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March 29, 2024

Blog: Golden Knights allow late goal, but beat Stars in overtime

Golden Knights Take on the Dallas Stars

John Locher/AP

Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) skates around Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell (23) and defenseman Miro Heiskanen (4) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, in Las Vegas.

Updated Friday, Dec. 13, 2019 | 7:48 p.m.

DALLAS — Max Pacioretty scored 51 into overtime Friday as the Golden Knights defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Vegas improved to 5-1 on the second game of a back-to-back this season, as well as going to 6-2 all-time against Dallas. The Golden Knights finished with a 31-30 edge in shots on goal.

Vegas did everything it could to keep the game from even getting to overtime. The Golden Knights were in good shape in the third period, holding a lead and not letting the Dallas Stars mount much in terms of a comeback.

But they bent with 5:11 left in the third period when Jamie Benn worked his way to the front of the net and redirected a Tyler Seguin feed by Malcolm Subban to even the game at 2-2 and send it to overtime at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Dallas started the game on fire, scoring at 15:14 of the first after controlling virtually the entire 20 minutes. The Stars were clearly the better team early on, but that didn't last.

The Golden Knights' defense was porous in the first, but the offense took over in the second. For the second game in a row Vegas conceded the first goal, but for the second game in a row it answered wirth two in a row. 

William Karlsson was first, finishing off a great shift with his 10th goal of the season at 4:17, then Chandler Stephenson scored his second since his trade to Vegas at 14:41 to put the Golden Knights up 2-1 after two period.

The Golden Knights were as dominant in the second period as the Stars were in the first. They turned a massive disadvantage in shots on goal after a period into a slight lead after two, and positioned themselves with a lead after 40 minutes. 

Strong second period puts Golden Knights up after 2

The Golden Knights needed a period to get things going, but once they did they were hard to stop. Vegas collected a pair of goals and grabbed a 2-1 lead over the Dallas Stars at the end of the second period at American Airlines Center.

William Karlsson got it started with quite a shift early in the second period. First he and Reilly Smith worked a sweet give-and-go to put hi in position for a good look from the left circle. That one was stopped, but his next one wasn't.

Jonathan Marchessault worked the puck down low to Ben Bishop's left, then slid a no-look back-handed pass through traffic to Karlsson. Bishop got turned around following Marchessault and the puck, giving Karlsson an open net to shoot at. He didn't miss, and tied he game 1-1 at 4:17.

As bad as the first period was for Vegas, the second period was that good. The ice was slanted in the Golden Knights' direction. They spent almost all the period in the offensive zone before and after Karlsson's goal. To prove the point, they scored another one before the period ended.

Chandler Stephenson scored his second goal as a Golden Knight at 14:41. There was little fancy about, collecting a Max Pacioretty touch pass and racing down the left wing before sniping it over Ben Bishop's blocker for a 2-1 Vegas lead.

At 5-on-5 in the second, the Golden Knights led in shot attempts 22-10 and had 66.8% of the expected goals. In all situations, they grabbed a 23-22 lead in shots on goal for the game.

Golden Knights start slow, down 1 to Stars after 1

The Golden Knights wanted to come out with a fast start against the Dallas Stars. Instead, they spent a lot of the first period in their own end and trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes at American Airlines Center on Friday night.

The Stars had a strong shift about six minutes into the first, getting two good looks at the end. The first came when both Deryk Engelland and Nick Holden were fighting off the puck to the left of the net, and the second got through, Malcolm Subban, but Engelland was there to fish it out of the crease and clear it.

It was an entertaining back-and-forth start to the game. Shortly after the Dallas attack, William Carrier and Ryan Reaves went the other way for a Vegas 2-on-1, on which Carrier had a good look at the net but Ben Bishop kicked it aside.

After the halfway mark though, the Stars owned the period. They had been controlling possession and finally got on the board with 4:46 to play. It was an innocuous enough shot, a point attempt from Taylor Fedun, but there was enough traffic in front that Subban couldn't glove it down and Dallas grabbed a 1-0 lead.

The Stars led 15-7 in shots on goal and 31-14 in attempts, but it was even more than that. They had seven of the period's eight high-danger scoring chances and 76.7% of the expected goals.

Golden Knights look to keep back-to-back success against red-hot Stars

The good news for the Golden Knights heading into today's 5 p.m. game with the Dallas Stars is that they played Thursday night.

Vegas has thrived this season on the second night of a back-to-back, going 4-1 on the second night. The Golden Knights had a short flight from St. Louis Thursday night after a quick game to take on the Stars at American Airlines Center for the second time in two weeks. Coming off a loss Thursday night, they're ready to go.

"We're probably a little bit mad and upset with ourselves," Vegas forward Alex Tuch said. "Especially when you lose, it gives you extra motivation to go out and be better the next day."

The Golden Knights have only lost once in a game when they played the night before, and even in that 3-2 loss in Detroit, they still had a lead in the third period. Some players have mentioned that they like being in "game mode," going right from one game to another without much down time. They were able to rest the whole day, having not skated this morning.

In Thursday's game against the Blues, the Golden Knights outplayed St. Louis in the first and third periods but were beaten by a bad middle frame. In second periods this year, the Golden Knights have been outscored 36-29, the only regulation frame they have not scored more than the opposition.

Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said he doesn't think it's a problem, pointing to the plus-77 shots on goal differential that is by far their best of any period, but that it's something that needs to change.

"I don't know what it is, but it's got to stop," Gallant said. "We've got to make sure we're playing better in the second period. We've got to play 60 minutes. That's the bottom line."

The Stars have been one of the best teams in hockey since a dreadful 1-7-1 start, winning 17 of 23 since then, including three in a row. They beat the Golden Knights 4-2 in this building on Nov. 25 but are 2-5 all-time against Vegas.

The Golden Knights will start Malcolm Subban in net after Marc-Andre Fleury played Thursday night. Vegas will be without defenseman Nicolas Hague for the second game in a row after he was "under the weather" Thursday.

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights plus-145, Stars minus-165; over/under: 5.5 (plus-105, minus-125)

Golden Knights (16-13-5, 37 points) (8-7-2 road), fourth place, Pacific Division; second place, Wild Card

Coach: Gerard Gallant (third season)

Points leader: Max Pacioretty (28)

Goals leader: Reilly Smith (13)

Assists leader: William Karlsson (17)

Expected goalie: Malcolm Subban (3.04 GAA, .901 save percentage)

Stars (18-11-3, 39 points) (12-4-1 home), fourth place, Central Division; first place, Wild Card

Interim coach: Rick Bowness (second game)

Points leader: Tyler Seguin (23)

Goals leader: Roope Hintz (11)

Assists leader: Tyler Seguin (17)

Expected goalie: Ben Bishop (2.03 GAA, .934 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

William Carrier—Paul Stastny—Alex Tuch

Valentin Zykov—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Jon Merrill—Shea Theodore

Nick Holden—Deryk Engelland

Goalies

Malcolm Subban, Marc-Andre Fleury

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