Roope Hintz scores in 4th round of shootout as Stars outlast Avalanche 3-2

DENVER (AP) — Roope Hintz scored in the fourth round of the shootout and the Dallas Stars beat Colorado 3-2 on Wednesday night in a game where the Avalanche had two early goals disallowed.

Hintz sent a wrist shot past Scott Wedgewood. Casey DeSmith secured the win by stopping Brock Nelson.

Miro Heiskanen and Arttu Hyry scored for the Stars, who split a back-to back set of games with the Avalanche. They lost 3-2 at home the night before.

Hyry nearly won it in overtime but sent a bouncing puck off the post. Hyry’s short-handed tally off a steal against Cale Makar gave the Stars a 2-1 lead early in the third period before Nelson tied it with 11:39 left.

Gabriel Landeskog also had a goal for Colorado.

The Avalanche had quite a night of disallowed goals and close calls. Jaden Schwartz saw his score overturned in the first period after the Stars successfully challenged for offsides. Later in the period, Gabriel Landeskog's goal was taken off the board when it was ruled the captain made a kicking motion to knock in the puck.

In the third, Gavin Brindley thought he scored and even began celebrating with teammates. But the officials never ruled it a goal and replays showed it glanced off both posts and didn't go into the net.

DeSmith finished with 25 saves for Dallas. He stopped three of four in the shootout. Stars forward Oskar Back suffered an upper-body injury in the first period and didn't return.

Makar returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday's game against the Stars. He and his wife welcomed twin boys on Wednesday morning.

Stars: At Chicago on Saturday.

Avalanche: Host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson, left, fights for control of the puck with Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, front, clears the puck as Dallas Stars center Justin Hryckowian covers in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin, left, drives past Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brett Kulak in the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith makes a stick save in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz, front, reacts after scoring the winning goal against Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood during the shootout of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back homers off Blake Snell to regain the lead in the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Wednesday to take a 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.

Los Angeles had just taken a 2-1 lead in the sixth before getting stunned. The loss pushed the two-time defending World Series champions to the brink of elimination.

The only other time the Dodgers trailed 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series, they were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 World Series.

Game 4 is Thursday at Dodger Stadium, where the Brewers can become the first major league club to complete a postseason sweep after getting swept by that same opponent in the previous postseason. Los Angeles took all four games against Milwaukee in the NLCS last year.

The only team in big league history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series was the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

Coming into the seventh, Snell had retired 14 batters in a row. The first pitch of the game thrown by the two-time Cy Young Award winner hit for a home run by Jackson Chourio, and his last pitch was Mitchell's solo shot.

Andrew Vaughn drew a seven-pitch walk to open the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Christian Yelich. Bauers followed with a 412-foot shot to right field on the 11th pitch of the at-bat for a 3-2 lead as most of Milwaukee's dugout came onto the field to celebrate. Mitchell was next and his drive traveled 428 feet to right-center, chasing Snell.

It was the latest relentless plate appearance for Bauers, who drew a 12-pitch walk from Yoshinobu Yamamoto that helped the Brewers go ahead early in Game 3.

Milwaukee, which has never beaten the Dodgers in three previous playoff series, is chasing its second pennant and first in the National League. The Brewers were in the American League when they reached their only World Series, a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.

Snell gave up four runs and four hits in six innings, struck out nine and walked two.

The Brewers extended the lead to 5-2 in the eighth on Justin Wrobleski's wild pitch that scored Brice Turang, who reached on an infield single and advanced to third on William Contreras' single. They added another run on Joey Ortiz's two-strike RBI single in the ninth.

The offensively starved Dodgers took their first lead, 2-1, on Will Smith's two-run double off reliever Abner Uribe in the sixth.

Uribe followed rookie starter Robert Gasser and he loaded the bases on walks to Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Shohei Ohtani. Smith, who was 1 for 25 in the playoffs, doubled off the left-center fence for his first hit of the NLCS.

DL Hall took over from Uribe and stranded runners at second and third by striking out pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández and Tommy Edman.

Hall allowed one hit in 2 1/3 scoreless innings to improve to 3-0 in these playoffs. Trevor Megill got four outs for his second save of the series and fourth this postseason.

The Dodgers played from behind again after the 22-year-old Chourio connected for his third career leadoff homer as fans were still heading to their seats.

After that, Mitchell walked and Cooper Pratt singled in the second before Snell retired 14 in a row — six on strikeouts — before getting hammered in the seventh.

The Dodgers had runners on base in all but three innings, but couldn't get enough across. They have yet to homer in the NLCS.

Ohtani was 1 for 2 with a walk while hitting sixth in the order, the lowest he's batted since joining the Dodgers three years ago.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell catches a fly out hit by Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman during the fifth inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell walks off the mound during the seventh inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio watches his solo home run take flight during the first inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell yells towards his dugout after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers connects for a two run home run during the seventh inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)