The Dallas Stars won their second straight game on the road at The Fortress in Vegas on Monday night to pull even in their first-round series with the Golden Knights.Â
No team has won at home in this series, and on Tuesday it was a 4-2 victory for the Stars that included a pair of goals from unbelievable angles and 33 saves from Jake Oettinger to help knot this series at 2-2.
Here are our takeaways from Game 4:Â
Amadio returns to the lineup
Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy decided to take Anthony Mantha out of the lineup, and called on Michael Amadio to play on the third line. The 27-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., needed little time to make an impact in his debut appearance in this post-season.
Amadio struck first for Vegas with a little more than five minutes remaining in the first period, jumping on a Brayden McNabb rebound, and then batting in his own rebound.
Vegas was up 1-0, and T-Mobile Arena got very loud and extra sparkly.
How’d that go in?
Evgenii Dadonov tied things up for the Stars late in the first when he picked a corner from an impossible angle, one of two goals Dallas scored that left you wondering: How the heck did that go in?
The Stars forward was nearly on Vegas’ goal-line when he fired a shot through the legs of a defender, toward the net. The puck hit Vegas goalie Logan Thompson on the shoulder, then the helmet, then it hit the crossbar, and then it went in the top corner of the net.
Seriously.
Watch it here:
Eichel strikes again
Jack Eichel was the best player on the ice for these Golden Knights, and found the back of the net early in the second period.
Jonathan Marchessault wired a shot off the post, and it came back and hit Oettinger in the back. Eichel was skating toward the net, and slowed up as he got there, banging the rebound in just before the Stars goalie was able to cover it up.
It was Eichel’s team-leading third goal of the series, and Vegas was up 2-1.Â
Young Wyatt punches back
Dallas tied things up on the power-play. Thompson gave up a rebound on a Tyler Seguin shot, then Matt Duchene had another whack at it, and Wyatt Johnston was right on the doorstep to bang in that second rebound.
Johnston leads Dallas with three goals in this series, and he led the Stars with 32 goals in the regular season. He turns 21 next month.
Stars thriving from the goal-line
Dallas scored their game-winner, basically from the goal-line.
Craig Smith was skating around the net and he was parallel to the goal when he fired a wrist shot toward the net. The puck hit the shoulder of his linemate Ty Dellandrea and bounced in.
And just like that it was 3-2 Dallas, with 1:26 left in the second period, and Dellandrea’s shoulder goal stood as the winner.
Kids: Shoot from everywhere.
Roope Hintz blocked a monster shot in the dying seconds, and then added the empty-netter.
The series shifts back to Dallas for Game 5 on May 1.
