NHL Game of the Week: Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Two of the division-leading teams of the Western Conference faced off against each other last Saturday for an exhilarating matchup that deserves NHL game of the week honors.
The 31-16-12 Dallas Stars would take a trip to Sin City for a duel against the 35-18-6 Vegas Golden Knights. A thrilling display on ice to leave a taste for what playoff hockey will be bringing in less than two months.
Vegas would roll out to begin the game with some fire under their skates as the stellar goaltender Jake Oettinger was challenged early.
Despite the chances created by the Golden Knights followed by a double-minor power play opportunity for the Stars, the score remained at two goose eggs after one.
The second period would start with more penalty trouble from Vegas, but that wouldn’t stop the penalty kill from working its magic again. Michael Amadio would sink the rubber into the back of the cage first to open up the scoring at 1-0 Golden Knights.
The lead for Vegas would be short-lived though, as a juicy rebound for Wyatt Johnston would lead to his 14th goal of the season to bring back a tie game with 5:59 remaining in the second frame.
The rest of the period saw no more goals, leaving a 1-1 score on the board heading into the second intermission.
Once the skates hit the ice for the third and final frame, some absolute hard-nosed hockey would be grinded out by both sides fighting to enhance their first-place lead in their respective divisions.
Something would have to give though eventually, and that was when Jack Eichel would give back the lead to the Golden Knights. Only 4:37 remained in the game at this point, as Chandler Stephenson’s cross-ice pass helped orchestrate Eichel’s 20th of the season.
Things were beginning to wind down in Vegas, as fans were preparing to rise from their seats and head for the exits. Not the Stars though.
With under a minute to play, Roope Hintz would come in clutch and knot up the game at 2-2 to force overtime at T-Mobile Arena.
Hintz’s score came after a near empty net goal by Vegas that would’ve sealed the deal if Jason Robertson wouldn’t have slid in front of Stephenson in the final minute.
Overtime would bring us five minutes of scoreless gameplay that saw an unbelievable save by Golden Knights’ goaltender Laurent Brossoit.
Brossoit denied Tyler Seguin of the game-winning goal by rolling over onto his back and backhanding at the puck to punch it out of midair.
The five minutes would expire, as the match would now have to be decided via a shootout.
Oettinger would stand tall in net for Dallas on shots by Eichel and Paul Cotter, and Roberston and Hintz would each score to hand the Stars the shootout victory on the road. The final score read 3-2 in front of a sold-out crowd.
Both the Central and Pacific divisions are up for grabs at a crucial part of the season, as the top teams are within just a few points of each other. The next month and a half will certainly be leaving NHL fans on the edge of their seats.
Jake Irwin is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jpi5089@psu.edu.
