Jason Robertson scored on a power play after Tyler Seguin took a shot to the face, and Jake Oettinger had another flawless finish as the Dallas Stars finally secured a home win in the NHL playoffs.
Robertson’s goal late in the second period put the Stars ahead for good as they beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Dallas took a 3-2 series lead with the victory after the visiting team had won the first four games.
“The resilience … I think it’s great how we’ve been able to battle back,” said Wyatt Johnston, the 20-year-old forward with two assists.
Evgenii Dadonov and Matt Duchene also scored for the Stars, who have won three in a row after dropping the first two games at home as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
“A credit to our group. You know, there weren’t a lot of believers at that point,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “We went on the road into a tough environment and kind of rolled up our sleeves and went to work. And you look up, and six days later, you’ve got a 3-2 lead and a chance to close out the Stanley Cup champions.”
Seguin was down on the ice and a bit dazed after Alex Pietrangelo took a big backhanded swing and connected with the face of the Stars forward when they were together against the boards. Initially called a five-minute major, the penalty was downgraded to a minor after a replay review.
Still, it was a significant moment for the Knights. Robertson’s third goal of the series came after he collected his own rebound and knocked the puck through traffic past Adin Hill, who was starting his first game of the series for Vegas.
Pietrangelo’s hit appeared to be retaliation for Seguin’s earlier penalty for an illegal check to the head of Shea Theodore, another call that was initially a major but downgraded after review.
“A veteran guy should know better,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said of Pietrangelo, acknowledging his team’s displeasure with the hit on Theodore. “You’re going to be upset, but that’s playoff hockey. You’ve got to find a way to channel it.”
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots, including a near-full-split save to deny Chandler Stephenson on a breakaway with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the game.
“I was on the ice watching that breakaway and said a prayer, but I should have just trusted in Jake,” Seguin said.
“He really can go to another level at the most important time of the game,” DeBoer said. “That was the third period tonight, and that was the third period the other night.”
Oettinger had 11 saves in the third period and has stopped all 55 shots he has faced in the third period or overtime in this series.
Hill had 22 saves after Logan Thompson had started the first four games.
Mark Stone and William Carrier scored for Vegas.
Game 6 is Friday night in Las Vegas. The Stars won 3-2 in overtime in Game 3 and 4-2 in Game 4.
Vegas never trailed the Stars in the Western Conference Final last year, winning the first three games before wrapping up the series in six.
Duchene scored on a power play for a 2-1 Dallas lead after a tripping penalty against Carrier. Seguin took a shot off Hill’s upper body before Johnston got a stick on the puck, which then pinged off a Vegas defender and was stuffed in by Duchene.
Knights captain Stone, playing his 73rd playoff game for Vegas and his 100th overall, put them up 1-0 with a power-play goal four minutes into the game. He redirected Noah Hanifin’s shot between Tomas Hertl and Stars defenseman Esa Lindell.
That lead lasted only about a minute before Dadonov scored on a pass from rookie Logan Stankoven, who did some nifty stick work to push the puck ahead of defenseman Brayden McNabb, who had fallen down.
Carrier tied it 2-2 by withstanding a hit from Lindell against the boards behind the net, maintaining possession, and stuffing the puck around the post to Oettinger’s left. They came inches from taking the lead when Brett Howden had a shot that ricocheted off the top of the other post.
Hill and Thompson had shared starts during the regular season. Thompson has a .921 save percentage and allowed 2.35 goals per game in this series, while Hill was 11-4 in the playoffs last season after taking over for the injured Laurent Brossoit.
“He gave us a chance to win and did his job,” Cassidy said. “A well-goaltended series.”
