DALLAS (AP) — Mackenzie Blackwood is already fitting right in with these Colorado Avalanche in their eighth consecutive postseason, and a roster filled with playoff experience that includes 10 players who were part of their Stanley Cup title three years ago.
Even though the 28-year-old goalie has now played in all of one game in the NHL playoffs.
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews (7) stops a shot in front of goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Colorado Avalanche players Brock Nelson (11), Devon Toews (7), and Josh Manson (42) celebrate after Toews' scored during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) skates to the goal during a media timeout during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Dallas Stars left wing Mason Marchment, bottom, misses a shot against Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, top, during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) shoots against Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
“When you have a guy like that back there, that gives you that confidence. He’s very calm in the net, so you know if you do something or make a mistake, he’s going to be there,” said veteran defenseman Cale Makar, the 2022 Conn Smythe Trophy winner. “Hopefully he can continue to do it, because he’s a huge piece of our team.’’
The Avalanche acquired Blackwood from San Jose in a trade on December 9 and signed him to a new $26.25 million, five-year contract right after Christmas. They now have a 1-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series against the Dallas Stars after he made 23 saves in his postseason debut.
“He’s an amazing goalie. I have a lot of trust in him,” said Nathan MacKinnon, the 2023-24 NHL MVP who had two goals and an assist in the series-opening 5-1 win. “It could have easily been 2-2. … It’s a completely different game with his saves.”
Game 2 is Monday night in Dallas.
This is the eighth postseason series in a row since 2022 that the Stars lost the opener. They still made it to the Western Conference Final each of the past two seasons, and last year did that even after losing the first two games of their opening-round series at home against Vegas.
“Yeah, obviously we don’t want to be in this situation,” Stars forward Wyatt Johnston said. “But we’ve had a lot of experience being down 1-0 in a series, so I think that gives us a positive note, that we know we’re able to come back from it.”
Colorado went ahead to stay Saturday night with the game's first score, when MacKinnon got the assist on a goal by Artturi Lehkonen, who was following up his shot when the puck ricocheted off his left skate into the top corner of the net while falling to the ice after a collision with Mavrik Bourque. That reviewed goal came right after Blackwood stopped four shots in rapid succession at the other end.
“Obviously a great goalie, big goalie,” Johnston said. “All those playoff cliches of, you know, getting to the net, getting pucks there, getting in front of his eyes, getting those second chances in front of the net … just do a better job of that.”
Dallas' only goal came from Roope Hintz on a power play in the third period, when Blackwood was without his stick after it got caught in the side of the net.
Blackwood had played in 252 regular-season games over seven seasons with three different teams, including 37 games for Colorado after being acquired from San Jose. He made his NHL debut in 2018-19, the first of his five seasons with the New Jersey Devils.
While Blackwood called it “pretty special” to finally get into a playoff game, and could feel the extra intensity in the rink, he took the same approach he had for all of his other games in net.
“I mean, you have to go to the same job. I don’t want to change things about my game,” said Blackwood, who was 22-12-3 with a 2.33 goals-against average and .913 save percentage after joining Colorado.
“Enough can’t be said about the saves that he made,” center Charlie Coyle said. “Every time we needed a big save, he was there to keep us tied, keep us ahead. Every step of the way it was, they got a chance, we had a little breakdown, and he shut the door. You need that in playoff time to win these tight games.”
Coyle, another of the eight in-season trades made by Colorado, certainly knows that since he has now made the playoffs in each of his first 13 NHL seasons. He made six postseasons with Minnesota and six more with Boston, which dealt him to the Avs at the March 7 deadline.
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews (7) stops a shot in front of goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Colorado Avalanche players Brock Nelson (11), Devon Toews (7), and Josh Manson (42) celebrate after Toews' scored during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) skates to the goal during a media timeout during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Dallas Stars left wing Mason Marchment, bottom, misses a shot against Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, top, during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) shoots against Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) during a first-round NHL hockey playoff game in Dallas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Friday called on members of the public to send any video or other evidence in the fatal shooting of Renee Good directly to her office, challenging the Trump administration's decision to leave the investigation solely to the FBI.
Moriarty said that although her office has collaborated effectively with the FBI in past cases, she is concerned by the Trump administration's decision to bar state and local agencies from playing any role in the investigation into Wednesday's killing of Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
She also said that despite the Trump administration’s insistence that the officer who shot Good has complete legal immunity, that isn’t the case.
“We do have jurisdiction to make this decision with what happened in this case,” she said at a news conference. “It does not matter that it was a federal law enforcement agent.”
Moriarty said her office would post a link for the public to submit footage of the shooting, even though she acknowledged that she wasn't sure what legal outcome submissions might produce.
The prosecutor's announcement came on a third day of Minneapolis protests over Good's killing and a day after federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon.
Good's wife, Becca Good, released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday saying, “kindness radiated out of her.”
"On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns," Becca Good said.
“I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him,” she wrote. “That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way.”
The reaction to the Good's shooting was immediate in the city where police killed George Floyd in 2020, with hundreds of protesters converging on the shooting scene and the school district canceling classes for the rest of the week as a precaution.
On Thursday night, hundreds marched in freezing rain down one of Minneapolis’ major thoroughfares, chanting “ICE out now!” and holding signs saying, “Killer ice off our streets." And on Friday, protesters were out again demonstrating outside of a federal facility that is serving as a hub for the immigration crackdown that began Tuesday in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Authorities erected barricades outside the facility Friday.
City workers, meanwhile, removed makeshift barricades made of old Christmas trees and other debris that had been blocking the streets near the scene of Good's shooting. Officials said they would leave up a shrine to the 37-year-old mother of three.
The Portland shootings happened outside a hospital Thursday afternoon. Federal immigration officers shot and wounded a man and woman, identified by the Department of Homeland Security as Venezuela nationals Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, who were inside a vehicle, and their conditions weren't immediately known. The FBI and the Oregon Department of Justice were investigating.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and the city council called on ICE to end all operations in the city until a full investigation is completed. Hundreds protested Thursday night at a local ICE building. Early Friday, Portland police reported that officers had arrested several protesters after asking the to get out of a street to allow traffic to flow.
Just as it did following Good's shooting, DHS defended the actions of the officers in Portland, saying it occurred after a Venezuelan man with alleged gang ties and who was involved in a recent shooting tried to “weaponize” his vehicle to hit the officers. It wasn't immediately clear if the shootings were captured on video, as Good's was.
The Minneapolis shooting happened on the second day of the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, which Homeland Security said is the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever. More than 2,000 officers are taking part and Noem said they have made more than 1,500 arrests.
The government is also shifting immigration officers to Minneapolis from sweeps in Louisiana, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. This represents a pivot, as the Louisiana crackdown that began in December had been expected to last into February.
Good's death — at least the fifth tied to immigration sweeps since Trump took office — has resonated far beyond Minneapolis, as protests happening in other places, including Texas, California, Detroit and Missouri.
In Washington, D.C., on Thursday, a woman held a sign that said, “Stop Trump’s Gestapo,” as hundreds of people marched to the White House. Protesters in Pflugerville, Texas, north of Austin, banged on the walls of an ICE facility. And a man in Los Angeles burned an American flag in front of federal detention center.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, President Donald Trump and others in his administration have repeatedly characterized the Minneapolis shooting as an act of self-defense and cast Good as a villain, suggesting she used her vehicle as a weapon to attack the officer who shot her.
But state and local officials and protesters rejected that characterization, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey saying videos show the self-defense argument is “garbage.”
Several bystanders captured footage of Good's killing, which happened in a neighborhood south of downtown.
The recordings show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with agents earlier. After the shooting, the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
The federal agent who fatally shot Good is an Iraq War veteran who has served for nearly two decades in the Border Patrol and ICE, according to records obtained by AP.
Noem has not publicly named him, but a Homeland Security spokesperson said her description of his injuries last summer refers to an incident in Bloomington, Minnesota, in which court documents identify him as Jonathan Ross.
Ross got his arm stuck in the window of a vehicle whose driver was fleeing arrest on an immigration violation. Ross was dragged and fired his Taser. A jury found the driver guilty of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
Attempts to reach Ross, 43, at phone numbers and email addresses associated with him were not successful.
Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski and Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis; Ed White in Detroit; Valerie Gonzalez in Brownsville, Texas; Graham Lee Brewer in Norman, Oklahoma; Michael Biesecker in Washington; Jim Mustian and Safiyah Riddle in New York; Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
Protesters confront law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Protesters' shadows are cast on the street near law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Protesters confront law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
An American flag burns outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two protesters are lit by a police light as they walk outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Protesters are arrested by federal agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Protesters sit on a barrier that is being assembled outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Protesters stand off against law enforcement outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters chant and march during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer the day before, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, after she was fatally shot by an ICE officer the day before. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Protesters confront federal agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
People gather around a makeshift memorial honoring the victim of a fatal shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, near the site of the shooting, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino arrives as protesters gather outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A protester pours water in their eye after confronting law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
People gather around a makeshift memorial honoring the victim of a fatal shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, near the site of the shooting, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
