The Vegas Golden Knights stole Game 1 and Game 2 on the road in Dallas against the Stars to take a commanding 2-0 series lead, but after failing to defend home ice they will now head back to Dallas in a 2-2 series following a 4-2 loss in Game 4.
The Golden Knights nearly stole Game 3 on the heels of an amazing performance by Logan Thompson, and to their credit, they showed much more of a fight and effort in Game 4 despite ultimately losing. Michael Amadio entered the lineup in Game 4 in the place of Anthony Mantha, and he got on the score sheet to put home a sitter in the crease after Jake Oettinger was unable to swallow up Brayden McNabb’s blast.
Old friend Evgenii Dadonov tied the game toward the end of the period, and it was yet another shot that beat Thompson high, and this shot in particular was from the corner and went off his mask and in.
The Golden Knights appeared to shake off the ill timed goal by coming into the 2nd period with a little more oomph, and Jack Eichel restored the lead after putting home a rebound by Jonathan Marchessault on a rush with Ivan Barbashev.
That line was buzzing most of the night for the Golden Knights, and unfortunately they weren’t unable to get anything else past Oettinger. The Stars tied the game 6:36 later on the power play, and it was a scramble play in front of the net that the Golden Knights would love back. Alex Pietrangelo took the penalty which sent Dallas to the power play, and it was just another lapse in judgement that’s marred him this series.
Dallas scored again before the 2nd intermission, and the Ty Dellandrea got the credit for it after a puck deflected off his shoulder. Pietrangelo turned the puck over which let Dallas start their sequence, and Vegas will need him to be better going forward.
The Dellandrea goal, along with the Dadonov one in the 1st, were just two rough bounces for the Golden Knights, and ones they were unable to recover from. Vegas pressed hard in the 3rd to try and tie the game to force overtime, but they failed to do so and Dallas added an empty-net goal to secure the 4-2 win.
Game Stats via NHL dot com
Game 5 will take place on Tuesday, May 1st, and puck drop will be 4:30 PDT.