In Dallas, the visiting Vegas Golden Knights had four shots on goal in the middle frame, and two in the third on Tuesday night. For the game, the Stars outshot the Knights, 34-16 for the match.
“Yeah, I’m not sure you could script much worse,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said after their 4-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
“I actually liked our energy. I loved us on the penalty kill. Even though we gave up the first goal and Jamie took the penalty, I thought we had the legs and the energy and attitude to kind of survive it and we didn’t. So, that’s the unfortunate part of it. Now we’re in a big hole and we’ve got to find a way to win a game on Thursday.”
Under most circumstances, you might think the it was blow out for the Stars.
And you would be wrong, badly wrong.
Vegas stormed out early in the game and took a 4-0 win in Game 3 for a 3-0 series lead.
“We finished plays right,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “So, you get a lead on the road, it makes it a little bit easier to relax and play, not to chase the game. Puck management, we played behind them, we forecheck, we create turnovers, and we play in the [offensive] zone with puck possession. We’ve talked about that being a big part of our game in the playoffs. We feel we’re doing something to put pressure on them. It wasn’t just luck or a fortunate break, we did it by playing the way we wanted to play.”
Jonathan Marchessault scored on the first Vegas shot of the night with 71 seconds gone in the game for a 1-0 lead to the Golden Knights.
Really, that was the game.
“A lot of stuff tonight’s between the ears,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “As a group, we know that you’ve got to beat us one more time. We have a tight group in here, a lot of character, and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”
Dallas had no answer for the Golden Knights in the first period who built a 3-0 lead in the opening 7:10 of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final.
“Losses, you don’t like them this time of year,” Dallas forward Joe Pavelski said. “We’ve got to go play hockey. We’ve got to go out, reestablish some momentum for us, work as a four-line team like we’ve done all year and lay it on the line.
“Find a few goals along the way and try to get a win.”
Ivan Barbashev scored at 5:57 of the first, off the power play, to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.
William Carrier scored at 7:10 to push the advantage to 3-0.
It was not Dallas’ night, Jamie Benn took a major cross checking penalty, and game misconduct in the first two minutes of the game. That set the tone for the Stars who were outplayed from the opening face off.
Benn ejection was just 42 seconds after Vegas took the 1-+0 lead.
Adin Hill made 34 saves for the shutout win.
“I feel pretty good about my game right now, but it speaks volumes to our team too,” Hill said. “We haven’t lost many games in these playoffs. We’re on a kind of roll right now and playing really well defensively, so I just want to keep it going and just focus on the next game.”
Game 4 is set for Thursday in Dallas.
Alex Pietrangelo scored his first of the post season near the midway point of the middle frame for a 4-0 lead, and final score.
“We’re frustrating the top players, skilled players, but it’s a buy-in throughout the lineup. It’s not one [defense pair] or one forward line,” Pietrangelo said. “Yeah, there’s certainly matchups that we use, but collectively as a group, we’re clogging up the middle of the ice and we’re frustrating teams. Guys are paying a price, they’re blocking shots when they need to block shots, and [Hill] is doing his job when he needs to.”
At 19:38 of the second stanza, Dallas’ Max Domi thought the Star were not playing from behind nearly enough and took a series of penalties including roughing, cross checking, and misconduct calls.
Benn and Domi will almost certainly face disciplinary calls this week.
Vegas had 10 shots in the first period for the 3-0 advantage, and then settled into a defensive game that smothered the Dallas offense for the next 40 minutes.
The Stars have a lot of soul searching to do before Game 4 on Thursday. They were not ready for the first home game in the series, and they were unable to generate any push back.
“Let’s put it this way: [He] made a mistake, he feels really badly about it,” DeBoer said. “I don’t think anyone in the building feels worse than he does about it. I’m not going to pile on him. He’s been a leader here for his entire career and leads by example every day on and off the ice. [He] made a mistake.
“Fortunately, Mark Stone is OK and we’ve got to live with the consequences, and the consequences was a big hole. But I’m not going to stand here and pile on tonight. I don’t think it does anybody any good.”
Dallas’ 23 shots over the final 40 minutes of the game were from the outside, and Hill was given a clear line of sight on each of them.
“The guys did a tremendous job on the kill early on,” Pavelski said. “When stuff like that happens, we’re killing it good. We get a rush there and it comes back and it ends up in our net. Guys were ready; we went in with good intentions. It looked like [Benn] was going to have a big game. From the couple of shifts he had, he was engaged right away, then got tied up and [everything] happened from there. We’ve just got to respond better.”
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Jake Oettinger got the start and made two saves on five shots in the first 7:10 of the game, before getting the hook.
Scott Wedgewood made 10 saves in a mop up role.
“They made some elite shots on some elite plays,” Wedgewood said. “[Oettinger is] 6-foot-5, that guy goes short side, which is probably the shot he should have taken was my read, take over the short side. … They made some nice plays.”
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