LAS VEGAS (AP) — Noah Hanifin broke a scoreless tie at 9:54 of the third interval, Adin Hill stopped 23 pictures and the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights saved alive their season by beating the Dallas Stars 2-0 on Friday evening to pressure Sport 7.
The deciding sport within the first-round collection is Sunday in Dallas.
Mark Stone additionally scored on a empty-netter from close to his personal purpose line.
This was a basic goalie duel, with Hill getting his first shutout since having two in three video games in early November.
On the opposite aspect, Jake Oettinger made 28 saves and entered the sport with out giving up a purpose on this collection within the third interval or time beyond regulation. Hanifin purpose ended Oettinger’s streak at 60 saves.
There are numbers that favor both aspect.
Vegas took a 2-0 lead on this collection, and the Knights are 4-0 when holding such a bonus. The Stars have by no means overcome such a deficit within the 9 earlier tries since transferring to Dallas. NHL groups total are 351-55 when on condition that early lead.
However no group has been capable of clear up Stars coach Pete DeBoer in a seventh sport. He’s 7-0.
This sport had electrical energy from the start, each group lacking main scoring alternatives with the stress constructing as the sport progressed. The Golden Knights added some star contact with recording artist Shania Twain cranking the horn earlier than the sport and James Holzhauer is Jeopardy fame doing it earlier than the third.
The Golden Knights, as anticipated given the circumstances, got here out flying, dwelling within the Stars’ offensive zone early on. Dallas didn’t get its first shot on purpose till 7:45 into the sport, however the Knights didn’t money in on a number of probabilities, together with a point-blank alternative by Nicolas Roy and a shot from Keegan Kolesar that went off the publish to maintain the sport scoreless within the first interval.
The sport remained that manner by the second interval, however it wasn’t for a scarcity of motion. Hill made three spectacular saves in a row, together with denying Seguin on a breakaway. Hill later acquired an help from Mark Stone, who cleared the puck from the purpose line. Logan Stankoven missed an open web for the Stars, and Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault had a shot from the left circle that the gang thought went into the web.
Hanifin lastly broke by, along with his unassisted wrister from the proper circle.
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