Live coverage: Golden Knights heading home with 2-0 series lead on Stars

By Case Keefer (contact)

Published Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | noon

Updated Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | 9:28 p.m.

DALLAS — Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t want his team to be content getting out of the first two games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a split on the road.

They weren’t.

The Golden Knights improved from Game 1 to Game 2 at American Airlines Center, and got a 3-1 victory on Wednesday night to show for it. Vegas now holds a 2-0 lead on Dallas heading into Game 3 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

Defenseman Noah Hanifin had the score that will go down as the game-winner, punching a loose puck from the faceoff circle through at 18:53 of the second period to give Vegas a one-goal edge.

The Golden Knights trailed for the first time of the series at 16:47 of the first period when Jason Robertson scored quickly on a power play, but the deficit didn’t last long.

Jonathan Marchessault answered on the rush 82 seconds later when two Dallas defenders crashed on linemate Jack Eichel, allowing him to make the pass to Vegas’ leading goal-scorer from throughout the regular season.   

Despite the two early goals, both teams struggled offensively for the first period-and-a-half of the game. It wasn’t until right before Hanifin’s goal that the game opened up.

Both Vegas goalie Logan Thompson and Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger made several big saves, but the former ultimately got more help from his defense. Thompson had 20 saves to Oettinger’s 24 saves.

Eichel scored on an empty-netter with 33 seconds to go to lock up the victory.

Check back later for more coverage of Golden Knights vs. Stars Game 2. Read below for live updates from throughout the game.

Second period update

The Golden Knights are 20 minutes away from leading their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Stars 2-0.

Noah Hanifin ripped a shot from the faceoff circle past the far side of Jake Oettinger to put Vegas up 2-1 with about a minute remaining in the second period. The Golden Knights didn’t have much offense for the first 13 or so minutes of the frame but began to find some chances late.

Oettinger robbed a couple of the best ones, back-to-back point-blank shots from an all-alone Shea Theodore with about 5:30 left in the period. Then, it was Dallas’ turn to get a grade-A chance as Wyatt Johnston narrowly got behind defenseman Alex Pietrangelo but Logan Thompson got his pad on the puck.

Jason Robertson had a couple close-range shots on goal too, but the best opportunity he lifted just a little too high over the net.

Vegas holds a 17-16 shots on goal edge after its late surge, but more importantly, controls the scoreboard again.

First period update

Both teams’ season-long leaders in points traded goals late in the first period at American Airlines Center to inject some life in what had otherwise been a slow start to Game 2.

It’s 1-1 after 20 minutes of play, with Vegas only allowing Dallas to lead for 1:22 of game time before Jonathan Marchessault scored in transition off a pass from Jack Eichel. The Stars had just scored the game’s first goal on the power play, with Jason Robertson making the Golden Knights pay for a slashing call on Nicolas Roy.

Shortly before the late scoring spree, the two teams went five minutes collectively without a shot on goal. Dallas controlled most of the action, and leads the shots-on-goal count 11-6, but Marchessault didn’t let Vegas go into the locker room down at an intermission for the first time of the series.

Pregame

Bruce Cassidy knew his lineup decisions for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs would be scrutinized, but he cautioned everyone not to overreact to them.

The Golden Knights coach emphasized that nothing was permanent, and changes were likely — especially with the games getting more physical in the playoffs and likely leading to injuries. His words have already proved prophetic as Vegas will have its first personnel change just two days into the playoffs when it takes on the Dallas Stars at 8:30 p.m. tonight at American Airlines Center.

Alec Martinez is in to anchor the final defensive pair; Nicolas Hague is out. Hague suffered a lower-body injury in the third period of the Golden Knights’ 4-3 victory over the Stars and didn’t play for the final eight minutes.

“We’ll have a better idea when we get home.” Cassidy said of Hague’s status for the rest of the playoffs. “There are a couple days in between games, but obviously, we’ll list him day-to-day until we get more information.”

Cassidy said the switch would have no effect on “strategy or how we play.” It might even make the Golden Knights better, for those who believe in experience as the most important factor in the playoffs.

No one on the roster has played more postseason games than Martinez, who put his name on the Stanley Cup for the third time last year with the Golden Knights after having previously won twice with the Los Angeles Kings. Martinez has been a linchpin with the Golden Knights since he was acquired via trade with the Kings in 2020, but his efficiency fell off drastically this year and he dealt with injuries.

The team is expected to move on from the 36-year-old free-agent-to-be in the offseason, but many still thought he’d be in the initial playoff lineup. The Golden Knights had a logjam on the blue line, and Cassidy chose Hague and Zach Whitecloud for the final pair over Martinez and Ben Hutton.

“I just want to do whatever I can do to contribute and help the team win,” Martinez said after Wednesday’s morning skate. “My game, I’m going to try to get pucks out of the zone and be strong defensively.”

Martinez, and most of his teammates, predicted an all-out effort from the Stars in an effort to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole with the series heading back to Vegas for Saturday’s Game 3.

Dallas is no stranger to starting slow in playoff series. The Stars have now lost five straight Game 1s, dating back to the 2022 season.

They’ve gone on to win Game 2 in three of the previous four instances, with the only exception last year’s Western Conference Final loss to the Golden Knights, and ultimately prevailed in two of the four series.

“Every team that was down (after Game 1 in the playoffs so far) responded well,” Cassidy said. “That’s what we expected from Dallas. We fully expect our game will get better as we go along. We’re not sitting there saying about yesterday that’s how it’s supposed to look every night. We know we have to be better to win the series in certain areas.”

Come back during the game for live updates, at least at the end of every period, and read below for more information including the Golden Knights’ lineup.

TV: Scripps Sports locally (Channel 34 on Cox, DirecTV and antenna); ESPN nationally

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Stars -157 (i.e. risking $157 to win $100), Golden Knights +124 (i.e. risking $100 to win $143); over/under: 5.5 (-125/+105)

Golden Knights’ projected lines and pairs

Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Jonathan Marchessault

Chandler Stephenson – Tomas Hertl – Mark Stone

Brett Howden – William Karlsson – Anthony Mantha

William Carrier – Nicolas Roy – Keegan Kolesar

Noah Hanifin – Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore

Alec Martinez – Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or