game with protection on his middle finger. He is still not ready to throw curveballs or

DALLAS -- After Dallas scored three goals in the first period, it was on Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen to preserve the win.Patrick Eaves capped Dallas three-goal first and the Stars held off the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 Thursday night. Johnny Oduya and Brett Ritchie also scored in the first for Dallas.Colorado outshot Dallas 30-16 in the last 40 minutes, but Lehtonen camp up big while getting 28 of his 34 saves.You need a game once in a while where your goalie makes some big saves to give you a win, Stars center Jason Spezza said, and Kari did that tonight.The last 40 minutes were largely a battle between Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon and Lehtonen.MacKinnon scored a short-handed goal and added an assist on Mikhail Grigorenkos third-period goal.Lehtonen stopped MacKinnon on a breakaway midway through the second period and again on a rebound with 10 minutes left in the game.I didnt love (MacKinnons) first period, just like the rest of our team, Colorado coach Jared Bednar said, but he came hard in the last two periods. He was all around the net, he was hanging onto pucks and it wasnt fancy plays.MacKinnon has scored only three goals this season.It was a tough start to the year, he said. Im just trying to stay positive. Ive got to be better.MacKinnon won 11 of 19 faceoffs in the first two periods. He was 5 for 12 in the third after Stars coach Lindy Ruff matched Cody Eakin, returning for his first game this season, with MacKinnon in the faceoff circle.MacKinnon was eating up (Radek) Faksa, Ruff said, so I looked to (Eakin) to kind of dig in and win a couple. I thought all night he did a good job.Eakin won 15 of 23 faceoffs.Semyon Varlamov stopped 19 shots and snapped an 11-game winning streak against the Stars.Oduya scored his first goal since last Dec. 17 on a slap shot from the left point that went in off Colorado defenseman Tyson Barries left knee at 8:15.I just close my eyes and shoot, Oduya said. I told Patty (Eaves) that Im not like him, putting it top shelf every time. For me, its kind of shoot at the net and see what happens, and sometimes it goes in.Barely two minutes later, Ritchie scored from the slot on the power play after taking a pass from Devin Shore low in the left faceoff circle.Eaves power-play goal from the right of the net followed rapid-fire passes from Spezza behind the net and Tyler Seguin high in the slot.I thought we played 20 minutes, Ruff said. Maybe a little more than that, until the short-handed goal. Im frustrated with the short-handed goals weve been giving up, and Im sick of it.Dallas has allowed four shorthanded goals this season.MacKinnons goal with 7:54 left in the second came after he took Andreas Martinsens pass from the right corner just to the right of the net and beat Lehtonen. Two minutes earlier, Lehtonen had stopped MacKinnon on a breakaway at the endThe Avalanche pulled within a goal at 1:51 of the third when Grigorenko redirected MacKinnons shot from the right point into the right side of the net.Game notesA preseason knee injury had sidelined Eakin almost two months. ... Colorado scoring leader C Matt Duchene missed his third game because of concussion-like symptoms. LW Gabriel Landeskog, the Avalanche captain, also sat out with a lower-body injury. ... LW AJ Greer was recalled for his second NHL game, and scored his first point by assisting on Grigorenkos goal. ... Eaves leads the Stars with eight goals. His 14 points in 17 games represent the best start in his 12 NHL seasons. ... Colorado had 12 wins in the previous 15 games vs. the Stars. ... Oduyas goal ended a personal 67-game drought.UP NEXTAvalanche: At Minnesota on Saturday for the second game on a three-game trip.Stars: Host Edmonton on Saturday in the third of four straight home games.Fake NHL Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Custom NHL Jerseys . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Wholesale NHL Jerseys China . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Getting the chance to play first base for the first time, Tim Beckham figured he might as well hit like a slugging first baseman instead of a middle infielder.Beckham made the most of his emergency position switch by hitting a homer and sparking a four-run inning with his eighth straight hit over three games to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.Thats not an easy thing, manager Kevin Cash said. Thats uncomfortable to go play somewhere in a big league ballgame. You can imagine theres probably some nerves and anxiety.With Logan Morrison sidelined by an injured right forearm and Steve Pearce needing a day off, Beckham was Tampa Bays best option to play first despite never having played the position.He took infield before the game and got some quick lessons from bench coach Tom Foley before taking the field with one of Pearces gloves.I just told myself I trust in my ability, Beckham said. Just trust in my ability and be comfortable over there. It helped out.While he played error-free defense and made a nice play on a forceout in the ninth, it was his bat that did the biggest damage.He followed up a five-hit game in Colorado on Wednesday by hitting a solo homer in the second against Sonny Gray (4-9) and then adding a leadoff single in the big fifth inning that gave Tampa Bay the lead for good.Beckham, who started the streak with a single in his final at-bat Monday, was finally retired when he popped out to end the sixth but by then he had done his damage. His eight hits in eight at-bats -- he walked in his other plate appearance -- were one more hit than he had in 41 at-bats in all of June.Corey Dickerson homered and drove in three runs, and Logan Forsythe, Brad Miller and Evan Longoria added RBI hits in the fifth inning to back a solid start by Matt Moore (6-7).Moore allowed a three-run homer to Jake Smolinski in the second but nothing else in seven innings to earn his first win in eight road starts this season.I think that kind of woke mee up, Moore said of the homer.dddddddddddd It was early in the game. We were just trying to set the tone by throwing strikes, pounding the zone early.Alex Colome got three outs for his 21st save in as many chances to give the Rays their first three game winning streak since June 12-15. Tampa Bay has won four of five following a 3-24 stretch that was the worst in franchise history.Gray, who snapped a seven-game losing streak last Saturday against Toronto, was unable to build on that success. He allowed seven runs and nine hits in five innings.That game kind of went how my years been, giving up the home run then having the big inning, Gray said. I thought at the start of the fifth inning I made some pretty good pitches, and suddenly its first and second with nobody out and then it didnt go well from there.TRAINERS ROOMRays: Morrison got an injection in his injured forearm and is expected to be fine in a day or two.Athletics: LHP Rich Hill (blister) played catch before the game with protection on his middle finger. He is still not ready to throw curveballs or pitch off the mound. ... RHP Zach Neal was recalled from Triple-A Nashville and LHP Patrick Schuster was optioned to Nashville.TRADE TALKAs RF Josh Reddick said hes tuning out any talk about a possible trade before the Aug. 1 deadline, saying the game is hard enough without worrying about things out of his control. But Reddick did say he is upset there hasnt been more progress on a long-term deal to keep him in Oakland past this season.Its kind of disheartening to know something hasnt been worked out so far, and weve been four months into it, he said.UP NEXTRays: Jake Odorizzi (4-5) snapped a six-start winless streak last Sunday against Baltimore when he allowed two runs in six innings for his first win since June 8.Athletics: Sean Manaea (3-5) faces the Rays for the first time in his career in the second game of the series. ' ' '