Rantanen, Robertson score in shootout, Stars top Avs, 5-4

DENVER (AP) — Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen scored shootout goals, Jake Oettinger stopped Nathan MacKinnon on Colorado’s final shot, and the Dallas Stars beat the Avalanche 5-4 on Saturday night.

Oettinger had 35 saves through overtime and two more in the shootout for Dallas, which spoiled a milestone night for Brent Burns, who had an assist for his first point in a Colorado sweater.

Burns became the eighth defenseman to play in 1,500 career games and he extended his ironman streak in the NHL at 928 games, the longest active one in the NHL and fourth longest in league history.

Thomas Harley had a goal and an assist and Nathan Bastian and Robertson scored 3:03 apart in the second period to give Dallas a 3-2 lead.

Rantanen helped eliminate his former team in Game 7 of the first round last spring with a third-period hat trick. He got the better of the Avalanche again, beating Scott Wedgewood for the deciding goal in the shootout.

Wedgewood stopped 18 shots and one in the shootout.

Saturday night had a playoff feel, with a fight, shoving matches and momentum swings throughout the night. Marty Necas and MacKinnon had a goal and two assists each for Colorado, but both were stopped by Oettinger in the shootout.

Artturi Lehkonen tied it 3-all 34 seconds into the third but Wyatt Johnston answered with a breakaway goal 1:24 later.

MacKinnon tied it with a power-play goal midway through the third period

Gavin Brindley gave Colorado a 2-1 lead midway through the second period with his first career goal after Necas had answered Harley’s goal with his third of the season.

Stars: Host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night in their home opener.

Avalanche: On the road at the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson (11) and Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) fight for control of the puck in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, front, knocks the puck away from Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, front, stops a shot as Colorado Avalanche center Martin Necas covers in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche center Jack Drury, front, collects the puck as left wing Victor Olofsson follows in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston, right, pursues the puck with Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, center, and right wing Valeri Nichushkin in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

AL HENAKIYAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Ricky Brabec deliberately gave up his motorbike lead over Luciano Benavides in the Dakar Rally while Nasser Al-Attiyah was happy to cruise through another day closer to his sixth car title on Thursday.

Al-Attiyah started 346-kilometer stage 11 between Bisha north to Al Henakiyah with a 12-minute overall lead and let it drop to less than nine minutes over new second-placed driver Nani Roma in a Ford.

Al-Attiyah was content to let Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb catch up and pass him to have a teammate nearby for any help and to minimize errors on the mazy, dirt track. Al-Attiyah was 17th, nearly 13 minutes behind stage winner Mattias Ekström, and said he needed to execute the same plan on Friday's last effective racing stage before the end on Saturday.

“If we lose two, three, four minutes no problem,” Al-Attiyah said. “We just need to finish this Dakar in first place.”

Honda cooked up a strategy in the Saudi desert for Adrien van Beveren to open the way and let Brabec catch up after the 190-kilometer pit stop and pick up time bonuses.

Brabec boosted his overall lead from 56 seconds to nearly four minutes just 25 kilometers from the finish. He was also within a minute of the stage lead but he slowed down so KTM rival Benavides was the new overall leader, but only by 23 seconds.

Brabec got his his wish to start Friday's stage 12 six minutes behind Benavides, so he can eye him. They head west to the rally starting point of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on 311 kilometers of gravel, some river beds with a finish in the dunes.

“A little bit of strategy today and hopefully it pays off tomorrow,” Brabec said. "I feel like its going to be a good day. We’re going back into the rocks so it will be a little bit better for us.”

Brabec is counting on his experience of winning the Dakar in 2020 and 2024 to trump Benavides, who has a best placing of fourth last year.

“I've been in this situation before,” Brabec said. “For the whole two weeks I've been just trying to stay relax, stay comfortable and just be confident, so two days more. I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow that I've been doing every day; ride dirt bikes and have fun.”

Van Beveren helped Brabec with navigation while fighting with another teammate, Skyler Howes, the entire day for the stage win.

Howes prevailed by 21 seconds for his first career major stage in his eighth Dakar. He was third in 2023 and sixth last year. He's running fifth, 34 minutes off the pace.

Benavides was fourth in the stage and believed the race will be decided on the final 105-kilometer sprint on Saturday.

“I played no strategy like Ricky. I don't care,” Benavides said. “I'm doing what I can to control what I can control.”

Ekström won his third car stage of this Dakar, a special so fast that 12 other drivers were within 10 minutes.

Ford achieved another 1-2-3 stage. Romain Dumas, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was a career-best second just over a minute back and Carlos Sainz was third.

Only Toyota's Henk Lategan beat Ekström to a checkpoint but Lategan's podium hopes were wrecked after 140 kilometers when a bearing broke on his rear left wheel. Lategan was second last year and second overall overnight but he plunged out of the top 15, at least.

Loeb moved up to third overall, 10 minutes behind Roma and three minutes ahead of Ekström.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Rider Daniel Sanders competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Skyler Howes competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Henk Lategan, left, and co-driver Brett Cummings repair their car during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)