Playoff Takeaways: Golden Knights take advantage of imploding Stars for 3-0 series lead

No team in National Hockey League playoff history has rallied from a 0-3 deficit in a conference final, so Tuesday’s game meant everything to the Dallas Stars.

The Vegas Golden Knights left them with nothing, shooting down the Stars with three goals in the first seven minutes and playing confidently and comfortably in a 4-0 win that puts the six-year-old franchise one game away from its second Stanley Cup Final.

Despite just three points separating the powerful teams during the regular season and two close games in Las Vegas to open this series, both won in overtime by the Knights, Vegas simply outclassed Dallas in Game 3 and looks unstoppable after the Stars crashed at home.

Dallas captain Jamie Benn took a reckless major penalty and game misconduct for cross-checking Mark Stone just 1:53 into the game.

By then, the Knights already led 1-0 on Jonathan Marchessault’s goal from poor defending and another beautiful Jack Eichel pass just 71 seconds after the opening faceoff. It looked over when Ivan Barbashev made it 2-0 at 5:57 during the Benn major. When William Carrier scored short side on a sharpish backhand at 7:10, Stars coach Pete DeBoer removed starting goalie Jake Oettinger, who was supposed to give Dallas an advantage in net in this series.

The Knights took advantage of the Stars’ implosion, which actually began near the end of Game 2, with strong, sound games from all their top players and superior goaltending from Adin Hill. Three points from Barbashev and a couple from Nicolas Roy, plus Carrier’s goal from the fourth line, also illustrated Vegas’ formidable lineup depth.

Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said before the series that if his matchup line centred by William Karlsson played even against Dallas’ top trio of Hintz, Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski, he liked Vegas’ chances at advancing. The idea is proving prophetic.

Vegas can sweep the series by winning Game 4 on Thursday in Dallas.

MAJOR BENN

The Knights were so good, so ready at the start – and Oettinger so shaky – that it’s hard to say anything would have been different had Benn not had his moment of madness.

But on a night when the teams bolted in opposite directions, the stupidity of the Stars captain’s major penalty was a signpost for which way Dallas was headed.

At first glance, especially with the live television angle partially obscured by the boards on Benn’s cross-check against Mark Stone in the neutral zone, a major penalty initially felt harsh. Yes, it was a cheap play, but those happen in the playoffs and this one didn’t look especially dangerous.

But referees Steve Kozari and Chris Lee deserve credit for making a big call in real time that early in a playoff game because subsequent replays showed the malice with which Benn dropped the top end of his stick on Stone’s neck and shoved his head to the ice after the Knights’ second-best forward had fallen and was in a defenceless position at Benn’s feet.

The call was the right one no matter the victim. But when you consider that Stone had two significant back surgeries in the last 53 weeks, it was lucky for both players involved that he was able to continue.

As captain, Benn was trying to help his team by going after one of Vegas’ best players. But he badly hurt the Stars by taking himself out of a must-win game with more than 58 minutes to go, while needlessly giving the Knights a five-minute advantage with which to build their lead and assure their victory. 

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Benn did not speak to reporters in Dallas after the game.

AND ANOTHER THING

Just in case the game wasn’t over at 3-0 in the first period, any possible doubt about the outcome was eradicated at 8:28 of the second when Alex Pietrangelo made it 4-0 as Miro Heiskanen, Dallas’ ace defenceman, emerged from the penalty box after taking an obvious interference penalty with a stiff bodycheck on Reilly Smith when the Golden Knight did not have the puck.

Unlike Benn’s crosscheck off the turnbuckle, Heiskanen wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. But like Benn, he was trying to ignite his team and instead undermined it. Or maybe Heiskanen was just frustrated.

But that’s not the leadership the Stars or any team wants from their best players.

OETTINGER FALLS DOWN HILL

Just as a lot of people figured, goaltending has proved to be a mismatch in this series. And as exactly no one predicted, Adin Hill has noticeably outplayed Jake Oettinger.

The Dallas goalie was supposed to be the best netminder still wearing pads in the playoffs – at least until Sergei Bobrovsky started channelling Dominik Hasek $40-million into his seven-year contract as the Florida Panthers’ white elephant.

But Oettinger was hooked for the third time in eight games going back to the Seattle series in the second round. His save percentage over those eight games is .856. The goalie was yanked only once during 62 appearances in a regular season that had him in the Vezina conversation after he lost only 11 games in regulation.

Oettinger didn’t look sharp on any of three goals on five shots he allowed Tuesday.

He missed the puck behind the net and then was slow to get across his crease on the opening goal by Marchessault, lost the centre of his net as he rushed across the crease on the second by Barbashev, then was beaten by a short-side backhand from Carrier on the third. None of the goals was grotesque, but Oettinger needed to stop a couple of them.

A 27-year-old journeyman, Hill is 6-1 in the playoffs with a .940 save rate since replacing injured Vegas teammate Laurent Broissoit 12 minutes into Game 3 of the Knights’ second-round series win against the Edmonton Oilers.

Hill is one of five goalies used this season by Vegas, which has three injured netminders.

His 34 saves on Tuesday made him only the sixth goalie from British Columbia (Comox) to record a playoff shutout and the first in five years to do so. Until 2 ½ weeks ago, Hill had never played a Stanley Cup playoff game. Remarkable.

SO, OETTINGER OR WEDGEWOOD?

It’s indicative of how suddenly the Stars have fallen that we wonder whether DeBoer will come back with Oettinger in Game 4 or go with backup Scott Wedgewood, who stopped 10 of 11 shots he faced in relief on Tuesday. We think DeBoer will go with his No. 1, but it would have been shocking when the series began to even pose a hypothetical question about which goalie would play with Dallas’ season in the balance.

MORE BAD NEWS FOR DALLAS

Stars winger Evgenii Dadonov, an important secondary scorer who had 10 points in 15 playoff games, left with a lower-body injury after a first-period collision with teammate Roope Hintz and must be considered doubtful for Game 4.

With Benn already ejected, Dadonov’s injury meant Dallas played much of the game with 10 forwards, and they were down to nine for most of third period after Max Domi was assessed cross-checking and roughing minors, plus a 10-minute misconduct, for going after dislikeable defenceman Nic Hague at 19:38 of the second period.

Playing their 16^th game in 37 nights since the Stanley Cup tournament began, the Stars needed everyone in order to compete. They had significantly fewer than that show up.