The Dallas Stars are down 0-2 after a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at home in the first round of the NHL Playoffs on Wednesday night.
Dallas started quickly as expected looking because of early penalties and power-play goals put it in an early deficit in Game 1 as both goalies fought to keep the game close in a much more physical affair.
The power play and penalty kill were once again important in Wednesday’s game. The Stars scored the game’s first goal on Wednesday as Jason Robertson received a pass from defenseman Miro Heiskanen near the blue line, advanced the puck toward the net, and shot past Vegas’ Logan Thompson for a power-play goal.
It was Robertson’s second goal in two games. However, Vegas responded as Jack Eichel received a long pass past the Dallas defense and made a move on goalie Jake Oettinger that drew him out of the crease, opening up the goal and the net for Jonathan Marchessault to tie the game with his second goal of the series.
Dallas did a good job preventing Vegas from getting quality scoring chances for most of the game, but Oettinger had to make some big saves to keep the Stars in the game as it continued — including a sequence in the second period during which he stretched out and stopped Shea Theodore on three shots in a row.
The goalies kept battling throughout the game as goals proved to be few and far between. Dallas forward Wyatt Johnston created a great scoring chance by coming off the bench and getting past the defense to reach the crease, but Thompson stretched out and got a skate on the puck to keep the game tied.
That eventually led to Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin sending a bouncing puck through traffic and past Oettinger for what would end up being the game-winning goal with just over a minute left in the second period.
Dallas continued to make mistakes that led to Vegas scoring chances late in the game, but Oettinger’s effort was enough to give the Stars a chance to tie the game. They pulled the goalie with 1:51 left, but Eichel found the empty net to seal the game for Vegas with 33.8 seconds on the clock.
Dallas also lost forwards Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment to injury, and the team did not provide any updates on the players.
The Stars now trail Vegas 2-0 in a playoff series for the second year in a row and will have to win one of the next two games to guarantee another home game this season.
“We’ve got a lot of veterans in this room, and they’ve been around for a long time,” Stars forward Jason Robertson told the media postgame. “We’ve been a good road team this year. It’s going to be a grind, but everyone in here is going to be confident and ready to go.”
“You can’t just dwell on the negative at this point,” head coach Pete DeBoer added. “I think you’ve got to look and go, ‘OK, we’ve been the best road team in the league all year. Now, we’ve got to go in there and win some road games.'”
Game 3 is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in Vegas.