineup a night after suffering a bruised left eye when an errant throw by Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts hit his left wrist and face. He said he felt fine.

    Sunday’s pitching matchup
    Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (7-7, 4.5 ERA) at Padres RHP Matt Waldron (6-9, 3.89)

    2:10 p.m. Sunday, Petco Park

    TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

    Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM

    Quantrill, a first-round pick out of by the Padres in 2016, is 2-0 all-time against his former team. He pitched six innings at Petco Park back on May 14, striking out five and giving up six hits and one earned run for a 3.66 ERA. The Stanford product is looking to bounce back after struggling in his last start, July 30 at Anaheim, yielding a season-high seven runs in 3 2/3 innings.

    Waldron has pitched against the Rockies only once in his career. At Coors Field on April 24 he allowed four hits and a home run, striking out five batters over six innings.

    Pitching probables

    Monday: Off

    Tuesday: Mets TBD at Rockies TBD

    Originally Published:

    The Associated Press

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  • Rockies blow early lead, drop fifth straight in series-opening loss to Angels as Cal Quantrill gets roughed up

    Rockies blow early lead, drop fifth straight in series-opening loss to Angels as Cal Quantrill gets roughed up

    Colorado’s Angel-filled nightmare continued in Tuesday’s series opener in Anaheim.

    The Rockies entered the game with the lowest winning percentage against the Angels of any opponent in franchise history at .311. And that mark slipped a little more after the Rockies blew an early lead en route to a 10-7 defeat at Angel Stadium.

    Right-hander Cal Quantrill was roughed up in the defeat, yielding a season-high seven runs in 3 2/3 innings.

    “We had the lead 6-2, we had the lead 6-4,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters. “It was surprising and frustrating for Cal that he couldn’t get through this one. He’s been so good for us all year, so that was unexpected.”

    Colorado jumped on right-hander Griffin Canning right off the bat, with two runs in the first inning and then four in the second.

    Kris Bryant’s sacrifice fly and Brendan Rodgers’ RBI double made it 2-0 early, then after Taylor Ward’s two-RBI single off Quantrill in the bottom of the frame, Ezequiel Tovar’s sacrifice fly plus Ryan McMahon’s three-run homer gave the Rockies a commanding early lead.

    But Quantrill — who remains in a Rockies uniform despite being the subject of trade speculation up through Tuesday’s deadline — wasn’t sharp.

    The right-hander lacked command of his signature pitch, the splitter. Los Angeles got a two-RBI double by Matt Thaiss in the third, then Ward and Thaiss drove home runs in the fourth to swing the lead back to the Angels, 7-6, and chase Quantrill from the game.

    “There were some elevated pitches, and (Quantrill) threw a number of splits and that was part of the gameplan, he just didn’t have the feel for it,” Black said.

    Tovar tied the game in the seventh off southpaw Jose Quijada via the shortstop’s 18th homer of the year, tying Michael Toglia for a team high. Tovar was the Rockies’ lone baserunner after the second inning.

    Los Angeles retook the lead, again, in the bottom of the seventh via Jo Adell’s monstrous solo homer, a 439-foot shot to center off right-hander Jake Bird.

    The Angels then added on to that late lead via Zach Neto’s push bunt and Thaiss’ RBI single that plated two more runs off Justin Lawrence.

    “The pitching wasn’t up to par at all today,” Black said. “We didn’t hit in (a four-game sweep in) San Francisco… Today we hit, and we didn’t pitch.”

    Thaiss finished with five RBIs, and is the first player in Angels history to drive in five runs and have two steals in a single game. Thaiss is also just the second catcher in MLB history to accomplish that feat, joining Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, who did it for the Tigers in 1934.

    Meanwhile, the Colorado offense couldn’t muster another surge with the game on the line, getting set down in order in the eighth by Ben Joyce before fellow right-hander Hunter Strickland did the same to the Rockies in the ninth.

    Wednesday’s pitching matchup

    Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-4, 6.23 ERA) at Angels TBA

    7:38 p.m. Wednesday, Angel Stadium

    TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

    Kyle Newman

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  • UFC returning to Denver on July 13 at Ball Arena with main card featuring Colorado fighters Maycee Barber versus Rose Namajunas

    UFC returning to Denver on July 13 at Ball Arena with main card featuring Colorado fighters Maycee Barber versus Rose Namajunas

    The UFC is returning to the Mile High City.

    UFC boss Dana White announced the return of mixed martial arts’ big show to Denver for the first time since 2018. UFC Fight Night 245 will be Saturday, July 13, at Ball Arena.

    The main card will feature a pair of Colorado fighters in Maycee Barber against Rose Namajunas.

    Barber, a Greeley native, is on a six-fight win streak heading into the bout and is ranked No. 4 in the flyweight division. Namajunas, a two-time strawweight champion and Westminster resident, is ranked No. 6. She snapped a two-bout losing streak with a win over Amanda Ribas in March. The fight has big implications for the winner to eventually get a crack at the belt.

    The card also features a trio of welterweight bouts in Mike Malott versus Gilbert Urbina, Santiago Ponzinibbio versus Muslim Salikhov and Gabriel Bonfim versus Ange Loosa. Plus, Luana Santos versus Mariya Agapova in women’s flyweight, Abdul Razak Alhassan versus Cody Brundage in middleweight and Julian Erosa versus Christian Rodriguez in featherweight.

    Denver fighter Drew Dober will also be on the card against Mike Davis in the lightweight division.

    Tickets go on sale this week for UFC Fight Club members on Wednesday at 10 a.m., via a social presale on Thursday at 10 a.m. and to the general public on Friday 10 a.m.

    The last time UFC was in Denver, Barber made her UFC debut with a TKO of Hannah Cifers at the Pepsi Center. Denver native Donald Cerrone also got a win on the main card, and the main event was Yair Rodriguez’s featherweight win over Chan Sung Jung.

    Kyle Newman

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  • Keeler: If Nuggets coach Michael Malone, Calvin Booth aren’t on same page, they’ll burn another year of Nikola Jokic’s MVP peak

    Keeler: If Nuggets coach Michael Malone, Calvin Booth aren’t on same page, they’ll burn another year of Nikola Jokic’s MVP peak

    Michael Malone didn’t just shorten his bench. He strangled it.

    Christian Braun played a valiant 20 minutes in that scarring, jarring Game 7, much of it spent badgering the heck outta Anthony Edwards. After that, though, the alms dwindled. Justin Holiday got nine minutes for the Nuggets; Reggie Jackson, five.

    The Timberwolves, meanwhile, received 22 minutes and 11 points from Naz Reid, a stretch-4-type post who gave Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic more real estate to defend. Nickeil Alexander-Walker played 17 minutes.

    Hindsight makes geniuses of us all, granted. But while Jokic huffed and Gordon puffed Sunday, Peyton Watson became more noticeable — by his absence. As Minnesota chipped away at a 20-point Nuggs lead, one of the best defenders on the roster was nowhere to be found.

    Now in a do-or-die, win-or-else Game 7, you could understand Malone’s reluctance to trust his second-year wing in a pinch. P-Swat was 0-for-7 from the floor in this series going into Sunday night. The Nuggets lined up the chess pieces as if they could afford only one true defense-first option down the stretch — and again, Braun brought plenty of juice.

    Malone said before Game 5 that this was about matchups, and that Minnesota’s defense demands shooters at every spot. That’s not in P-Swat’s arsenal right now, and Holiday brought flashes of brilliance, on the road, when Denver needed it most.

    Mind you, Watson also posted a plus-15.9 net rating over 23 minutes against the Wolves in a seeding showdown at Ball Arena last month, blocking six shots and grabbing four boards.

    Because as the eulogies are read and ballads sung and postmortems written about where a repeat run at an NBA title went sadly off the rails, P-Swat feels like something of a nexus point. Not just for what happened. But for where the Nuggets go from here. And how.

    Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth raised eyebrows this past October when he told The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor that he “want(s) dudes that we try to develop, and it’s sustainable. If it costs us the chance to win a championship (in 2024), so be it. It’s worth the investment. It’s more about winning three out of six, three out of seven, four out of eight than it is about trying to go back-to-back.”

    Booth walked back those comments (among others) later, but it sure did very neatly explain an off-season of attrition — no more Bruce Brown or Jeff Green, thanks CBA — that came on the heels of the first title in franchise history. If ’22-23 was the masterpiece, then ’23-24 would be the experiment. Namely, can we replace Brown and Green with kids and still reach the NBA Finals?

    Well, no. Heck, no. Not this year, at any rate.

    Booth’s stated masterplan was also curious given that Malone, a stickler for eternal verities such as defense and selflessness, suffers neither fools nor rookies gladly. If Malone doesn’t trust you, you don’t play. Period. The Minnesota series, which started with the Nuggets dropping Games 1 and 2 at home, threw development out a 35-story window.

    I’m not suggesting Malone and Booth aren’t on the same page here, although it’s fair to wonder. However, I would humbly advise the powers that be to pick a lane and stick with it going forward. For the window’s sake. For Joker’s sake.

    The MVP needs help. Now. Jokic, owner of the greatest hands in modern NBA annals, snatched 15 boards in the first half. He finished with 19. Following one misfire in the third quarter, what looked like four Minnesota bodies went up for the carom while No. 15 was stranded at the top of the arc. The Joker seemed positively crestfallen.

    Since April 1 through Game 7, the Big Honey logged 732 minutes in 19 games, or 38.5 per game. From April 1 through the end of the Suns series last spring, he’d played 467 minutes in 13 appearances (35.9 per tilt).

    The Nuggs danced with history last week. And landed on the wrong side of it, face-first. Malone’s had better days. He’ll have better ones in the future. But Game 7’s epic collapse felt an awful lot like coaching not to lose. Which, more often than not, gets you beat on this stage.

    The Wolves, meanwhile, were built by Tim Connelly to dethrone the dynasty he’d started in Denver. See KAT? See Ant, waving and mugging for the cameras? They’re the bar now.

    It’s on Booth and Malone to volley Connelly’s serve. Together. Because the Joker has a ton of MVP seasons left in him. But only so many springs of what-ifs. And only so many summers of doubt.

     

    Sean Keeler

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  • Rockies can’t solve Padres knuckleballer Matt Waldron, lose 5-2

    Rockies can’t solve Padres knuckleballer Matt Waldron, lose 5-2

    Every game presents a challenge for the Rockies’ floundering offense. Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Padres presented a unique puzzle the Rockies couldn’t solve.

    San Diego started knuckleball right-hander Matt Waldron, who had no problems making his pitch dance in the mile-high atmosphere at Coors Field. Over six innings, he gave up one run on four hits and struck out five in his first trip to LoDo.

    Waldron said the baseball behaved “weird.”

    “Definitely. I think my knuckleball wasn’t as affected, but I threw (some other pitches) that really just cut and did some weird things,” he said. “So I think it’s definitely a tougher environment, for sure.”

    The one run he surrendered came in the sixth on Ryan McMahon’s one-out, 444-foot solo homer to right-center. It was McMahon’s third homer of the season and the longest homer by a Rockie this season.

    Colorado, which has yet to win back-to-back games this season, fell to 6-19. The drought without back-to-back wins is the longest to begin a season in franchise history. The longest such single-season streak in franchise history was a 35-game stretch in May and June 2022.

    Waldron throws a knuckleball 35% of the time, but there was nothing frivolous about his approach Wednesday night. He went right after the Rockies, mixing his sinker, four-seam fastball, and a cutter.

    “The thing about knuckleballer is that you don’t know where it’s going to break,” said center fielder Brenton Doyle, who managed a single off Waldron in the sixth. “It makes his fastball even a little sneakier because he throws a lot of knuckleball and you want to stay back, but at the same time he has that fastball in his back pocket that he can throw 90-92.

    “I think we started making some good adjustments, so next time when we face him will have a good game plan. I think we’ll have more success against him.”

    The Rockies had some chances, but as has been the case so often this season, they couldn’t deliver a clutch hit. In the fourth inning, Colorado loaded the bases on back-to-back walks by Ezequiel Tovar and McMahon and an infield single by Elias Diaz. But Elehuris Montero swung at Waldron’s first pitch and fouled out to first baseman Jake Cronenworth. Then Doyle grounded out to third.

    This season, with runners in scoring position and two outs, the Rockies have hit .136 (11-for-81) with 24 strikeouts. In the sixth, with two outs and runners in scoring position, Brendan Rodgers grounded out to short.

    Diaz’s two-out solo homer in the eighth off lefty Wandy Peralta provided Colorado’s second run. Diaz also threw out two baserunners — Fernando Tatis Jr. in the seventh and Jackson Merrill in the ninth — attempting to steal second.

    Rockies starter Ty Blach pitched well for four-fifths of his start. But the first inning was his undoing. San Diego scored four runs on three hits and two walks off the lefty, who was making his first big-league start of the season.

    “That’s just how baseball goes sometimes,” Blach said. “I made some really good pitches that they fought off, and I tried to get too fine and two walks ended up hurting me. You can’t do that when you’re pitching to contact like I do. They made me pay for it.”

    Xander Bogaerts led off the game with a solid single to left, and Tatis followed up with a walk. Blach got Cronenworth to pop out to left field, but then he walked Jurickson Profar on a 3-2 count to jam the bases — a killer mistake in Coors Field’s wide-open spaces.

    Ha-Seong Kim blooped a cheap double into shallow right field to score two runs, Merrill hit a sacrifice fly, and Eguy Rosario added an RBI single to give the Padres a 4-0 lead.

    “Ty made a really good pitch to Kim, but he hit that dorker down the right-field line — that’s baseball,” manager Bud Black said. “Two walks and the dorker got Ty.”

    The Rockies have been running uphill all season, having been outscored 35-7 in the first inning.

    San Diego’s lead grew to 5-0 in the sixth. Profar looped a leadoff single to left field off reliever Victor Vodnik and Kim put down a bunt for a base hit. When McMahon threw wildly from third base, Profar advanced to third. Profar scored on Merrill’s groundout to second.

    Thursday’s pitching matchup
    Padres RHP Randy Vasquez (0-1, 1.80 ERA) at Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (0-4, 5.06)

    1:10 p.m. Thursday, Coors Field

    TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

    Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM

    Hudson remains winless through his first four starts with Colorado. He’s coming off a loss to Seattle on Saturday at Coors Field when he allowed four runs on seven hits and five walks over four innings. He struck out one. Walks continue to be a problem for Hudson. The right-hander has faced the Padres three times in his career, going 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA that includes seven strikeouts and three walks.

    Although Vasquez struggled in his three starts with Triple-A El Paso before being called up last Saturday, he gave the Padres a solid start against Toronto in his 2024 major league debut. He limited the Blue Jays to one earned run on four hits and one walk while striking out three over five innings. With Yu Darvish out with a neck injury, the Padres need Vasquez to give them one of two more solid starts. The rookie has not faced the Rockies.

    Pitching probables
    Friday: Off day

    Saturday: Astros RHP Ronel Blanco (2-0, 1.33) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (0-4, 4.32), 2:05 p.m. in Mexico City

     

     

    Patrick Saunders

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  • Rockies’ late rally falls short, as Colorado swept by Cubs to finish opening road trip 1-6

    Rockies’ late rally falls short, as Colorado swept by Cubs to finish opening road trip 1-6

    If the Rockies’ opening road trip is any indication, the club’s first 100-loss season last year might’ve just been a harbinger.

    Colorado dropped to 1-6 in 2024 with a 9-8 loss to the Cubs on a chilly Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. The Rockies roared back with a five-run eighth to tie the game, but then faltered in the bottom of that inning to get swept in three games.

    “That was a tough trip,” manager Bud Black told reporters. “We didn’t pitch great, we didn’t swing the bats great. (That rally) was a good sign though.”

    Once again, subpar starting pitching was a factor, as right-hander Cal Quantrill gave up four runs through four innings. The bullpen wasn’t any better, and the Rockies head into their home opener on Friday against the Rays already in a hole.

    After setting the Cubs down in order in the first, Quantrill ran into trouble in the second inning as the Rockies went down 4-0.

    The frame started innocently enough with Christopher Morel’s infield single, but quickly snowballed. A pair of sacrifice flies plated two runs, then Seiya Suzuki brought home two more with a single to right before Charlie Blackmon got the Rockies out of the inning by gunning Suzuki at second base.

    After hard-throwing southpaw Luke Little served as the Cubs’ opener and went one-two-three in the first, Chicago brought on right-hander Ben Brown, who gave up one earned run over four innings.

    In the fifth, Suzuki dinged left-hander Jalen Beeks for a solo homer to extend the Cubs’ lead to 5-0.

    Jacob Stallings led off the sixth with a double, chasing Brown from the game, and Kris Bryant’s first hit of the season — a single to left — scored Stallings to get Colorado on the board. A Morel throwing throwing error led to another run to make it 5-2.

    But Chicago responded in the sixth by plating three runs off Tyler Kinley, as Kinley couldn’t make it out of the inning before being spelled by fellow right-hander Jake Bird. Michael Busch led off with a single off Kinley, then Nico Hoerner and Mike Tauchman both walked to load the bases.

    Miguel Amaya’s single then plated three runs, two off the hit and another off a throwing error by center fielder Brenton Doyle. Errors in the outfield have been a consistent theme through the Rockies’ early ugly stretch, a disappointment for a defense that was projected to be the strength of the team.

    Kyle Newman

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  • Valor Christian’s Quinn VanSickle scores 33 points, leads Eagles into 6A final

    Valor Christian’s Quinn VanSickle scores 33 points, leads Eagles into 6A final

    Years ago, Chauncey Billups carved out his place as a Colorado prep basketball legend. Later, at the University and in the NBA, he gained fame as “Mr. Big Shot.”

    Well, move over Mr. Billups, and make some room for Ms. Big Shot.

    That would be Valor Christian junior point guard Quinn VanSickle, who poured in 33 points and made her presence felt in nearly every key moment of the Eagles’ 71-59 win over Cherokee Trail in Thursday’s Class 6A state girls basketball Final Four matchup at the Denver Coliseum.

    “Quinn is a big shot type of kid and she rises to the occasion in key moments,” said Valor coach Jessika Caldwell. “I knew she was a little bit disappointed in how she played in the last round, so she hit the gym early, every day, and worked on her shooting.”

    No. 4 Valor (22-4), seeking its first state title since 2021, will play for the championship at 1:15 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Thursday night’s late semifinal between No. 7 Regis Jesuit (19-7) and No. 3 Legend (24-2).

    “I do want the ball,” said VanSickle, who has scholarship offers from Marquette and Utah State, among others, but hasn’t committed yet. “It comes down to hard work and all of the hours I put in. And so much of it comes from my faith in God.”

    Quinn played all 32 minutes, shot 9 of 18 from the field (including 5 of 12 from 3-point range), made 10 of 11 free throws, handed out four assists and had six steals. She was everywhere, all at once.

    She had to be because junior guard Rylie Beers went down with a left knee injury in the second half and didn’t return. Caldwell didn’t know the extent of Beers’ injury, but said, “It doesn’t look promising.” Beers, who scored seven points, was in tears at the end of the game as she congratulated her teammates.

    Cherokee Trail was led by junior forward Delainey Miller’s 21-point, six-rebound performance. Her powerful inside game caused major problems for Valor, especially in the second quarter when the Cougars outscored Valor to take a 33-27 lead. But VanSickle kept the Eagles in the game and she had 26 points by the end of three quarters when the Eagles carved out a 50-48 lead entering the final frame.

    Valor was excellent from the foul line — making 24 of 30 shots — and also got a big game from sophomore Peyton Jones, who scored 13 points.

    The Valor Christian Eagles, lead by Quinn VanSickle (11), right, celebrate their victory over the against the Cherokee Trail Cougars to win the 6A girls Colorado state high school Final Four game 71-59 at the Denver Coliseum in Denver on Thursday, March 07, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

    Patrick Saunders

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  • Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen all collect four points as Avalanche embarrasses Red Wings

    Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen all collect four points as Avalanche embarrasses Red Wings

    The Avalanche made two significant trades Wednesday morning to bolster their chances of winning the Stanley Cup this season. Then the guys who are the biggest reason why they can win a second title in three years when out and put on a show against the Detroit Red Wings at Ball Arena.

    Cale Makar had his first career hat trick, while he, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen all had four-point games to help the shorthanded Avalanche blow by the Red Wings, 7-2.

    General manager Chris MacFarland shook up the roster earlier in the day with a pair of trades. The Avs added a new No. 2 center, Casey Mittelstadt, from the Buffalo Sabres and right-handed defenseman Sean Walker from the Philadelphia Flyers.

    Bo Byram went to Buffalo and Ryan Johansen was sent to Philadelphia in the transactions. The new guys didn’t arrive in Denver in time to play and forward Logan O’Connor was unavailable because of an injury.

    That left the Avalanche undermanned — Colorado moved Caleb Jones into the lineup for Byram and recalled forwards Jean-Luc Foudy and Ondrej Pavel to fill out the forward corps.

    The big guns made sure it wasn’t a problem. MacKinnon became the first player to score 40 goals in back-to-back seasons for the franchise since it moved to Denver from Quebec, while also grabbing sole possession of the NHL scoring lead with 109 points — four more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

    Corey Masisak

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  • Regis Jesuit rides stellar performance by freshman goalie Easton Sparks to beat fellow behemoth Valor Christian in Class 5A title

    Regis Jesuit rides stellar performance by freshman goalie Easton Sparks to beat fellow behemoth Valor Christian in Class 5A title

    Led by a freshman goalie who stood on his head, Regis Jesuit won its seventh hockey title on Tuesday at Magness Arena by outlasting fellow powerhouse Valor Christian in a 3-1 thriller.

    The Raiders used a brick wall performance by goalie Easton Sparks to claim the championship, in conjunction with a second-period goal by senior Reece Peterson and then two empty-net lamp-lighters in the final minute to dethrone the defending champion Eagles.

    Sparks stymied the Eagles with 23 saves, including three on one-on-one breakaways and another on a stuffed penalty shot in the opening period. The freshman was sensational in all aspects, and his play was the clear difference in the game.

    “He stood on his head all season,” Reece Peterson said. “Freshman, coming into the biggest game of his life, and he played amazing. He played like a legend.”

    Fans cheer for Regis Jesuit’s goaltender Easton Sparks (33) after he makes a save during a shoot out against Valor Christian’s Maddux Charles (23) during the Class 5A Colorado state championship game at Magness Arena in Denver on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Valor Christian High School played Regis Jesuit High School for the state title. (Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)

    Counting Tuesday, either Valor Christian or Regis Jesuit has appeared in the last nine Class 5A/unclassified state title games and combined to win seven of them. The two hockey behemoths met twice earlier this season, with Valor Christian winning 4-1 on Jan. 19 and Regis Jesuit retaliating with a 3-1 victory on Feb. 3.

    In the championship rubber-match, the teams played to a first-period 0-0 draw as Sparks and Valor Christian senior goalie Trudeaux Coffey both turned away a number of promising chances.

    Sparks’ denial on sophomore Maddux Charles’ penalty shot was an early omen of the goalie’s game-changing performance. After stopping the puck, Sparks got up, skated over to the raucous Regis Jesuit student section, threw his hands in the air and roared.

    “I knew that was a big moment in the game, because I knew it was going to be a close game,” Sparks said. “I don’t even know what I was thinking as (Charles approached) — my mind just went blank. It was sort of like that all game. They had a couple more breakaways in the second, and I kept stopping them.”

    Peterson got Regis Jesuit on the board with a wrister through Coffey’s five-hole on a breakaway a little over a minute into the second period. Then, about 45 seconds later, Peterson found the five hole again, and it appeared the Raiders had taken a commanding 2-0 lead.

    But the referee near the goal indicated it wasn’t a score, and play went on. Video replays showed the shot went into the goal, then careened off the bottom of the inside of the net and back out.

    Regis Jesuit's Andrew Brennick (15) pushes Valor Christian's Eddie Chen (4) to move the puck stuck at their skates during the Class 5A Colorado state championship game at Magness Arena in Denver on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Valor Christian High School played Regis Jesuit High School for the state title. (Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)
    Regis Jesuit’s Andrew Brennick (15) pushes Valor Christian’s Eddie Chen (4) to move the puck stuck at their skates during the Class 5A Colorado state championship game at Magness Arena in Denver on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Valor Christian High School played Regis Jesuit High School for the state title. (Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)

    Peterson said another referee later told him it was a goal, and the Raiders were determined to not let the botched call quash their momentum.

    “We focused on the fact that we were getting the chances,” Regis Jesuit head coach Terence Ott said. “It would’ve been nice to (officially) bury that one, and we had a couple other odd-man rushes in that period where we elected not to pass the puck and we tried to make a move with it. But we built on the positive of that moment and that we were creating momentum.”

    In a tense 1-0 game in the third, Sparks continued to come up clutch, and the Eagles pinged a shot off the crossbar just as they had done in the second period.

    “(Sparks) plays with such calm, it really resonates with the team,” Ott said. “He doesn’t get rattled back there. And he’s athletic. He’s not blessed with the size, but what a super performance, and he kept it going (in the third).”

    Valor Christian pulled Coffey with 1:20 to play, and the last minute was firework-filled.

    Raiders junior Parker Brinner scored on the empty net with 57 seconds left, but Valor Christian finally broke the shutout with 19 seconds to play on senior Brock Benson’s top-shelf shot to cut the score to 2-1. But Regis Jesuit held on in the final seconds, and Ian Beck’s breakaway slap-shot on the empty net with with one second left was the exclamation on the Raiders’ revenge.

    “Last year, we played Valor four times and lost every single game (including the semifinals) by one goal,” Peterson said. “So winning tonight, this is the perfect cap to my high school career. They gave us a great game, but I’m so happy this win came against them.”

    Ott, in his second year as the Raiders’ head coach after serving the previous 17 seasons as an assistant, said his team — led by seven seniors — “did a great job of re-establishing the hockey culture that we want to have at Regis Jesuit.” The Raiders’ last title came in 2019, when they went back-to-back after beating Valor Christian in the championship the year prior.

    “You win six championships, you’ve gone to 14 straight Frozen Fours (before a loss to Fort Collins in the 2022 quarterfinals) — you kind of start resting on the laurels of the men who came before you,” Ott said. “And we got away from being a team and doing the work you need to do to be a champion. This group got us back to where we needed to be.”

    Regis Jesuit and Valor Christian players battle in front of the net to gain possession of the puck during the Class 5A Colorado state championship game at Magness Arena in Denver on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Valor Christian High School played Regis Jesuit High School for the state title. (Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)
    Regis Jesuit and Valor Christian players battle in front of the net to gain possession of the puck during the Class 5A Colorado state championship game at Magness Arena in Denver on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Valor Christian High School played Regis Jesuit High School for the state title. (Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)

    Kyle Newman

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  • Russell Wilson reiterates willingness to return to Denver despite uncertainty on podcast appearance: “People think I’m out of there. Maybe I am”

    Russell Wilson reiterates willingness to return to Denver despite uncertainty on podcast appearance: “People think I’m out of there. Maybe I am”

    Russell Wilson reiterated that he hopes to return to the Broncos in 2024 but doesn’t know whether that will happen during a podcast with former Denver wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

    Over more than 80 minutes on Marshall’s “I Am Athlete” podcast, the pair talked extensively about Wilson’s career, marriage, family and much more but they also briefly got down to brass tacks about Wilson’s current limbo with Denver.

    “For me it’s about winning. In the next five years I want to win two (Super Bowls),” Wilson said. “I want to feel the chill of that trophy again. So yeah, I want to go back to Denver. I hope I get to go back. I’d love to go back, to be honest with you. I’ve got amazing teammates.”

    Wilson, though, acknowledged he doesn’t know if that will happen. Marshall tried to get him to talk about other potential destinations, but the veteran quarterback didn’t bite.

    “I honestly haven’t really thought about it. I’m still in Denver,” he said, later adding, “If it’s not there, though, I’d go to a place where we can win again.”

    Asked if Wilson could play again for Broncos head coach Sean Payton after their first season together, he said flatly, “Yeah.”

    Most in the NFL expect, though, that Denver will release or, far less likely, find a trade partner to jettison Wilson before March 17, when $37 million in 2025 base salary would become guaranteed.

    The podcast went live Sunday night, perhaps not coincidentally, just before the NFL descends on Indianapolis for this week’s Scouting Combine. It’s a time on the calendar when a lot of business gets done and a lot of groundwork for future moves is put into place. Payton and general manager George Paton are slated to speak Tuesday morning and now Wilson’s put his stance on the record ahead of time.

    Marshall at one point joked with Wilson about where he’d live if he returned to the Broncos because of recent Business Den reporting that he and his wife, Ciara, are taking showings and accepting offers on their Cherry Hills mansion.

    “My house ain’t for sale. It’s not for sale,” Wilson said before tempering that a bit.

    “It’s not on the market right now.”

    Either way, he said he feels like he bounced back from a poor 2022 season and is planning on playing at a high level well into the future.

    “People think I’m out of there. Maybe I am, but no matter what I’d love to go back,” he said. “I committed. There. I committed to be there. I want to win more Super Bowls there. I love the city and everything else, but you also want to be at a place that wants you, too.”

    Parker Gabriel

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  • Michael Porter Jr. scores season-high 34 as Nuggets cruise past Trail Blazers

    Michael Porter Jr. scores season-high 34 as Nuggets cruise past Trail Blazers

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Written on the locker room whiteboard Thursday night at Ball Arena was a summons for players to get to the Denver airport by 10:20 p.m. for their team flight to Oregon. It was an unrealistic goal, especially considering Nikola Jokic’s typically methodical postgame process and media obligation.

    So maybe the Nuggets were a little late to take off. They made it to Portland just fine.

    And after a slightly slow start at Moda Center the next night, the defending champions took off and earned a 127-112 win over the Blazers, sweeping a back-to-back out of the All-Star break. Michael Malone called a timeout after three early turnovers yielded an 8-3 deficit. Then Denver cruised.

    The Nuggets (38-19) gave Jamal Murray the night off to avoid straining him in the back-to-back after he went into the break dealing with shin splints. His absence was more for precautionary reasons after an encouraging performance against the Wizards and before a marquee matchup Sunday at the Warriors. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, on the other hand, played after missing the second half of Thursday’s game with a sprained finger.

    Without Murray, Nikola Jokic posted a triple-double by the end of the third quarter for the second time in 24 hours, and Michael Porter Jr. scored a season-high 34 points on 21 shots to go with a dozen rebounds.

    “I was just getting easy shots. My teammates were finding me in transition,” Porter said. “When a player like ‘Mal is out, a lot of guys have gotta step up.”

    “Michael is such a big target, and (defenders) play on the high side, so they’re trying to make him a 2-point scorer,” Malone said. “And he’s shown that he can do that just as efficiently (as scoring from three). This was a night when Michael played at a high level throughout the course of the game.”

    Jokic finished the night with 29 points, 15 boards and 14 assists on 12-of-17 shooting. With 2:37 remaining in the first half, he missed his first shot in 15 attempts since the break. Aaron Gordon also supplied another efficient and well-rounded game, going for eight points on 4-of-5 shooting (all in the first half) and seven assists.

    Bennett Durando

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