FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Stars - Game 3 - 2023

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Stars – Game 3 – 2023

Franchise Sports Media

Vegas Golden Knights (11-3) vs Dallas Stars (8-8)

 

The Vegas Golden Knights shut out the Dallas Stars 4-0 and are now one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

It is game 3 of the Golden Knights vs Stars series. 

Game 3 in Dallas at the American Airlines Center was indeed a Texas roundup for the Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights shut out the Dallas Stars 4-0 to take a 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final and are now just one more win away from advancing to their second Stanley Cup Final appearance.

Vegas goaltender Adin Hill played sensationally, finishing the night with 34 saves.

“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.”

The Golden Knights remained calm throughout the game after team captain Mark Stone suffered an ugly hit from Jamie Benn that resulted in his ejection from the game.

“We’re upset when we see that. He’s our captain,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “But at the end of the day, they make a call that gives us a chance to make them pay for the penalty. And we did, with one goal anyway, so we’ve doubled our lead. … Do it the right way. That’s been our mindset all along.”

The bad hit on Mark Stone only fueled the Golden Knights to finish the game off with a win.

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger allowed three goals on five shots before being pulled in the first period.

“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.”

End of the first period in the Golden Knights vs Stars series

The Golden Knights kept their composure after the hit Mark Stone received and while trash was being thrown toward the Vegas players from a hostile Dallas crowd. 

The start of periods 2 and 3 in the Golden Knights vs Stars series.

Jonathan Marchessault was the first to score for the Golden Knights to put them up 1-0.

But almost a minute later, Jamie Benn got ejected for a game misconduct call after a cross-checking hit on Mark Stone that resulted in a power play for Vegas.

“Let’s put it this way: [He] made a mistake, he feels really badly about it,” Dallas coach Peter 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 consequence 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.”

The Golden Knights answered quickly on the ensuing power play with a goal from Ivan Barbashev that extended the lead 2-0 for Vegas.

The scoring onslaught Dallas received was not over yet. Just a few minutes later, at the 7:10 mark of the first period, William Carrier scored, shooting a backhand short-side from the right face-off dot to take a 3-0 lead.

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger did not change anything in the second period. The Golden Knights applied more pressure on the scoring. This time it was Alex Pietrangelo who scored, shooting through traffic from above the circles just as a power play expired to take a 4-0 lead that sealed the game. 

“We’re frustrating the top players, skilled players, but it’s 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.”

Before the end of the second period, with the Golden Knights up 4-0, Dallas fans reacted by throwing water bottles, food, and other items on the ice. With the extra time needed to clean up the playing surface, officials sent both teams to their locker rooms early for the second intermission.

The final 21 seconds of the second period were played after the intermission, and then the clock was reset to 20 minutes for the third period.

“It was a little weird,” Hill said. “I’ve never seen so much stuff on the ice, that’s for sure.”

Despite all the distractions, the Vegas Golden Knights are now one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final with a chance to redeem themselves after their 2018 Cup Final loss.

The final score in game 3 of the Golden Knights vs Stars series was 4-0, Vegas.

 On Thursday, the Golden Knights will play the Dallas Stars in Game Four of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center. The puck drop is at 5:00 PM. The game can be seen on AT&T SportsNet (channel 313 on Cox Cable) and ESPN (channel 30 on Cox cable) or heard on 98.9 FM, FOX Sports Las Vegas 1340 AM.