On The Strip, following a face off in the defensive zone, the Dallas Stars controlled the puck at center ice and then Wyatt Johnston skated down the right wing, holding the puck before roofing at 16:23 of overtime to give the Stars a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights.
It was Johnston’s second goal of the game, he staked Dallas to a 1-0 lead at 11:11Â of the opening stanza.
“I tried a couple low [shots] and it didn’t work, so I figured I’d throw one up high,” Johnston said. “Luckily enough, it worked.”
Jake Oettinger made 32 saves in the win.
Dallas had taken a 2-0 lead in the game before the Knights rallied to force the extra time.
Miro Heiskanen scored at 5:23 of the middle frame to give the Stars the 2-0 advantage.
“I loved the first period. I think we did some really good things,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Executed at a high, high level and had great desperation to our game. Our game’s building, you know, Game 2 was better than Game 1. Game 3 was better than Game 2. So that’s a great sign for me on our group.”
Game 4 is set for Las Vegas on Monday. Vegas lead the series, 2-1.
Brayden McNabb trimmed the deficit to 2-1 midway through the second period, scoring off a wrister from the edge of the right circle.
“We dug ourselves a hole that we were able to climb ourselves out of, but I do use a lot of energy to get out of there,” Vegas’ Mark Stone said. “Goalie, obviously, kept us in the game for the first 35 minutes, until we got the 2-1 goal. We’re playing a good team, hard to beat the best team in our conference three games in a row.
“So, regroup, we’re off, make a few changes. But for the majority of the game, it was just the start that kind of cost us.”
Vegas tied the game, 2-2, on a shorthanded strike by Jack Eichel at 13:50, scoring off an odd man rush.
“They had a level of urgency that we weren’t able to match. Sometimes that happens,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “At some point you’ve got to get to your game. It just took us too long. Now, having said that, we weather it because of Logan.
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“He gave us every chance to get back in the game, and we did so once it was 2-2, then it was a little bit different, but they executed better than we did. You see it in overtime. They had more jump, more urgency. We didn’t have that level we needed tonight to win a playoff hockey game.”
Logan Thompson made 43 saves in the loss.
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