Wednesday Sports: Avs, Preds Come Alive

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS (Round 1)

AVALANCHE 5, JETS 2
(Series tied 1-1)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and assist and Colorado scored four goals in the second period in a 5-2 win over Winnipeg to tie the first-round playoff series at a game apiece.

Miles Wood, Zach Parise, Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves for Colorado, a bounce-back effort after allowing seven goals on 23 shots in the series opener.

David Gustaffson and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 of 31 shots.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday night in Denver.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

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PREDATORS 4, CANUCKS 1
(Series tied 1-1)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored a goal and had an assist, and Nashville beat Vancouver 4-1 to level the best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1. The Vancouver Canucks were missing star netminder Thatcher Demko, defenceman Tyler Myers and most of their offence

Nikita Zadorov scored for a Vancouver team that struggled to get shots on net and experienced a series of unlucky bounces.

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RANGERS 4 CAPITALS 3
(New York leads series 2-0)

NEW YORK (AP) — Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers held on to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller also scored for the Rangers, and Erik Gustafsson and Alexis Lafreniere each had two assists. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots.

New York, seeking its first Stanley Cup championship in 30 years, has won four straight and 12 of its last 15 games. The Rangers, third on the power play during the season, were 2 for 6 with the advantage and scored a short-handed goal.

Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist, and Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals, who had won four of five to close the season and take the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Charlie Lindgren finished with 23 saves.

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PANTHERS 3 LIGHTNING 2 OT
(Florida leads series 2-0)

PANTHERS 3, LIGHTNING 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe lifted a backhander just under the crossbar 2:59 into overtime, and Florida beat Tampa Bay for a 2-0 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series.

It was the fifth OT winner in Verhaeghe’s career, coming on a play where Matthew Tkachuk got the puck to Anton Lundell — who found Verhaeghe. He waited for Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to commit, then put the puck over him to end it.

Sam Bennett, who left with an injury in the second period when he appeared to get hit by teammate Brandon Montour’s slap shot, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots, including some highlight-reel saves.

MLB

Bobby Witt Junior delivered the go-ahead double in the fifth inning for Kansas City after a costly error by Blue Jays‘ first baseman Vladimir Guerrero (guh-RAIR-oh) Junior, and the Royals’ bullpen shut down Toronto the rest of the way in a 3-2 victory Tuesday. Pitcher Kevin Gausman (Gauze-min), who dropped to 0h-and-3 for the Jays, allowed three unearned runs on seven hits and a walk over 6-and-two-third innings for visiting Toronto. The teams continue their four-game series on Wednesday.

NBA

• MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points for a career best in the playoffs and spearheaded another stifling defensive performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 105-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series on Tuesday night.
• MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 37 points and Indiana overcame another fantastic first-half performance from Damian Lillard to beat Milwaukee 125-108 and tie their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
• LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 32 points and Dallas overcame the return of Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 96-93 and tie their Western Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.

(Canadian Press)