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Miss any of the Stars’ season up to this point? Their late collapse vs. the Golden Knights summed it up perfectly

Vegas scored the game’s final four goals to erase the Stars' 3-1 lead entering the third period.

In 60 minutes, the Stars covered the last 10 months.

During their 5-3 loss to the Golden Knights on Monday in their round-robin opener and first meaningful game since March 10, the Stars gave fans an abridged version of their season overall as Vegas scored the game’s final four goals to erase a 3-1 deficit entering the third period.

The Stars are tied with St. Louis at the bottom of the Western Conference round robin, which will determine seeding through the rest of the postseason. They play Colorado on Wednesday afternoon in Edmonton.

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Did you miss the slow start to the season, when Dallas stumbled out of the gates to a 1-7-1 start? Well, the Stars fell behind Monday 64 seconds into the game when Chandler Stephenson scored on the first shot of the game, using a John Klingberg screen to beat Ben Bishop five-hole, and harkening back to the first two games of the season when Bishop failed to stop the first shot.

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Did you miss the resilient response that began in mid-October and saw the Stars become the league’s best team across a four-month stretch? Well, the second period provided that, when the Stars scored three goals in 4:52, repeatedly pumping goals past Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner to take a two-goal lead.

How about Miro Heiskanen’s sophomore campaign, when he transitioned to a true No. 1 defenseman? Heiskanen had three assists Monday. And the potent power play that carried the Stars offense after Rick Bowness took over as coach for Jim Montgomery? The Stars scored on their only power play of the day, when Corey Perry tipped a Heiskanen shot home.

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Perhaps you missed the last-season collapse in March, when the Stars lost six straight games as their already stagnant offense fell silent and their Stanley Cup contender status waned? You just needed to see the third period for that.

Bowness said the Stars were “cute” in the third period.

“We just got away from our game,” Bowness said. “There’s only one way to play this game, it’s the right way. We stopped playing the right way. We just got very soft on the puck. Just the plays at the blue lines were both very soft. All that does is give the other team momentum. So we just made it too easy for them to play.”

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The Stars carried a two-goal lead into the third period, a sizable cushion for Bishop, who helped form one of the league’s best goaltending duos this season. But just as the Stars blitzed the Golden Knights in the second period, Vegas blized them in the third, scoring three goals in 5:01, highlighted by William Carrier’s go-ahead goal with 5:13 remaining.

Carrier’s between-the-legs goal was originally disallowed because of goaltender interference, as he made contact with Bishop before depositing a rebound into the net. The play was challenged by Vegas coach Peter DeBoer and overturned since “incidental contact with Bishop occurred outside of the crease,” according to the NHL.

“He knocked my stick out of my hand, and kind of turned me there, so yeah,” Bishop said when asked if he felt he was interfered with.

William Karlsson iced the game with an empty-net goal with 40 seconds left.

After Monday, you’re all caught up on the Stars season.

Now, it’s up to the Stars how the rest of it turns out. One game in a non-elimination round of the playoffs won’t be the difference between a first-round exit and a Stanley Cup championship. One period won’t be the difference, either.

But consistency will be needed during what is expected to be a topsy-turvy postseason. The team that dominated the second period has to be the one appearing more than the squad that got outshot 16-6 in the third period.

For the Stars, beginning Wednesday, it’s about making the next two months the most promising of the last year.

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