LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights came away with a season-saving win in Game 6 against the Dallas Stars at T-Mobile Arena on Friday night.
After two scoreless periods, Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin scored on a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot to give his team the lead midway through the third period. Hanifin’s shot deflected off Ryan Suter and past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger. Mark Stone added an empty-netter with under 20 seconds to play.
“It was a great hockey game. Fans got their money’s worth,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.
The first-round series will require a Game 7, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at American Airlines Center.
Here are five thoughts from the Stars’ 2-0 loss to Vegas in Game 6:
Noah Hanifin nets the go-ahead goal! ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/5OsXNY0rkJ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 4, 2024
Game 7 brewing
The Stars knew their first-round matchup with the Golden Knights would be challenging, but when they won three straight games it felt like they might have just enough momentum to close it out in six.
However, the Golden Knights found their first home win of the postseason Friday to send the series back to Dallas for a winner-takes-all finale.
After the road team won the first four games of the series, the home team has won the last two, and the Stars will hope to keep that trend going at American Airlines Center.
Friday’s win for Vegas was its first win in a non-Game 7 elimination game in franchise history. However, DeBoer has never lost a Game 7, so history is in his favor.
“Well, there’s nothing better than Game 7s,” DeBoer said. “That’s what you grow up dreaming about, playing in them. The second best thing is coaching in them. I’m excited for our group. I’m excited for our fans in Dallas. Get home, and drop the puck.”
Stars weathered early storm
Ahead of Friday’s game, Stars players said they expected an aggressive start from the Golden Knights after Vegas dropped three consecutive games to put their season on the line.
That is exactly what the Stars faced in the first period, as they miraculously escaped the first 20 minutes without giving up a goal.
Vegas had 26 shot attempts in the first period compared with 14 for Dallas. It also held the shots-on-goal advantage 10-6. Dallas did not get its first shot on goal until nearly eight minutes into the game.
Oettinger kept the game even for his team, as he stopped multiple point-blank shots. Vegas also hit a few posts and had some looks at an empty net but was unable to convert.
The Golden Knights controlled the possession for most of the game, largely because they dominated the faceoff circle. Dallas only won 46.2% of the faceoffs despite being the second-best faceoff team in the league in the regular season (54%).
Another standout night for the netminders
The first-round series between Dallas and Vegas has seen no shortage of exceptional goaltending on both sides. The three netminders who have seen the ice have been arguably the most consistent players all series.
Oettinger was perfect through 2½ periods until Hanifin found the first score of the night. It was the first third-period goal he had allowed all series. He stopped 28 shots total.
“He loves the moment. He loves the pressure,” Tyler Seguin said of Oettinger. “He’s been like that since he got to Dallas. The bigger the stage, the bigger he plays.”
The Golden Knights started goalie Adin Hill again after he played his first game of the playoffs Wednesday. He looked even better than he did in a solid debut, making key saves on breakaways and when Dallas crashed the net. He posted the first shutout of the series, making 23 saves.
“We had enough chances to stick a few in the net. Credit to Hill for making some saves,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to finish on opportunities when you get them at this point in the series because they’re few and far between, and we had some good looks tonight.”
A defensive battle
Defense was the Stars’ weakness for most of the regular season, but Dallas’ blue line has been key all series.
Facing the Golden Knights — arguably the deepest defensive team in the NHL — the Stars matched up and shut out the Golden Knights through nearly 50 minutes in Game 6.
The Stars have done so while effectively using five defensemen all series long. Nils Lundkvist has played under five minutes per night.
During Vegas’ aggressive offensive attack Friday, Stars defensemen made some key blocks that kept Vegas off the board for so long. Dallas had 21 blocked shots vs. 15 for Vegas. Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen and Chris Tanev led the way with six, five and four blocks, respectively.
“You do whatever to keep it out of the net,” Lindell said. “I felt like, overall in the playoffs, the guys have stepped up in blocking shots. That’s one big part of the game.”
Penalty kill comes up big
The Stars and the Golden Knights took fewer penalties than any team in the league in the regular season, and Friday night’s game showed.
Neither team was called for a penalty until midway through the second period when Dallas was given two — the first on Ryan Suter for slashing and the second on Heiskanen for hooking.
Dallas killed off both penalties to keep the score at 0-0. At the end of the second penalty, Jonathan Marchessault’s shot was tipped by William Karlsson and hit the post. Most in the building thought it crossed the line, but play continued and it was not a goal.
Shortly after, the Stars got their first power play of the day, and the Golden Knights held them off the scoreboard as well.
After a Game 5 in which special teams were critical, Game 6 was much more of a defensive battle.
