For the third and final meeting between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights it was proving to be another high stakes game. It was a fast and furious first period, that had Vegas with 11 shots on goal and Dallas with 5 early on. But it was the Golden Knights that were able to get one in past Ben Bishop to strike first with 7:47 left in the period. It was the first goal the Golden Knights have ever scored on Ben Bishop and it was Alex Tuch that squeaked it in past Bishop.
5:32 left in the first period and Tyler Pitlick would not give up until the puck was in the back of the net and his tenacity would pay off. Maxime Lagace would get his left leg on the puck but not able to trap it in, so the puck was still loose in the crease and Pitlick just kept poking his stick until it crossed the line. The Golden Knights would not challenge for goalie interference and so the goal would stand, all tied up now at one a piece.
Dallas gets the first power-play of the evening as Tyler Seguin gets tripped up, and with very few power-plays for the Stars through the past few games you can only imagine how hungry the units would be. But nothing is able to get anywhere for Dallas in the power-play, and so the clock runs to about 53 seconds and Vegas gets called for hooking. The majority of the power-play would go into the second period, so as the buzzer sounds its a 1-1 game with the Golden Knights putting up 13 shots on goal and the Stars with 14.
Opening the second period and John Klingberg gets the call for holding. So the Stars go on the penalty kill, but with 16 seconds remaining in the minor, David Perron wins a 1-on-1 battle against Tyler Seguin and finds the netting to put Vegas up 2-1.
A half a minute after Vegas takes the lead and Jason Spezza answers the call to tie the game back up. Mattias Janmark in the slot finds Spezza rolling to the net and Spezza fires it home for the goal, 2-2.
Spezza took advantage of the real estate available here. #GoStars pic.twitter.com/ACg336SYgD
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) December 10, 2017
A second period that continued to be all about the offense and flurries of goals, as the Golden Knights put another one up on the scoreboard. The Stars turn the puck over and Reilly Smith gets a hold of it and finds the netting to put Vegas up 3-2.
With a delayed penalty on Alexander Radulov, the Golden Knights extend their lead to 4-2 with a goal from Brayden McNabb. The flurry of goals from the second period continues, just not so much in the Stars favor and trailing by two now it was only midway through the period. Three minutes to go in the middle frame and Stephen Johns gets called for tripping. Yet the Stars are able to kill their first penalty of the game and as the period comes to a close, its Dallas trailing the Golden Knights 4-2.
The third period looked like it was going to be more of the same story, good scoring chances but nothing able to get in the net for the Stars. But five or so minutes into the third and Jamie Benn cuts the deficit down to one and just like that Dallas was still in it. Tyler Seguin gives it off to Benn who got the short side of Lagace and rose it up with the wrist shot past the net-minder, 4-3 Golden Knights.
Teams have combined for 72 shots tonight, 36 apiece.
— Scott Burnside (@OvertimeScottB) December 10, 2017
And just like that the Stars would find some life and looked to tie the game back up yet again. But with only a minute left and the extra attacker on the ice, the Golden Golden Knights got one into the empty net and put the lead out of reach. The Stars lose to Vegas 5-3 and have now dropped three straight games. The Stars will head to New York to play the Rangers on Monday at 6:00 pm CST.