3 Keys: Stars at Golden Knights, Game 6 of Western 1st Round

4 May 2024

NHL.com

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3 Keys Stars at Golden Knights Game 6 of Western 1st Round

Dallas needs shut-down defense to advance; Vegas must manage puck better to extend series

(C1) Stars at (WC2) Golden Knights

Western Conference First Round, Game 6

10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TNT, BSSW, SN360, SN, TVAS

Dallas leads best-of-7 series 3-2

LAS VEGAS -- The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights will try to avoid elimination against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

The Golden Knights have lost three in a row since taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

Adin Hill will start in goal for the second straight game. Ivan Barbashev will move up to left wing on the second line with center Chandler Stephenson and right wing Mark Stone, and forward Keegan Kolesar and defenseman Zach Whitecloud will rejoin the lineup.

“We know what we’ve got to do,” Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “We’ve been in positions like this before where we haven’t played great. We found a way to get through it. A little adversity’s OK. Nothing wrong with that.”

The Golden Knights haven’t lost four straight games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, when they won Game 1 against the Washington Capitals and lost the series in five.

They haven’t faced elimination since the third round in 2021, when they lost Game 6 to the Montreal Canadiens, and haven’t faced elimination at home since the first round in 2021, when they won Game 7 against the Minnesota Wild.

“We’ve got to find a way to be on top tonight, and I like our chances,” Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “I mean, we have a good team. I still believe in that team, and I think we can do some damage. But we’ve got to take it one game at a time and bring our best home game.”

Here are 3 keys to Game 6:

1. Managing the puck

The Golden Knights need to do a better job in this department if they want to force a Game 7.

“That’s been our Achilles’ heel this series,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They’ve gotten more chances off our turnovers than we’ve gotten off their turnovers by a … large enough margin. And so, that’s an area of the game that we have to be better at, and that’s not an adjustment. That’s puck management.”

How do they improve?

“We’ve got to be aware with the puck -- puck placement between the blue lines,” Marchessault said. “Just don’t fuel their transition. They’re a good transition team.

“And also, to switch that around, when they do turnovers, we’ve got to cash in. We’ve got to make sure it hurts them.”

2. Managing emotions

Pietrangelo has taken a roughing penalty that has led to a key Dallas power-play goal in two straight games.

In Game 4, he roughed center Roope Hintz, and the Stars tied the game 2-2. He said he was trying to protect himself from taking a stick in the face.

In Game 5, he swung a glove in the face of forward Tyler Seguin, who had committed an illegal check to the head of Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore earlier. The Stars cashed in to take a 3-2 lead. The goal turned out to be the winner.

“Last game, yeah, I’ve got to keep my composure,” said Pietrangelo, a two-time Stanley Cup champion. “I’ve been down this road before. I know what it’s like at this time of the year. I certainly take responsibility for it, no doubt about that, but there’s more to the game than just that.”

3. Shutting it down

Each game has been decided by one goal or one goal plus an empty-netter, and each team is 2-0 when leading after two periods. Vegas shut down Dallas in the third period in Games 1 and 2; the Stars returned the favor in Games 4 and 5.

“I think locking down third-period leads, including goalie-out situations, [has] been critical, and I think we’ve been pretty good in those spots,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said.

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger has stopped all 56 shots he has faced in the third period and overtime, including 42 over the past three wins.

“He really has the ability to go to another level at the most important time of a game, regardless of what’s happened earlier in the game,” DeBoer said.