The top seed in the Western Conference is in a heap of trouble.
Everybody knew the Central Division-winning Dallas Stars were getting a tough Round 1 draw in the defending-champion Vegas Golden Knights, who landed in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs via the second wild-card berth in the West.
Sure enough — just as was the case in last year’s Western Conference Final — the Stars have fallen behind the Knights 2-0 in a best-of-seven battle following Tuesday night’s 3-1 defeat.
At least last year Dallas got to return to Texas after falling in an 0-2 hole; this time out, the Stars have dropped the first two games of the series at American Airlines Arena and will have to find a way to win at least one game in Vegas to keep this matchup going.
Before we get there, here are some takeaways from Vegas’s huge victory in Big D.Â
Knights No. 1 line rolling
The top trio of Jack Eichel between Jonathan Marchessault and Ivan Barbashev bookended the scoring for Vegas.
Less than 90 seconds after Dallas had taken a 1-0 lead with a tally late in the first, Eichel took a pass in the middle of the ice, darted through two Stars defenders and made a perfect little dish to a streaking Marchessault on the lip of the crease for an easy one-timer home.
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At the end of the contest, with the Dallas net empty and the Stars feverishly pushing for the goal that would even the game, Marchessault stripped Jason Robertson of the puck inside the Vegas zone along the half-wall, skated it out to centre ice and slid it over to Eichel so he could put the game away with an empty-net goal.
Marchessault — last year’s playoff MVP — has goals in each of the first two games. Eichel, meanwhile, continues to prove he’s a crunch-time performer with four points already in the series. The centre — who was very much in the Conn Smythe conversation last year — now has 30 points in 24 career post-season outings.
A Hanifin first
This was a 1-1 contest late in the second period when Noah Hanifin darted down from the blue line to gobble up a loose puck and wire what proved to be the game-winner past Jake Oettinger with just 1:07 to go in the middle frame.
Both of Vegas’s big deadline acquisitions have hit paydirt already, as Hanifin’s goal — his first ever in the Stanley Cup Playoffs — came on the heels of Tomas Hertl finding the net in Game 1.
Hanifin played 21:59 in Game 2, more than every Golden Knight except his playing partner, Alex Pietrangelo (22:40).
Thompson stands tall
Logan Thompson was by no means peppered in this contest — Dallas put 21 pucks on goal — but playing in just his second career playoff game, the 27-year-old was good when he needed to be. Dallas had the majority of the high-danger chances and Thompson is justifying the faith coach Bruce Cassidy has shown in him by tabbing him for the starts over the guy who led Vegas to the Cup last year, Adin Hill.
Robertson can’t miss versus Vegas
It’s going to come as cold comfort if he loses to the Knights in two consecutive playoffs, but Jason Robertson is certainly doing his part when it comes to supplying the Stars with offence against Vegas.
Dallas, predictably, came out flying in this had-to-have-it game and the reward came when Robertson — who’d drawn a slashing penalty on Nicolas Roy — came through on the power play with a low shot that got under Thompson. The tally was Robertson’s second of the series and, dating back to the 2023 Western Conference final, the Stars sniper now has seven goals in his past eight playoff games against the Knights.
The problem for Dallas, of course, is it’s not getting enough from other sources. This is a team that led the league by having eight players score at least 20 goals and it desperately needs some of those skilled players to kick in some offence.
Unfortunately for the Stars, two forwards — Mason Marchment and Radek Faksa — were forced to leave the game early with injuries.
Dallas will definitely need all hands on deck to claw back into this series in the desert.
