Golden Knights’ season on the brink after emotional unraveling in Game 5 loss

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, May 2, 2024 | 2 a.m.

DALLAS — Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy described top-pair defenseman Alex Pietrangelo as a steadying influence Wednesday morning at American Airlines Center. Pietrangelo was then the exact opposite Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.

The Golden Knights’ assistant captain was more like an inciting force to defeat. For the second straight game, he took a second-period roughing penalty that led to a crucial Stars’ power-play goal.

The infraction in Wednesday’s Game 5 ended up being fatal, as Stars forward Jason Robertson’s wrister at 16:32 of the period while Pietrangelo sat in the penalty box was the game-winner in Dallas’ 3-2 victory.

“He’s a leader on this team,” fellow defenseman Alec Martinez defended Pietrangelo, his longtime pairing partner, after the game. “Playoffs are an emotional time. It’s a revved-up environment. You can’t win without emotion either, but you’ve got to keep it in check.”

Plenty has gone wrong for the Golden Knights to lose three straight games in their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Stars and find themselves one more defeat away from elimination. An inability to keep their cool belongs somewhere near the top of the list.

The Golden Knights might have been better than the Stars during 5-on-5 play Wednesday night, racking up a 19-17 edge in scoring chances and a 2.15-1.74 expected-goal advantage per Natural Stat Trick. But it didn’t matter much with Vegas taking four penalties to Dallas’ three and giving up a pair of power-play scores.

Matt Duchene scored the Stars’ first power-play goal, after William Carrier got called for tripping, to give the home team its initial lead of the night at 2-1 eight minutes into the first period.

The Golden Knights have now served one more penalty than the Stars in each of the last three games after the two teams were neutral in the opening two games that the former won.

“We should know better, but it happens,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’ve got one more game to get it squared away because the margins are too thin right now, especially with their power play going well.”

Vegas was the first to strike on the power play in Game 5 when forward Mark Stone tipped in a deep wrister from defenseman Noah Hanifin four minutes into the action. The Golden Knights got the man advantage because of a holding call drawn by forward Tomas Hertl on Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen.

The sellout crowd of 18,542 heavily protested the call and set the mood for what would be a conflict-heavy night between the two teams. Both sides seemed to utilize the energy well at first, at least offensively.

Stars forward Evgenii Dadonov answered Stone’s power-play goal by beating Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill off the rush to make the score 1-1. Later, Carrier muscled a puck past Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger to answer Duchene’s power-play goal and make the score 2-2.

A game that looked like a shootout transformed into something closer to a slugfest from there.

Animosity elevated midway through the second period after Dadonov missed the net on a breakaway and, in the aftermath, linemate Tyler Seguin left his skates to throw his body upwards at Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore.

Initially called a five-minute major penalty, the referees downgraded it to a two-minute illegal check.

“It was quite obvious he left his feet, targeted his head so you’re going to be upset,” Cassidy said of Seguin’s hit. “But that’s playoff hockey. You’ve got to find a way to channel it. There’s controlled aggression out there all over the ice in every series so that’s an area you’ve got take a number and try to get those things squared away late.”

Pietrangelo retaliated too soon and too viciously. Tangled in a puck battle with Seguin on the boards, Pietrangelo spun around and slugged the forward with a punch that bloodied his nose.

Like Seguin’s penalty, the officials announced it as a five-minute major before changing to a two-minute minor. That was just enough time for Robertson, who scored late in the Stars’ time with the man advantage.

“There was a lot going on in that game — a lot of emotions both ways, some questionable hits, not questionable hits, some calls,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s all about managing it. You’re not going to get all those calls to go your way and I thought our group managed the emotions of the game tonight really well.”

It’s a reversal of fortune from earlier in the series when the Golden Knights prided themselves on being the more composed side. But that’s flipped, and it’s not a total coincidence that Vegas’ results have done the same.

The Golden Knights still expressed confidence going into Game 6 Friday night at T-Mobile Arena in part because of how close all the games have been. Dallas’ only two-goal win during its three consecutive victories came via an empty-netter late in Game 4.

And Vegas might have played its best even-strength game of the series in Game 5, with the team looking invigorated by Cassidy’s wide-ranging changes across the lineup. Slotting Hill in for Logan Thompson, who had been sensational throughout the playoffs, was the headliner but may not have ended up making much of a difference.

Cassidy commended the performance of Hill, who had 22 saves and didn’t allow any soft goals. The Golden Knights set him up for failure with all the penalties.

As for Pietrangelo, Cassidy could only offer that one of his leaders, “should know better.”

“We have to take care of our discipline,” Cassidy said. “Just have to. It’s that simple.”

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