Despite Game 3 loss, Logan Thompson proved undeniable playoff ability

By Case Keefer (contact)

Sunday, April 28, 2024 | 2 a.m.

Defenseman Brayden McNabb ended the celebration of his goal Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena by pointing to goaltender Logan Thompson for a prolonged period.

The reason for the gesture must not have been a mystery to any of the 18,536 fans in attendance to witness the Vegas Golden Knights’ eventual 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars in the teams’ best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoff series.

“We had no business being in that game, but LT stood on his head and saved us, allowed us a chance,” McNabb said afterwards in the locker room.

Vegas wasted one of the greatest individual postseason performances in franchise history by losing to Dallas and seeing its series lead decrease to 2-1.

Thompson, in his third-ever playoff start, drug Vegas all the way into overtime with a career-high with 43 saves. And that number somehow undersells how well the Golden Knights’ netminder played.

Dallas wasn’t just padding its shots-on-goal count with attempts that stood little chance. These were premium shots.

The Stars posted an astronomical 54 scoring chances and 27 high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. McNabb and the defensemen continually and admittedly let Thompson down by allowing so many.

The forward groups that had contributed so significantly to the team’s sterling defensive efforts in the first two games of the series weren’t much better, and equally critical of their own performances.

“(Thompson) was the only reason we really had a chance halfway through the game,” Golden Knights’ captain Mark Stone said. “It probably could have been 5 or 6-0. We gave up a ton of odd-man rushes, breakaways, two-on-ones. We really gave it all, and he was there to bail us out.”

Among Thompson’s best saves were a pad kick-away of a Tyler Seguin breakaway in the first period and a stonewalling of Wyatt Johnston late in regulation. Johnston, Dallas’ 20-year-old phenom, did get a couple pucks through Thompson but none of the Stars’ other top forwards could crack him despite an onslaught of opportunities.

Thompson already had 10 high-danger stops before the Vegas defense failed to clear back-to-back rebounds midway through the first period to lead to Johnston punching a goal in from point-blank range.

Then, at the start of the second period, Vegas’ newly-formed third line of Anthony Mantha, Tomas Hertl and William Karlsson mishandled a puck to lead to an odd-man rush for the Stars. It took a series of three straight quick-strike passes — from Logan Stankoven to Seguin to Evgenii Dadonov — to set up defenseman Miro Heiskanen to blast a shot past Thompson.

The goal wasn’t much of a wake-up call for Vegas, which continued giving up high-quality looks. But the Golden Knights also converted on a couple much-tougher chances of their own.

McNabb boomed his goal in off a wrister that went over Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger’s shoulder from the left faceoff circle. Center Jack Eichel then put in a similarly-placed goal about three minutes later off a shorthanded rush to make the score 2-2.

The Golden Knights had found a way to give themselves a chance to win in a game where they hadn’t yet been very competitive.

“We weathered it because of Logan,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He gave us every chance to get back in the game and we did. Once it was 2-2, it was a little bit different, but they executed a little better than we did. You saw it in overtime. They had more jump, more urgency. We didn’t have the level we needed tonight to win a playoff hockey game for whatever reason.”

The Golden Knights had their best frame, and even mostly controlled the third period, but Oettinger settled in for what felt like the first time in the playoffs. The All-Star recorded 32 saves, but his outing still paled in comparison to Thompson’s.

The Golden Knights generated a fraction of the Stars’ success from a quality standpoint, with only 26 scoring chances and four high-danger chances.

Lethargy struck them again in overtime, as Dallas seemed to be attacking in double-speed. Thompson had at least four more big-time saves, before Johnston sped past Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore and lofted a puck over Thompson with less than four minutes left to play in the first overtime.

“The score could be a lot different,” Vegas forward Chandler Stephenson said in the intermission before overtime on the team’s radio broadcast. “Obviously, (Thompson) has come in and played tremendous for us. There’s not a lot to be said. He’s our best player, in all three games.”

That’s not bad for someone who was unsure to get the playoff assignment as the No.1 goaltender. Thompson was playing extremely well by the end of the regular season, but many wondered if it would be enough to unseat Adin Hill after the way the latter helped the team win the Stanley Cup in last year’s playoffs.

Cassidy himself seemed to not be totally convinced and stopped short of fully committing to Thompson when he announced him as the Game 1 starter. Cassidy described the decision as not being easy and said the Golden Knights would “start” with Thompson in the playoffs and “see how it goes.”

No more disclaimers are needed after the first three games, especially the latest. Thompson has been more than up to the task.

Vegas probably drops at least one of the two tight, series-opening victories in Dallas if not for Thompson’s timely saves. It would have gotten completely embarrassed without him in Game 3.

If the Golden Knights want to keep the series from slipping out of their control in Game 4 at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at T-Mobile Arena, they need to do more to support their goalie.

“He was like Dominik Hasek down there,” Oettinger said of Thompson. “He was incredible. Those are hard mentally when the other guy is playing that well.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or