We have a series.
After the Stars suffocated Vegas in the first game of the Western Conference Final, the Golden Knights pushed back in Game 2 on Tuesday night, beating Dallas 3-0 to even the series at one game apiece. It was the first time in more than three weeks that the Stars were shut out, and they have not scored in the last 117:24 against the Golden Knights.
Once again, the Stars looked like the regular season Stars on Tuesday night.
The offense wasn't flowing like it was in the first two rounds against Calgary and Colorado. They sometimes relied on their goaltending to bail them out of bad situations. But unlike Sunday's series-opening win when they controlled the neutral zone, Vegas generated offense when they wanted to in the opening 40 minutes.
Paul Stastny, William Karlsson and Tomas Nosek scored for the Golden Knights as Robin Lehner made 24 saves. Anton Khudobin was pulled after two periods, when he allowed three goals on 27 shots, and made way for Jake Oettinger to make his NHL debut in Game 2.
If Game 1 was the Stars' signature way to win _ "Dallas Stars hockey," as interim coach Rick Bowness and captain Jamie Benn said _ then Game 2 was their signature way to lose. The chances were few, the finish was lacking when the chances did appear. It happened at times in the regular season, but not often during the four months when they were the best team in hockey and even more rare during the postseason.
When the Stars were last shut out, it was in Game 3 of the first round against Calgary. But that game was actually one of their best games in terms of generating chances. They put 35 pucks on Cam Talbot and attempted 76 shots. It was a miracle that the Flames walked away with both the shutout and the victory on that night.
That wasn't the case Tuesday.
Lehner was comfortable in his crease. The Stars (outside of Corey Perry's individual efforts) weren't a threat on the power play. He made the biggest save of the game on Mattias Janmark in the second period, when the Stars could have claimed all the momentum. A goaltender interference challenged erased a goal and made the score 2-0, giving Janmark the ability to cut the Vegas lead in half. Lehner came up big, and barely had to the rest of the game.
Game 3 is Thursday at 7 p.m.
