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DENVER -- Kari Lehtonen and the Dallas Stars put together a nice finish for a lousy road trip.Lehtonen had 23 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 on Saturday night.Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist, and Patrick Eaves and Curtis McKenzie also scored. Dallas finished 1-2-1 on its trip to St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Colorado.Obviously we didnt want to end it with a loss so we came out prepared, Eaves said. I thought we played a structured game. This building has been tough on us in the past.Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves for the Avalanche, who were shut out for the fifth time this season.Colorado played most of the game with five defensemen after Erik Johnson broke a leg blocking Seguins shot in the second period. Johnson will be sidelined for six to eight weeks.Injuries is not excuse, but it helps to have some of those guys in the lineup, coach Jared Bednar said.Lehtonen was sharp in his 35th career shutout, but he didnt face a lot of prime scoring chances. The Stars also were unable to generate many offensive opportunities, but they capitalized on a couple of openings.McKenzie scored at 5:08 of the first period and Seguin added a power-play goal at 6:02 of the second. Jason Spezza nearly made it 3-0 late in the third but his shot on an odd-man rush clipped the post.I said (Saturday) morning I liked five of our last six periods and tonight I liked all three and we finally got rewarded, coach Lindy Ruff said. It was good to see us play that well away from the puck. Its attention to detail and we were able to maintain that for three periods.The Stars outshot the Avalanche in the second and third periods, holding them to 10 total shots while putting up 21.Its nice but it was really like a whole team shutout, Lehtonen said. They took some chances in the first but then after that we just played really solid and that is real nice.The Avalanche pulled Varlamov for an extra attacker, but Eaves picked up an empty-netter for his 10th goal of the season.Penalty kill had big kills for us, power play got one, goalie made some key saves when we needed them, Seguin said. A lot we can build off from tonight.Colorado went 0-4-1 on its homestand. The Avalanches 19 points are the fewest in the NHL.Just playing horrible hockey, center Nathan MacKinnon said. It starts with us key guys. All of us need to be better. We havent been good this homestand; weve been pretty bad.The last-place Avalanche havent scored more than three goals in their last eight games and are 2-5-1 in that stretch.Game notes Stars F Patrick Sharp (concussion symptoms) was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Thursday. Sharp has missed 15 games this season due to injury. ... Colorado C Rocco Grimaldi was recalled from San Antonio of the AHL on Friday and made his NHL debut against Dallas. ... Avalanche LW Gabriel Landeskog (lower body) skated Saturday morning and should be on the upcoming four-game road trip. He has been out since Nov. 14.UP NEXTStars: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.Avalanche: Play at Nashville on Tuesday night. . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history.DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers have built a bit of a cushion in the division, taking advantage of their powerful lineup, steady rotation and Clevelands slump. Prince Fielder hit a bases-clearing double in the second inning and the Tigers held on to beat the Indians 6-4 Saturday. AL Central-leading Detroit has won the first two games of the series -- and three straight overall -- to build a season-high 4 1/2-game lead over the Indians, less than three weeks after trailing them by 2 1/2 games. "Its good to be in first place, but we have to stay focused and keep winning games so we can finish in September," Miguel Cabrera said. The Indians fell a game under .500, losing a season-high six straight and 12 of their last 15 games. "Theres a lot of us not feeling good right now," said Nick Swisher, who is hitless in his last 24 at-bats. Rick Porcello (3-3) gave up two runs -- one earned -- and three hits while striking out seven over six innings. Ryan Raburn hit a two-run homer off reliever Luke Putkonen to pull the Indians within two runs in the seventh inning and they had a shot to at least get even in the ninth. After Phil Coke pitched 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief, Jose Valverde pitched a shaky ninth for his eighth save in 10 opportunities. Carlos Santana hit a one-out single in the ninth, a flare to right that second baseman Omar Infante almost caught with his back to the plate. Yan Gomes walked to put Raburn -- the potential the go-ahead run -- at the plate and Valverde struck out his former teammate and Mike Aviles to end the game. "He pitched his way out of it," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He made some quality pitches. Two strikeouts to end it, thats pretty good." Carlos Carrasco (1-1) gave up six runs and 10 hits over four-plus innings in what might be his last start for a while. "When you miss your spots, theyre going to hit you and thats what I did," Carrasco said, adding he doesnt know whether the appeal of his suspension will be dropped. The Indians led 1-0 after Porcellos first four pitches. Leadoff hitter Michael Bourn doubled and Jason Kipnins singled before Porcello retired 12 straight while his teammates gave him some run support. Detroit loaded the bases in each of the first three innings, scoring six runs and leaving five on base. Carrasco got out of a one-out jam in the first by getting Victor Martinez to pop out and Jhonny Peralta to fly out.dddddddddddd. The right-hander wasnt as fortunate in the second when Detroit scored four runs on four hits. Andy Dirks hit a two-out RBI single and later, Cabrera drew a walk to load the bases after a nine-pitch at-bat that started with an 0-2 count. Fielder followed with a three-run double on a sharply hit drive to right-centre to give Detroit a 4-1 lead. "You saw a great hitter have a great, disciplined at-bat," Leyland said. "Then, Prince came up with a huge, huge hit." The Tigers loaded the bases without an out in the third and Carrasco got Avisail Garcia to hit into a double play that allowed one run to score. He then gave up Dirks RBI single that made it 6-1. Cleveland put Carrasco on the mound before he is forced to sit. "Maybe we can knock out this suspension," Indians manager Terry Francona said before the game. Carrasco was able to pitch while appealing an eight-game suspension, an argument that potentially could be dropped soon after his outing in Detroit. Major League Baseball suspended him in April for "intentionally throwing" at New Yorks Kevin Youkilis, and he was sent to Triple-A Columbus where he stayed until being recalled for Saturdays start. NOTES: Detroit is skipping RHP Anibal Sanchezs turn in the rotation Sunday in the series finale because theres tightness in the back of his shoulder, creating an opportunity for LHP Jose Alvarez to make his major league debut. The Tigers sent RHP Jose Ortega to Triple-A Toledo to make room on the roster. ... The Indians put RHP Zach McAllister on the 15-day disabled list, hoping to avoid his sprained right finger getting worse. ... Tigers OF Austin Jackson, who has been on the DL since May 12 with a pulled left hamstring, ran from home to second and second to home before the game and team trainer Kevin Rand said he will be evaluated Sunday to determine if hes ready to start a rehab assignment. ... Francona was ejected for the second time in a week, getting tossed in the middle of the eighth inning after getting between Swisher, and plate umpire Andy Fletcher while they were arguing. "I think (Fletcher) lost his composure," Francona said. "I didnt go out there to get thrown out the game." ' ' '
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