The Vegas Golden Knights have failed to win consecutive games over the last three weeks, though they did manage to come away with a point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas held a two-goal lead in the second period but surrendered three unanswered goals — all scored by Wyatt Johnston — who finished off the hat trick 20 seconds into overtime to lift Dallas to victory.
The Golden Knights finish the season series against Dallas with a 1-1-1 record, with all three games decided by one goal.
The Golden Knights’ top line was dominant in the first period. In fact, the trio scored twice on its first shot of the game.
Of course, the first goal didn’t count because Vegas was offside on the play. However, Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone wasted very little time making the 1-0 lead official, as Eichel’s 16th of the year came less than two minutes into the contest.
But in a wild opening frame that featured 13 combined high-danger chances, Dallas erased that lead 1:47 later courtesy of Mavrik Bourque, who took advantage of an extended shift in Vegas’ end.
Then, less than two minutes after that, the Golden Knights found themselves back on top as the back-and-forth action continued. Tomas Hertl extended his point streak to 10 games with his 19th goal of the season. Hertl’s rebound goal was the result of a masterful effort by Nicolas Hague to keep the play alive, drive to the net and create the second-chance opportunity.
The Golden Knights extended their lead less than four minutes into the second period.
It took Pavel Dorofeyev just 16 seconds on Vegas’ extended 5-on-3 to pot his 10th power-play marker of the season. Despite losing the faceoff, the Golden Knights recovered the puck, allowing Stone to set up Dorofeyev for the backdoor tap-in.
But once again, the Stars responded quickly.
A turnover by Shea Theodore led to a 2-on-1 shorthanded break for Dallas. Johnston put home the rebound off Roope Hintz’s initial shot to make it 3-2 just over five minutes into the period.
Nicolas Roy took a double-minor for high-sticking right off the draw on the very next shift, but the Golden Knights’ penalty kill made it look easy. Jonas Rondbjerg was particularly effective, and Adin Hill made a few key stops.
Dallas was the better team in the second, but Vegas managed to carry a 3-2 lead into intermission.
An awkward collision knocked Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen out of the game eight minutes into the third period. It looked ugly in real time, with Stone sliding into Heiskanen’s knee and taking his legs out from under him. However, Hintz’s stick appears to make contact with Stone’s skate, which sent the Vegas captain sliding into the legs of Dallas’ most valued rearguard. Heiskanen had to be helped off the ice and did not return.
Stone says this trip from Hintz caused him to fall into Heiskanen pic.twitter.com/eDL94AbcTX
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 29, 2025
Hintz and a few teammates went after Stone, who was given a minor for tripping.
Though Dallas didn’t cash in on the ensuing power play, Heiskanen’s concerning departure seemed to spark the Stars, and Johnston tied the game less than four minutes later to send the game to extra time.
Overtime lasted 20 seconds but was action-packed. Theodore had a breakaway at one end but was shut down by Jake Oettinger, which up a 2-on-1 the other way.
Once again, the Hintz and Johnston combination burned Vegas. Eichel and Hill got their signals crossed as Hintz and Johnston completed two cross-slot passes, leading to a slam-dunk finish for Johnston to complete the natural hat trick.
It was a poorly-executed sequence that demonstrated an obvious lack of communication between Hill and Eichel, ultimately awarding the extra point to Dallas.
In the end, the game seemed to shift following the shorthanded goal, though unlike in recent games, the Golden Knights didn’t allow the game to get away from them.
Even so, Dallas capitalized on its chances.
The Stars also made defensive adjustments following the first period to shut down the Golden Knights’ offense, as evidenced by the fact that Vegas generated eight high-danger chances in the first period, two in the second period and zero in the third. After the opening 20 minutes, Vegas had zero high-danger chances at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.
At 5-on-5, the Golden Knights generated 1.33 expected goals in the first period and a combined 0.90 in the second and third, with just 0.24 coming in the final 20 minutes.
Dallas is a strong defensive team, but Vegas’ offense has to create more.
However, Bruce Cassidy said the Stars never took over the game, they were just opportunistic.
“In the third period, they had one on-net chance; it went in,” Cassidy said. “We didn’t go into a shell, we weren’t risky. They scored on their chance. That’s hockey some nights, and that’s where you need a save or to defend the rush better, one or the other.”
When these teams met in Dallas last week, the Golden Knights came within inches of tying the game late in the third period. Instead, Oettinger came up with an exceptional save on Dorofeyev to close out the win. Hill didn’t do the same for the Golden Knights on the game-tying shot, and Eichel’s mishandling of the odd-man rush proved costly in overtime.
Cassidy said the lack of killer instinct to extend the lead at 3-1 was “where [Vegas] failed tonight.”
That lack of killer instinct also prevented Vegas from making it 4-2 in the third, leading to another lost opportunity with a point left on the table.
But the true loss tonight could be felt by the Stars, who lost their best defenseman.
Cassidy was adamant that the collision with Heiskanen was unintentional.
So was Stone.
“I go to reach and try to angle him out,” Stone said, explaining that Hintz “tripped me as I was falling forward. You never want to see guys get hurt. I really hope he’s alright. I was just trying to make a play and got tripped into him. … There was really no intent there, obviously, I was just trying to make a play on the puck, and their guy kind of trips me into him head-first.”
There is no love lost between these two teams, and losing Heiskanen would be a massive blow for the Stars. Needless to say, this rivalry should reach new heights should these clubs meet again in the playoffs.
One detail lost in the shuffle was the fact that Raphael Lavoie made his Golden Knights debut after getting called up earlier on Tuesday. Lavoie delivered three hits in 8:28 while skating with Brett Howden and Jonas Rondbjerg. The three were on the ice for a goal against but led 15-4 in Corsi and earned Cassidy’s trust with ice time late in the third period.
The Golden Knights will wrap up this three-game homestand on Thursday against the red-hot Blue Jackets.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.