It was the first time they played each other since the Western Conference Final in the bubble two seasons ago. And it was a game in which Dallas had to be careful. The Vegas Golden Knights played last night in Colorado. They stayed there and got on a plane this morning to fly to Dallas. The Dallas Stars have been in Dallas since late Monday/early Tuesday after a game in Columbus. Vegas is down some key players while Dallas got some much needed help. All of this made for a dangers game at the American Airlines Center.
With five minutes left in the first period, Daryl Reaugh made the comment on the broadcast that Vegas is going to be happy to get to intermission with a tie. That’s exactly what happened and you have to think Razor was right. The Dallas Stars dominated the first period as they out-shot the visitors 15-5 in the frame. That didn’t matter, though, because they were tied heading into the first intermission.
For two of the lowest scoring teams in the league this year, they both lit up the goal light early in this one. Dallas got on the board first when Luke Glendening tipped a Miro Heiskanen shot in past goalie Laurent Brossoit. Less than two minutes later Shea Theodore knotted it up at a goal apiece.
That’s all the scoring in the first but Dallas had other opportunities. Roope Hintz found himself open in front of the net but couldn’t get it past Brossoit. It wasn’t the only opportunity Hintz had either. Early in the second period he hit a rocket that went off the pipe.
Seven minutes into the second period, the Stars would regain the lead. This time it was Alexander Radulov with a tip on a shot from the blue line that came of the stick of Jani Hakanpää.
That was the last goal scored until just over a minute left in the third. With the goalie pulled, Vegas got the equalizer. It was Jonathan Marchessault with a one timer that got past Anton Khudobin. The Stars had one more chance in regulation. Glendening had a shot right in front of the goal but was denied by Brossoit.
So another overtime game for the Stars. Unlike the previous three games that went to overtime, the Stars drop this one. Two minutes into the extra frame, Evgenii Dadanov found himself with the puck alone in front of Khudobin. A second later and the puck was in the back of the net giving the Knights a 3-2 win. Dallas finished the game with 34 shots on goal but could only manage two goals.