Sports
Wild hand Avalanche first postseason loss in dominant fashion
May 9, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) is congratulated by teammates after scoring on the Colorado Avalanche in the second period of game three of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images Kirill Kaprizov and Brock Faber each finished with a goal and two assists as the Minnesota Wild pulled away for a 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Quinn Hughes tallied a goal and an assist for Minnesota, which pulled within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Ryan Hartman and Matt Boldy also scored and Mats Zuccarello had two assists for the Wild.
Nathan MacKinnon scored the only goal for Colorado, which lost for the first time in the postseason after entering with a 6-0 record.
The teams will reconvene for Game 4 on Monday night in Minnesota.
“I thought we came out with desperation,” Faber said. “There’s no excuses for the way we played (in the first two games). I think it was a quick turnaround with an emotional series in Dallas, and we need to move on quicker, and I think we didn’t bring our best in Colorado.
“But tonight was a lot better. Tonight was the way we play.”
Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt turned aside 34 of 35 shots to earn the victory.
Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood allowed three goals on 12 shots before he was replaced in the second period. Mackenzie Blackwood saw his first action of the postseason and stopped 12 of 13 shots in backup duty.
“I felt like it was a good opportunity to get him in and see if it sparked our group and if he could maybe close the door the rest of the way,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of the goaltending change. “So that’s why I did it. It just felt like they had all the momentum and all the steam early in that game, and we needed to do something.”
Minnesota grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period. Kaprizov opened the scoring with 4:49 remaining in the first period. He raced toward the net, took a pass from Faber and finished with a wrist shot from the left side of the crease.
Hughes scored less than two minutes later to give the Wild a two-goal advantage. He handled the puck from the left circle to the top of the slot and fired a wrist shot through traffic for the power-play goal.
Another power-play goal gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead with 15:37 left in the second period. Hartman parked in front of the crease and knocked in a shot from the point by Zuccarello.
“We didn’t play good enough to win that hockey game tonight,” Bednar said. “We played against a desperate hockey team. It looked to me like they had more determination. They were more tenacious, more physical. We tried to respond, but we didn’t get a lot out of some of our lines tonight.”
The Avalanche got on the scoreboard with 6:49 remaining in the second period. Wallstedt stopped Colorado’s initial shot, but MacKinnon spotted the rebound and punched it in for the power-play goal.
The Wild needed only 20 seconds to respond. Faber scored on a deflection to increase the Wild’s lead to 4-1 with 6:29 to go in the second period.
Boldy capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 3.3 seconds remaining.
-Field Level Media
Sports
Spencer Strider, Braves spoil Blake Snell's season debut for Dodgers
May 9, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (99) throws to the plate during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson each delivered two-run singles in the second inning and the visiting Atlanta Braves spoiled the season debut of left-hander Blake Snell with a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
Right-hander Spencer Strider (1-0) allowed just one hit over six innings in his second start of the season as the Braves improved to 5-3 on a nine-game road trip. Atlanta arrived in Los Angeles following its first series loss of the season at Seattle.
Snell (0-1) allowed five runs on six hits over three innings as he returned from lingering shoulder fatigue. He was pitching for the first time since recording four outs in Game 7 of the World Series when Los Angeles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays.
Andy Pages hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning for Los Angeles to end Atlanta’s shutout bid. The Dodgers dropped to 1-1 on their seven-game homestand and fell to 9-11 since April 18.
The Braves got to Snell early by loading the bases three batters into the game on a walk and singles from Mauricio Dubon and Albies. They scored just one run in the inning on a ground out from Austin Riley.
Atlanta loaded the bases again in the second inning, this time with two outs, before Albies and Olson delivered their back-to-back two-run singles for a 5-0 lead.
Snell pitched a scoreless third inning before he departed after 77 pitches.
The Braves’ Michael Harris II tacked on an RBI double in the fifth against right-hander Edgardo Henriquez, and Drake Baldwin had a run-scoring single in the eighth against right-hander Paul Gervase.
Strider allowed two walks with eight strikeouts as he rebounded from a rough season debut on Sunday when he gave up three runs with five walks in 3 1/3 innings. Strider missed the first month of the season with a left oblique strain.
Pages’ two-run home run in the ninth inning for the Dodgers, against right-hander Reynaldo Lopez, was his ninth of the season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Byron Buxton accounts for both Twins runs to beat Guardians in 11
May 9, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) hits a solo home run in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images Byron Buxton’s RBI double in the 11th inning gave the Minnesota Twins a 2-1 win over the host Cleveland Guardians on Saturday night as each team managed only two hits.
The game’s start was delayed two hours and 6 minutes by rain.
Buxton had both of the Twins’ hits as he led off the game with a home run. His double in the top of the 11th was the game-winner, scoring automatic runner Matt Wallner from third to snap Minnesota’s three-game losing streak.
The Twins escaped bases-loaded, one-out situations for the Guardians in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings.
Cleveland had its three-game winning streak ended.
Minnesota reliever Eric Orze (1-1) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Luis Garcia worked the 11th for his first save.
Guardians right-hander Peyton Pallette (1-2) allowed one run on one hit and one walk with three strikeouts in two innings.
Both starters were outstanding.
Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee allowed a run on one hit — Buxton’s homer — in six innings with two walks and a season-high nine strikeouts. His run of retiring 10 straight batters was snapped by a walk to Luke Keaschall with two outs in the fourth.
The Twins’ Joe Ryan gave up a run and two hits in six innings with three walks and five strikeouts.
Kyle Manzardo’s RBI single tied the game 1-1 in the fourth for Cleveland. Jose Ramirez, who got the first hit off of Ryan with one out and stole second, scored on the play.
Ryan worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam later in the inning by striking out Angel Martinez and Austin Hedges.
Buxton’s homer was his 13th this season as he took Bibee’s 1-1 cutter over the wall in left.
The Twins placed starting pitcher Taj Bailey (4-1, 2.87) on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 6, with pec muscle inflammation. Minnesota also recalled RHP Travis Adams from Triple-A St. Paul.
The Guardians acquired catcher Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants for left-handed pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson and Cleveland’s Competitive Balance Round A pick (29th overall) in the 2026 draft and sent catcher Bo Naylor to Triple-A Columbus.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jeong Sang-bin's goal lifts St. Louis City past Rapids
May 9, 2026; Commerce City, Colorado, USA; St. Louis City midfielder Conrad Wallem (6) and Colorado Rapids midfielder Paxten Aaronson (10) battle for the ball in the first half at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Jeong Sang-bin scored in the 26th minute Saturday and visiting St. Louis City SC logged its first clean sheet since last year, blanking the Colorado Rapids 1-0 in a contentious match.
It was the first goal this year for Sang-bin. Goalie Roman Burki started the sequence with a long goal kick that Simon Becher conveyed to a streaking Sang-bin. Racing down the pitch’s middle, Sang-bin easily dribbled by goalie Nicolas Hansen and poked the ball home.
Colorado’s bid at a second-half rally took a hit when Rob Holding was sent off in the 51st minute after fouling Becher. St. Louis (2-6-3, 9 points) played 36 minutes of 11-on-10 soccer before Chris Durkin was booked for the second time in the 87th minute, leveling the teams at 10 men each.
Rafael Navarro, Keegan Rosenberry and Georgi Minoungou each had good chances to equalize after Durkin’s dismissal. But Navarro’s header sailed right of the net in the 87th minute and Rosenberry couldn’t finish two minutes into stoppage time.
Minoungou then sailed a header over the crossbar, a shot that was estimated to have a 48% chance of going into the net. St. Louis held on through six more minutes of stoppage time for its first road win of the year.
The Rapids (3-5-4, 13 points) wasted a major advantage in possession time (58.1% to 41.9) and got just two of their 11 shots on frame, with Burki denying both. Colorado created a whopping 11 corner kicks but couldn’t convert its set pieces into goals.
Both teams were hoping to display better form than they showed in recent fixtures. St. Louis was 0-3-2 in its previous five matches and the Rapids were 0-3-1 in their prior four matches.
The first half was played on even terms until Sang-bin struck. Despite Colorado controlling the ball 55.1% of the time, each team took five shots and got one to net.
Referee Tim Ford whistled 36 fouls and administered a total of nine cards in a physical match.
–Field Level Media
Spencer Strider, Braves spoil Blake Snell's season debut for Dodgers
Byron Buxton accounts for both Twins runs to beat Guardians in 11
