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.

“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.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo are NBA MVP finalists; Jokic, Daniels up for 2 awards

It’s now reasonable to think that Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo finished third in this season’s balloting for the NBA MVP award.

The NBA released the three finalists for its major trophies on Sunday night, with Antetokounmpo on the MVP list alongside Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Nikola Jokic, the runaway frontrunners for the award.

Jokic was last season’s MVP and is bidding for his fourth MVP award in the last five years. Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s scoring champion this season and the leader of a Thunder team that won 68 games while setting a league record for scoring margin, is seeking his first MVP trophy.

They were considered such big favorites that BetMGM Sportsbook didn’t even offer realistic odds toward the end of the regular season on anyone else winning. Gilgeous-Alexander was the favorite, Jokic was the second choice and nobody else had odds shorter than 500-1.

Given that All-NBA voting now essentially mirrors MVP voting, being an MVP finalist basically guarantees an All-NBA first-team nod. It'll be the ninth appearance on that team for Antetokounmpo, the seventh for Jokic and the third for Gilgeous-Alexander.

Last year’s MVP finalists were Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic — then of Dallas, now of the Los Angeles Lakers.

A panel of writers and broadcasters who cover the NBA voted on the awards last week. The NBA will announce the winners of the various awards, along with the All-NBA and All-rookie teams, over the coming weeks.

Coach of the year

Finalists: Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland; J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit; Ime Udoka, Houston.

This is how good a race this was: Mark Daigneault, who won last year, led Oklahoma City to a 68-win season and didn't get into the top three.

Atkinson led the Cavaliers to a 64-win season, the best in the Eastern Conference. He was announced Saturday as the winner of the National Basketball Coaches Association’s coach of the year award, a separate trophy from the NBA honors.

Bickerstaff, in his first year with the Pistons, and Udoka took their teams to the playoffs, and the Rockets got the No. 2 seed in the West.

Last year: Daigneault won, with Minnesota’s Chris Finch and Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley the other finalists.

Rookie of the year

Finalists: Stephon Castle, San Antonio; Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta; Jaylen Wells, Memphis.

Castle — the No. 4 pick in last year's draft — could be the second consecutive NBA Rookie of the Year from San Antonio, after Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous winner last season.

Risacher and Wells were the No. 3 and No. 4 rookie scorers this season behind Castle. A notable omission: Washington's Alex Sarr, who averaged 13 points this season.

Last year: Wembanyama won, with Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Charlotte’s Brandon Miller the other finalists.

Sixth man of the year

Finalists: Malik Beasley, Detroit; Ty Jerome, Cleveland; Payton Pritchard, Boston.

Pritchard is the overwhelming favorite, though voters clearly took note of what Beasley did off the Pistons' bench — making more than 300 3-pointers — and Jerome was particularly steady for the Cavs all season.

Last year: Minnesota’s Naz Reid won, with Sacramento’s Malik Monk and Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis the other finalists.

Most Improved Player

Finalists: Cade Cunningham, Detroit; Dyson Daniels, Atlanta; Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles Clippers.

Cunningham led Detroit's wild turnaround year — a 28-game losing streak last season, the No. 6 seed this season — and should be an All-NBA selection as well. Daniels and Zubac both had exceptionally good seasons, particularly on the defensive end.

Last year: Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey won, with Houston’s Alperen Sengun and Chicago’s Coby White the other finalists.

Defensive player of the year

Finalists: Dyson Daniels, Atlanta; Draymond Green, Golden State; Evan Mobley, Cleveland.

Daniels was a steals machine, Mobley has the gift of being able to defend the rim with physicality but not foul, and Green is seeking his second award after winning it in 2016-17.

Minnesota's Rudy Gobert remains on four DPOY awards, tied with Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as winners of the most. Wembanyama — who won the blocked-shots title this season — probably would have won this award in a runaway had he not been sidelined since the All-Star break with deep vein thrombosis in one of his shoulders.

Last year: Gobert won, with Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Wembanyama the other finalists.

Clutch player of the year

Finalists: Jalen Brunson, New York; Anthony Edwards, Minnesota; Nikola Jokic, Denver.

Can't go wrong here. Edwards had 157 points in clutch time this season, Brunson had 150 and Jokic had 140.

Last year: Golden State’s Stephen Curry won, with DeMar DeRozan — then of Chicago, now of Sacramento — and Gilgeous-Alexander the other finalists.

Kris Bryant struggles as he deals with chronic back injury

DENVER (AP) — Kris Bryant reached the pinnacle of the baseball world in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs but it has been downhill since he signed with the Colorado Rockies in 2022.

Bryant helped the Cubs break a 108-year World Series drought and won the NL MVP in 2016 but he has struggled with injuries in his Colorado career.

On Monday a back injury landed him on the injured list for the ninth time since joining the Rockies, and he talked about his struggles Sunday.

“Just frustrated,” he said in front of his locker before his teammates played the first game of a split doubleheader. “I don’t have much more of an update in terms of how I’m feeling. Just mentally, I’m kind of not, not there.”

He received two anti-inflammatory shots for his injury – officially classified as a lumbar degenerative disc disease – on Tuesday but said the doctors “aren’t there yet” for surgery as the next step.

“Back surgery is a pretty big surgery, so obviously I’m not an expert on it. Maybe I should be by now with all the problems I’ve had,” he said. “I want to see all my options, too, so that I’m not, like, in constant pain and nauseous, where I can’t eat, which was the situation today.”

Bryant said after going through his back exercise program on Saturday he “woke up not feeling great” Sunday morning.

He has played in just 11 games this season and is hitting .154 with no home runs and one RBI in 2025. Bryant, 33, has appeared in only 170 of a possible 506 games since signing a seven-year, $182-million contract with Colorado.

He is hitting .244 with 17 home runs in his three-plus seasons with the Rockies. He played in an average of 121 games in seven full major league seasons before joining Colorado.

“I’m not 23 anymore so you don’t feel like you can just roll out of bed and be Superman,” he said. “At the same time I feel like I’ve done everything I can. I’ve worked extremely hard in the off season and continued it through spring training and in the season. And that’s just the frustrating part.

“Just want something to kind of fall my way.”