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The Stars beat the Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime to avoid a West sweep
Aug
The Dallas Stars avoided a sweep in the Western Conference final with a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night, thanks to a power-play goal by Joe Pavelski at 3:18 of overtime.
A day after being pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in Game 3, Dallas’ Jason Robertson scored twice in his first career multi-goal playoff game. Jake Oettinger made 37 saves.
After Brayden McNabb’s high-sticking penalty on Ty Dellandrea, the Stars had the man advantage in overtime, and it only took them 50 seconds to win.
A high-sticking penalty on McNabb late in the first period set up Robertson’s first goal on the power play. It was only the second Vegas penalty of the game, both against McNabb.
Pavelski, 38, has 73 career postseason goals – the most among active players and the most for U.S.-born players.
In the first two minutes of Game 3 on Tuesday night, Benn crossed-checked Vegas captain Mark Stone with his stick which landed near his neck. He will also miss Game 5 on Saturday night.
Adin Hill’s five-game winning streak was snapped by a goal from William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault. In his first career playoff game, he made 39 saves, including one with his extended left leg on a swiping attempt by rookie Fredrik Olofsson with about two minutes left in regulation.
The Knights lost in five games to the Washington Capitals after winning the first game against Karlsson and Marchessault during the inaugural 2017-18 season.
A night after the Florida Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, Vegas missed a chance to complete a sweep.
Midway through the second period, Vegas took a 2-1 lead when Marchessault scored on a cross-ice pass from Brayden McNabb, another original Golden Knight.
Almost immediately after his second shot hit the post, Robertson scored a ricochet off the back board to tie the game late in that period. After becoming the first Dallas player with a 100-point season this regular season, that was his fourth goal in this series, and his sixth in the playoffs.
Dallas avoided being swept in the playoffs in the second round for the first time since 2001 against St. Louis with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and wrestling legend Ric Flair both wearing Stars jerseys. Since then, the Stars have played 21 playoff series.
Again, the Golden Knights scored first – though not like the three goals on five shots that led to Oettinger’s earliest exit ever in Game 3.
In a sprint to the goal, Karlsson pushed the puck up and passed to Nicolas Roy, whose pass through traffic went off a Dallas stick before Reilly Smith, who has been with Vegas since the beginning, took it just inside the right circle. In only 4:17 seconds, Karlsson defused past Oettinger to score his eighth postseason goal.
After Robertson deflected Miro Heiskanen’s shot from just inside the blue line into the air with 4:18 left in the first period, Dallas evened the game at 1-1 on a power play. Robertson knocked the puck free from Hill’s glove while he was trying to secure it, then reached around to swipe it into the net.
As Hill came off his first career playoff shutout, he had stopped 60 shots in a row, including all 10 shots he faced in overtime in Game 2.