Vegas goalie Robin Lehner, left, made 24 saves for his fourth shutout of the playoffs, a 3-0 win over Dallas on Tuesday. Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP
EDMONTON, Alberta — Paul Stastny scored to end a lengthy goal drought by Vegas forwards, Robin Lehner stopped 24 shots for his fourth shutout of the playoffs and the Golden Knights rediscovered their winning ways and beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 Tuesday in Game 2 of the Western Conference final, evening the series.
Stastny’s second-period goal was the first by a Vegas forward with an opposing goalie in net in 276:24, dating to Game 4 against Vancouver last round. William Karlsson and Tomas Nosek made it three in less than 10 minutes against Anton Khudobin, and the Golden Knights had another goal disallowed for goaltender interference.
“We play more as a team, support each other,” Nosek said. “Finally, we score some goals, too. It’s been a while.”
After getting flustered by hot Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko and failing to crack Khudobin in a hard-hitting Game 1 that was played at the Stars’ pace, Vegas finally looked like the team that earned the top seed in the West and steamrolled through the first round and halfway through the Vancouver series.
The return of enforcer Ryan Reaves was just one element of that. With Reaves suspended a game for an illegal check to the head, Coach Peter DeBoer didn’t start his physical fourth line as he had in 34 consecutive games since the All-Star break in January.
William Carrier, Nosek and Reaves started and came out hitting. Reaves hit Dallas captain Jamie Benn twice in the first 30 seconds, and the Golden Knights dictated the physicality the way the Stars did two nights earlier.
After no goals in the first period, Stastny scored on a redirection in front from Max Pacioretty. With agitating Stars winger in the penalty box minutes later, Karlsson scored on the power play with Mark Stone sliding in front to screen Khudobin.
Each goal was a reminder of how to score in the playoffs.
“As a group we just got to be committed to being in front of the net, making it more difficult, picking up some loose pucks,” Stone said Monday. “There’s pucks around there that we can get to and bang in that we haven’t been.”
Defenseman Shea Theodore, the only Vegas player to beat Demko in the final three games of that series, was in some pain on the bench early in the second after losing an edge, and it appeared he scored on the power play to make it 3-0. Dallas coach Rick Bowness successfully challenged for goalie interference to waive it off, but Nosek finished off a perfect tic-tac-toe passing play later in the period to give the Golden Knights the three-goal lead for real.
Allowing three goals on 27 shots and Vegas’ 27-12 domination in pucks on net was enough for the Stars staff to pull Khudobin at the second intermission. Rookie Jake Oettinger made his NHL debut in the third and didn’t face a shot until more than 11 minutes in.
Much like Game 1, in which Vegas was the better team in the third, Dallas turned the tables in the final period Tuesday but couldn’t score, let alone come back.
DEVILS: Mark Recchi played and lifted the Stanley Cup with Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara and coached Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, so the Hockey Hall of Famer knows a thing or two about winning with stars.
It might take some time for him to help the New Jersey Devils get to that point, but he’s willing to take on the challenge. Recchi on Wednesday joined new coach Lindy Ruff’s staff as an assistant, and he’s excited at the young talent they’re inheriting and hoping to turn New Jersey back into a playoff contender.
Recchi will be tasked with improving the Devils’ power play, which ranked 21st in the NHL last season, and helping the progression of No. 1 picks Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes and others with limited pro experience. After three seasons as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he feels he has the right approach to get through to young players.
“Communicating now is more important than ever: These kids want to understand, they want to talk to you about it, they want to understand how to get through it,” Recchi said on a conference call. “I think that’s the important thing that I’m going to be able to bring and I hope I can. I really want to help these young players and the New Jersey Devils, all the players, to build something special here.”
Recchi won the Cup three times during his 22-year playing career as a scoring winger and twice more as Penguins development coach. He and Pittsburgh’s other assistants didn’t have their contracts renewed after a first-round playoff exit, and the Penguins began filling those spots by hiring Washington Capitals coach Todd Reirden following his firing.
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