You know times are good when you’re one series win away from playing for the Stanley Cup, and you start that series 2-0 by winning each game in overtime. That’s what the Vegas Golden Knights have done. They took Game 2 against the Dallas Stars by a score of 3-2 in overtime. On Friday night, they won Game 1 by a score of 4-3. We knew these games were going to be close, and the team that was just marginally better would probably win the series. Center Jonathan Marchessault was the “star” of the show today, as he scored a goal and assisted on another.
As we expected, this series has been extremely even. Over the course of the first two games, the Stars have a combined 3 more shots on goal, the Golden Knights have won 3 more faceoffs, and the Golden Knights have 2 more blocked shots. So, what do the Stars have to do to get back in this series? It may seem over, but it’s worth noting the Stars have yet to play at home in this series. They have to force more turnovers. They are -12 in the turnover department thus far. In a series as close as this, that can be all the difference from being up 2-0 and being down 2-0. Offensive stars like Jamie Benn, Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz also need to be better for the Stars. They haven’t played poorly, but in this type of series with elite players on both teams, all the star players are judged that much more intensely.
The bottom line is that this series is far from over. Of course, it starts in Game 3 for the Stars. They’ve shown they can play with the Golden Knights, and now they just need to finish a game.