A first-period slash and second-period cross-check not only sent Chandler Stephenson to the penalty box twice, but led to a small argument with head coach Bruce Cassidy in the second intermission.
“Let’s not let our ego get in the way of success,” Cassidy told Stephenson. These are the series. You have to handle this. »
That’s what he did. Stephenson jumped on a rebound 72 seconds into overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Sunday.
Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone all had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, who took a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Game 3 is in Dallas on Tuesday.
Adin Hill stopped 26 pucks for the Nevada squad.
Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson replied for the Stars, while Ryan Suter assisted on both goals for the Stars. Jake Oettinger made 21 saves.
Teams that took a 2-0 series lead before the Stanley Cup Final advanced to the next round 91 percent of the time. For one of the rare times, the forecasts are in favor of the Golden Knights.
Cassidy’s men went 7-3 in the playoffs when they allowed the first goal and had eight comebacks.
The Stars led 1-0 and 2-1 before Marchessault forced overtime by hitting the target with 2:22 left in the third period. He accepted a pass from Jack Eichel, who had just taken advantage of a turnover from Suter.
“After that, we felt like we were back in the game. I think we had this belief that we weren’t going to lose,” Stephenson said.
The Stars again failed to find overtime success. They are 0-4 in overtime since the start of the playoffs, becoming the fifth team in NHL history to lose four overtime games in a single playoff run.
The first two meetings of the two conference finals required overtime, which is a first in the history of the NHL.
“I thought we did a lot of great things and made a lot of adjustments from Game 1,” Stars head coach Peter DeBoer said. I thought Eichel and Marchessault made a big play to tie the game. Our overtime chances were as good as theirs. We just had to put the puck in the net. »
Each team took advantage of a capricious leap to thread the needle in the first period.
Heiskanen opened the scoring for the Stars at 2:47 when the puck went over Hill. The Golden Knights tied the game at 10:08, when the puck touched defenseman Esa Lindell’s skate to allow Stone to score on a two-man power play.
Robertson restored the lead to the Stars when he jumped on a rebound on a powerplay.
After Marchessault’s equalizer, Stephenson capped off a difficult day for him by deceiving Oettinger’s vigilance.
“Obviously I have to manage my emotions better,” Stephenson said. You never want to give two good chances to a good team on the power play. It was good to end the game with that goal. »
The Golden Knights are just two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in club history. They had achieved the feat in 2018, during their first season in the NHL.