Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 34: Stephenson scores OT winner to give Golden Knights 2-0 series lead

In a game where neither the Vegas Golden Knights or the Dallas Stars were giving the other any opportunities to score, it ended up being a game of lucky bounces and capitalizing on mistakes. The Golden Knights ended up doing that just a little bit better, as they took another overtime win 3-2 to give themselves a 2-0 lead as they head out on the road.

We didn’t have to wait long for the scoring to start, as it took just 2:47 into the first period for the Stars to open the scoring. Miro Heiskanen fired the puck on net, and it took a funny bounce and lobbed over Adin Hill and into the back of the net to give the Stars the early 1-0 lead.

But the hockey gods made sure to give Vegas a bounce of their own later in the period. During a rare two-minute 5-on-3 power play, Chandler Stephenson attempted to set up Jack Eichel, but it ended up bouncing off of Esa Lindell and remained in front of the net. Mark Stone jumped on the loose puck and buried it, and the game was tied 1-1.

The Stars got the lead back on the power play midway into the second period, as an Evgenii Dadonov one-timer ended up right in the slot off of a rebound, and Jason Robertson was in the right place to bury it, and after only two goals through two rounds of the playoffs, he already had two in this series.

The Stars played a textbook shutdown third period to start. They were giving the Golden Knights nothing to work with, and it seemed like the Stars were going to come out of the period with a win. But it all it takes is one mistake, and in the case of Ryan Suter, it was a big one. A lazy play from the defenseman behind the net results in a turnover, and Eichel makes a perfect set-up for Jonathan Marchessault, and with just 2:22 left in the game, it was tied again and going to overtime.

And much like Game 1 in this series, we didn’t need to wait long for overtime to finish. Just 1:12 into the first overtime, Shea Theodore fired a shot on net that created chaos in the crease, and Chandler Stephenson was there to bury the loose puck. The goal gives Vegas the 3-2 win, along with a 2-0 series lead over the Stars.

It was a relatively close game, with the Stars leading 28-24 in shots and at 5v5 had 57.45% of the scoring chances and 53.18% of the expected goals, while the Golden Knights had the edge in 5v5 shot attempts at 51.02%. Regardless, it’s still one that stings for the Stars with how close they were to tying the series.

Stone, Marchessault, and Stephenson all led the way with a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, while the Stars lone multi-point getter was, ironically enough, Suter with two assists (as well as the tertiary assist on the game-tying goal for Vegas). Adin Hill was also strong in the crease for Vegas, stopping 26 of 28 shots for a .929% save percentage in the win.