In Dallas, Roope Hintz had the only marker on penalties on Saturday afternoon in a 2-1 win for the Stars over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Despite the loss, the Knights clinched home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
“We started the year, went to training camp, the team missed the playoffs the year before. So that’s the first box you wanted to check,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We did that. Going to open at home now. We’re a good road team, so to me, there’s importance to that. I think for us, we’d be okay wherever we played, but we have an opportunity to win the [Pacific] Division. This team likes to win things, so that’s the next thing in front of them. We’d like to do that.”
Jake Oettinger made 19 saves in the Dallas win.
“Two good teams, we’re both at the top of the West for a reason, and we want to play [the Golden Knights] at some point in the playoffs,” Oettinger said. “They’re a great team and it’s going to be tight like that in the playoffs. It’s a good little way to show us what we have ahead of us.”
The Stars improved to 44-21-14, and moved into the top spot in the Central Division, at least temporarily.
“They’ve got a good defensive team,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s arguably the best defense in the League. They’re not going to give you a lot. At the same time, I thought we didn’t make it tough enough on them most of the night anyway. You get 80 games in, you’re not going to complain about wins against good teams. We found a way to get two points, which is the most important thing this time of year.”
Brett Howden scored off a breakaway in the opening stanza to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead.
“I think all these games lately have had that [playoff] feel to it,” Howden said. “Obviously, for us, they’re important points. Coming down to the end here, we want to shape our game to be ready for the first game of the playoffs, but also still trying to get some points. I think every game has kind of had that feel lately.”
Joel Kiviranta scored in the second period for Dallas, to tie the game, 1-1.
“Our kind of job is to get the energy and get the forecheck going,” Kiviranta said. “I know when other teams are scouting off the best lines, that’s our little window to put something on the scoreboard too.”
Jonathan Quick made 24 saves in the Vegas loss.
“That was a tight-knit game,” Vegas defenseman Ben Hutton said. “It was almost like a playoff-like feel out there. There were some hits, some big blocks. We were doing what we could to win. A bounce here, a bounce there and it could have been a different story, but it was a good game.”
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