The Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights have gone back and forth through six games. The best-of-seven series is on track after Las Vegas won his first two games and Dallas won his next three. On Friday night, the Golden Knights defeated the Stars 2-0 to even the first-round series 3-3. With a spot in the second round on the line, Sunday will showcase one of his greatest moments of the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Game 7.
Win with your defense and goaltender
A near perfect mirror of Friday's Game 6 between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators, Dallas and Vegas ended the night in a close game. It was characterized by solid defense on both sides, incredibly attractive scoring opportunities, and above all, exquisite goaltending. Even though the Stars lost, you couldn't blame netminder Jake Oettinger in this game. He found the back of the net from 28 of the 29 shots thrown at him and lived up to his name with some spectacular saves.
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However, he lost to Adin Hill in Las Vegas. He had missed the first four games of the series. He returned in Game 5 and suffered a 3-2 loss, but bounced back perfectly in Game 6 with 23 saves and a shutout.
Truth be told, the final score would have been much higher than just 2-0 if the puck hadn't clattered off the post and frustrated both teams all night. The game remained scoreless until 9:54 of the third period, when Noah Hanifin took matters into his own hands. He collected the puck in Dallas' zone, circled around defenders, and recognized a perfect screen in front of the Stars' goaltender to bring home the game-winner. Mark Stone would add an empty netter late.
It's a desperate time. Come Sunday night, either the Golden Knights or Stars will have clinched a ticket to the second round of the postseason.
