*Photo from AP News*
Vegas leads series 2-0
Road dominance early on. Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist, Noah Hanifin scored, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Dallas Stars with a 3-1 victory Wednesday night in Dallas.
Vegas took control of the series with the win, winning both road games to take a two game lead before hitting home ice for the next two games. Marchessault and Jack Eichel each had a goal and an assist for the defending champion Golden Knights.
Eichel said of the win that "I think we expected them to come out and push hard that first 5-10 minutes, and they did. They were physical, played hard, they had some chances. Thompson made some big stops for us. That’s a very desperate hockey team and a very good one. They gave us all we could handle."
It was the Stars who jumped out to the lead first. Jason Robertson found the back of the net with the Stars on the power play 16:07 into the game, assisted by Miro Heiskanen and Jamie Benn. With 1:51 left in the first period, Marchessault scored with Eichel and Ivan Barbashev assisting to tie the game 1-1 for Vegas.
The eventual game winning goal and only goal of the second period came from Hanifin, who scored unassisted with 1:07 left in the period to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead. They held on until the Dallas net was empty in the 3rd, when Eichel scored on the open net to make it 3-1 with Marchessault getting the lone assist.
Hanifin said after the game that "We checked really well, especially off the rush, we had really good gaps, good back pressure from our forwards. That’s where they’re dangerous is off the rush, and we kind of eliminated those chances. We were still trying to make plays and score goals, that’s what you want to do when you’ve got a lead."
Drawing the start between the pipes for the Golden Knights was Logan Thompson, who was credited with the win for the second straight game. Thompson made saves on all but one of the 21 shots he saw from the Stars, good for a .952 save percentage.
It was Jake Oettinger manning the goalie crease for the Stars, getting tagged with his second straight loss. Oettinger stopped 23 out of the 25 shots on goal the Golden Knights tested him with, recording a .920 save percentage.
Stars head coach Pete Deboer said of the two game deficit that "They’re the Stanley Cup champions, they’ve got everyone figured out. They figured out everyone last year too, so we’re not alone in that boat. I thought Game 1 we probably deserved better, but you have to find a way to win that game. Tonight, the margin is thin, it’s a 1-1 game most of the game. They found a way to win both those games."
The series shifts to Las Vegas for games 3 and 4, with game 3 set for Saturday night. The Golden Knights look to put the Stars on the brink of elimination with a win while the Stars try to gain ground in the series and force at least a 5th game.
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