Do not punch those airline flights to The Strip, just yet.
On Saturday night, Ty Dellandrea hit for a double in the third period to help send the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights in Game 5.
The win trims the Vegas advantage to 3-2 in the series.
Game 6 is back in Dallas on Monday night.
With the game tied, 2-2, in the third,Dellandrea scored to snap the tie at 10:35 for a 3-2 lead to the Stars.
“It’s hard. There’s no denying that it’s hard (to be a healthy scratch),” Dellandrea said. “You just make sure you feel ready and a part of it. … I’m thankful for a good group of character guys. Just got to stay ready. I was just focused on we got to win games, and I was happy for the group.”
Just 87 seconds later, Dellandrea made it 4-2.
“Just been trying to shoot it,” Dellandrea said. “I had an opportunity last game that I really thought I should have capitalized on, and I’ve been getting chances. So, to be able to put in one tonight felt good and contribute in that department.”
Jake Oettinger made 27 saves in the Dallas win.
“We put ourselves in a really tough spot, and to get to the point where we’re at now shows the characters we have in the room and the belief that we have,” Oettinger said. “We’ve done our job at this point, but unfortunately for us our backs are still against the wall.”
The Golden Knights took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the game, but could never find the next goal to put some distance between themselves and Dallas.
“That’s our group. Next man up,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “We got contributions from everyone. Gutsy, gutsy win being down a couple of guys (Jamie Benn, suspension; Evgenii Dadonov, lower-body injury), coming in here, and we talked about taking a bite out of the elephant. We did tonight. We got a couple bites to go, but I like our group. I wouldn’t bet against them.”
Ivan Barbashev scored at 13:36 of the first period to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.
Dallas’ Luke Glendening scored less than two minutes later for a 1-1 tie coming out of the first stanza.
“They had good push back. We got the lead, they just answered just right away,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “That’s something you want to be better at, is trying to extend the lead as opposed as to tying it up again.”
At 3:20 of the middle frame, Chandler Stephenson converted down low for a 2-1 advantage to the Golden Knights.
Vegas were sloppy most of the night with an ice bucket full of turnovers.
“It’s not the right way to play,” Cassidy said. “We’re trying to go to the Stanley Cup Final against a desperate team. To me, it’s the whole game right there. That falls under urgency. You’re not making the right decision with the puck or you’re not supporting it well. It starts right there. That’s the first thing we got to correct.”
Jason Robertson took advantage of a rebound at his skates for a 2-2 tie at 5:29 of the second.
Adin Hill made 30 saves in the Vegas loss.
“I don’t think we played a full 60 minutes,” Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez said. “There were a lot of different things. They were hungrier. They won their battles.
“We’re playing a desperate hockey team, and no one said it would be easy. We have to match their urgency and desperation.”
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