It’s too early to say that the Rockies have been reborn, but they sure look recharged, revitalized and rejuvenated.

Their 8-3 victory over the Padres on Wednesday night at Coors Field offered the latest proof.

One night after losing a 1-0 game at home for the first time since Aug. 1, 2006, the Rockies rebounded with an impressive performance and snapped their seven-game losing streak to San Diego. Behind a strong start from Tomoyuki Sugano and a huge night at the plate from Hunter Goodman, Colorado improved to 10-15, including a 7-5 record at Coors.

Great shakes? No, but compared to a year ago, it’s baseball nirvana.

“There is a lot of confidence in this group and we have shown that we can do good things,” said Goodman, who hit 3 for 4 with a solo home run and two doubles. “You are not going to keep us down to three hits. You’re not going to do that a lot, and I think we have confidence as a group that we are going to bounce back, especially in this ballpark.”

After the first 25 games of last season’s 119-loss debacle, the Rockies were 4-21 and had already suffered a six-game losing streak and an eight-game losing streak, and they were three games deep into another eight-game skid.  In 2025, the Rockies did not win their 10th game until June 2, to improve to 10-50.

Sugano, who pitched poorly in Colorado’s 7-1 home loss to the Dodgers last Friday, handled the Padres for 5 2/3 innings. The veteran right-hander allowed one run on five hits, struck out four and walked one. He was never in serious trouble, though he departed the game with Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts on base after back-to-back, two-out singles. But reliever Jaden Hill cleaned up the mess by getting Gavin Sheets to ground out to second.

“Sugano has been fantastic,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s locating the heater, and tonight the slider was really good, and the sweeper was good. He was just competing and attacking the zone. He’s a professional, and you can tell that when he goes out there.

“I think every time out there is probably a different pitch working for him. Tonight it was the sweeper and the slider.”

Sugano, who improved to 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA  through his five starts with Colorado, said he’s enjoying his time in Colorado.

“It’s a new team, new coaching staff, new environment, and good teammates,” he said through his interpreter, Yuto Sakurai. “Overall, it’s a very good environment for me so far.”

Last season, the Rockies’ offense often got stuck in a rut and stayed there, spinning its wheels. In their 1-0 loss on Tuesday night, the Rockies managed just three hits. But they pounded out 15 hits on Wednesday, and scored five of their eight runs with two outs.

Goodman launched a 427-foot leadoff home run in the eighth, his sixth homer of the season, tying Mickey Moniak for the team lead.

Moniak continues to rake. He hit two doubles and drove in a run, and has hit safely in his last seven games, slashing .346/.393/.654 during the streak. Rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield drove in Goodman with an RBI single in the fourth and scored Moniak with a double in the sixth. Rumfield and Moniak are tied for the team lead with 13 RBIs.

San Diego veteran right-hander Walker Buehler dominated the Rockies on April 10 at Petco Park, pitching six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, walking none, and striking out four. Wednesday night, he got the hook after just 2 2/3 innings. The Rockies wrecked Buehler for four runs on eight hits, and he walked three.

The differing results were not solely due to different ballparks. The Rockies attacked Buehler differently this time around.

“It’s another step forward for us,” Schaeffer said. “Just the fact that we forced him to throw so many pitches within the first three innings (82), just tells me we are spitting on the balls.

“It’s so simple. I don’t want to make too much out of it, but it’s baseball. It’s spitting on the balls and offering at pitches in the zone. That’s what we did tonight. It was good and we have to do it again tomorrow.”

Colorado will attempt to win its third series of the season on Thursday afternoon vs. the Padres. Last season, Colorado didn’t win its third series until July 18-20, when it took two of three games from Minnesota at Coors.

Pitching probables

Thursday: Padres RHP Matt Waldron (0-1, 14.73 ERA) at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-1, 6.00), 1:10 p.m.

A Colorado district attorney on Tuesday announced criminal charges against a Customs and Border Protection officer who was recorded yanking a protester by her hair and pushing her to the ground last fall.

CBP Officer Nicholas Rice was charged with assault in the third degree and criminal mischief, District Attorney Sean Murray for Colorado’s 6th Judicial District, said in a news release. The charges are a misdemeanor and a petty offense, respectively.

Murray said he decided to file charges after “a thorough investigation conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.”

The incident took place in late October outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, a small left-leaning town in southwestern Colorado, where hundreds of people gathered to protest the arrest of a Colombian father and his two children.

Rice was recorded on video snatching a phone out of 57-year-old Franci Stagi’s hands and then grabbing her hair and shoving her down an embankment. Stagi told The Colorado Sun at the time that she had been recording the officer and asked him, “You’re a good Christian, aren’t you?” which she said set him off.

The Durango Herald reported that federal officers used physical force against protesters and deployed pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

DENVER — When getting good looks but failing to finish against a locked-in goalie, it’s not easy to stick to a game plan. But instead of pressing, Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar’s group showed maturity, even after the Los Angeles Kings’ Artemi Panarin scored what could’ve been a back-breaking first goal of Game 2 late in the third period.

Captain Gabriel Landeskog buried a perfect pass from Martin Nečas three minutes after Panarin scored. Then Nicolas Roy scored the game-winner, giving Colorado a 2-1 win and 2-0 series lead.

“I liked our mentality again tonight,” Bednar said, adding that he was pleased with his team’s defensive effort. “That’s how we have to win. It’s good practice. It’s something we’ve been talking about all year, the importance of defending, and I’m happy with the commitment that we’re getting from our guys.”

The Avalanche led the league in goals scored this season, but they also were stingy defensively, allowing fewer goals than any other team. Through two games, they’ve shown a willingness to play tight-checking, low-scoring games and get the results they need.

“We have absolutely no problem playing this way,” said Landeskog, who scored from the slot after Nečas caught the previously-impenetrable Anton Forsberg out of position and set his captain up for an open look. “If you get a little impatient with it, you start forcing plays. And I thought tonight, we just kind of kept it going. Kept trusting our forecheck, and finally, we ended up getting rewarded for it.”

Colorado has controlled the series at five-on-five. The Kings’ only two goals have come on power plays, and Colorado had 79.05 percent of the expected goal share at five-on-five Tuesday, per Natural Stat Trick.

It was an odd night that included a broken glass delay, a choppy first period and a waved-off goal after a puck got lodged in the side of the net. Let’s dig into all of it.

Roy plays hero

With goalie Patrick Roy and forward Peter Forsberg’s retired numbers hanging in the Ball Arena rafters, it was probably a bit disorienting seeing a Roy score on a Forsberg in overtime. But that’s what happened when trade deadline addition Nic Roy backhanded a loose puck past Anton Forsberg’s left pad, punched the air and jumped into the glass in celebration.

The goal was Roy’s second overtime goal in his career. He scored the Game 4 winner for the Vegas Golden Knights in their 2021 conference final series against Montreal. That goal also came at the net-front.

“I like to be in (that) area, and a lot of those (overtime) goals are scored there,” Roy said. “So I try to be there as much as I can.”

“He’s a really smart player,” Nathan MacKinnon said. “It might not be everyone’s first pick (to score), but it takes a full team to win in the playoffs.”

Josh Manson fired a shot from the point to create chaos around the net ahead of Roy’s goal, and Bednar also credited Nazem Kadri with making a slick play to get the puck to his defenseman.

Physicality and a penalty parade define the first

D.J. Smith didn’t quite get his exact wish of his players hitting Colorado’s defensemen more in the first half of the first period, but he did get big hits. Shortly after Colorado’s Josh Manson laid a massive body check on Scott Laughton, Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson hit Martin Nečas in the neutral zone, seemingly catching him in the head.

Nečas went down, bloodied, and chaos ensued. Brett Kulak went after Anderson. Scrums broke out next to the Kings net. Sam Malinski brought down Quinton Byfield, and Mathieu Joseph did the same to Artturi Lehkonen. Anderson did not get a penalty for the hit, though he and Kulak were handed matching roughing minors. Kulak got an extra penalty for a cross check. (Nečas briefly left the game, presumably because he was pulled by a concussion spotter, but returned.)

“There were big hits,” Bednar said. “We gave some. We took some too, but it’s all right. That’s what’s going to happen this time of the year. You’re playing a big, strong, physical team, and sometimes I like it. Can wake some guys up if they’re not going, and you can ramp up your competitive spirit.”

It was the most dramatic stretch of a rugged first period that included seven minor penalties. The string of infractions slowed some of the momentum Colorado gathered from a furious start. The Avalanche led 9-0 in shots through the first 6:04. The period ended with Colorado leading 14-6 in shots.

After Anderson’s hit, scrums broke out after seemingly every whistle. At one point Jeff Malott caught Cale Makar with an elbow. Nečas also took a chance to hit Anderson toward the end of the period.

“There were a bunch of melees on the ice today,” Bednar said. “It felt like playoff hockey, which is the way you want it to feel. It tests your team, and it’s why it’s the most fun time of the year to play in the playoffs.”

In total, the period took around 45 minutes. The Kings got big saves from Anton Forsberg, allowing them to stay in the game and shift it into a rugged style that favored them, at least temporarily. It wasn’t enough in the end.

“To a man, this team’s playing hard,” Kings coach D.J. Smith added. “We have to find a way to win, though.”

Goalies continue strong start to the series

Darcy Kuemper started the year as Kings starter, but Anton Forsberg became their go-to goalie during their late-season playoff push. He has continued his strong play into the first round. In Game 1, he made 30 saves on 32 shots. He was sharp again Tuesday, helping the Kings withstand Colorado’s early onslaught of shots. Colorado gave him a tough look early in the second. Kadri fed Landeskog on the slot, and Forsberg managed to parry it away. Late in the second, he got in front of turnaround shots from both Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon. The Avalanche eventually beat him in the third when he overcommitted to Nečas, who instead passed to Landeskog in the slot.

He finished the night with 34 saves. He wasn’t quite able to make a 35th, giving up the game-winner to Roy.

“We’re right there, playing well,” Forsberg said. “We’re fighting hard. We just have to stick with it and turn this around.”

Across the ice, Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves. Panarin beat him with a dangerous shot from the slot for the lone goal he allowed in regulation, but overall he continued to give Colorado the dependable goaltending expected of him. His highlight came when he stopped Quinton Byfield on a penalty shot. He robbed Byfield again in overtime, making a glove save on a shot off the rush.

A penalty, a penalty shot and a long wait

Jeff Malott took an ill-advised boarding penalty on Artturi Lehkonen in one of many instances of the Kings’ fourth line toeing the line of too much physicality. The Avalanche were in position to gain the lead — or at least some momentum — but Cale Makar mishandled a puck at the blue line, leading to a Quinton Byfield breakaway. Makar got called for a hook as he raced back to catch the forward, and the referees awarded a penalty shot.

Byfield tried to beat Wedgewood glove side, but the goalie made the save. The crowd erupted in excitement, but that came with an unexpected drawback. Fans banged on the glass behind the Kings’ bench, and a pane of it shattered. Kings coach D.J. Smith got smothered with shards. It caused a 19-minute stoppage for clean up.

If the Wedgewood save was going to serve as momentum for the Avalanche power play, the delay stopped that. Nathan MacKinnon got called for interference on Alex Laferriere shortly after play resumed.

“I think the flow would kind of come and go a little bit,” MacKinnon said. “Not ideal with the glass, but it was the same for both teams.”

“They just handled it better coming out of that,” Bednar added.

MacKinnon and Bednar both felt the Avalanche were able to push the pace more in the second half of the second period.

Another waved-off goal

Sam Malinski fired a shot toward the net to start the third period. It got caught in the side of the net, but not on the inside. Malinski thought he scored, and the goal horn went off. After review, though, it was clear the puck was lodged on the side of the cage.

It was the second Avalanche goal waved off in as many games. Logan O’Connor had a goal waved off for goaltender interference last game.

Panarin shows why Kings traded for him

The Kings acquired Artemi Panarin from the Rangers to bring a gamebreaking offensive talent into a lineup that lacked it. He validated their trust late in the third period. He played his normal shift with the top power-play unit, then stayed on with the second grouping. Trevor Moore found him with a pass in the slot, and he buried it.

Colorado’s top skilled players had more chances than Los Angeles’, but Panarin came through when he got his best look of the night. He also scored the Kings’ only goal of Game 1.