Vegas Golden Knights lay a goose egg in Game 1 loss to the Stars
It wasn’t a great start to the Western Conference Finals for the Vegas Golden Knights.
John Klingberg scored the game-winner and Anton Khudobin pitched a shutout as the Dallas Stars beat the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1.
Marc-Andre Fleury got the surprise start for the Golden Knights and made 24 saves, but he was let down by a stagnant offense.
The Golden Knights have now scored four goals in their last four games, while their power play was also a major downfall in Game 1.
Let’s break the game down period-by-period…
First Period
Marc-Andre Fleury was named the starter for Game 1, while Nick Cousins came back into the lineup with Ryan Reaves suspended.
It was the worst possible start for the Golden Knights after the Dallas Stars took an early lead.
Vegas couldn’t deal with a loose puck in the zone and, instead, John Klingberg scooped the puck up and unleashed a hell of a wrister past Fleury at 2:36.
The man is simply clutch@ChoctawCasinos | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/0v6qOtRGUY
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 7, 2020
Dallas was the better team in the first period and they were winning the physical battles and the puck battles.
The Stars were executing well on the forecheck too and that was giving the Golden Knights all kind of problems.
Vegas was struggling to generate any offense which didn’t help but, when they did, Anton Khudobin stood tall including making a superb kick save on Nick Cousins.
Second Period
It was more of the same in the middle frame as the Dallas Stars continued to dominate the Golden Knights.
Marc-Andre Fleury made two big saves to deny Tyler Seguin, with the Knights outshot by a margin of 12-4 after the second period.
Third Period
Vegas had time remaining on a power play heading into the final period but they couldn’t strike on the man advantage.
They went 0/4 on the power play and that played a part in the Golden Knights’ downfall, who just couldn’t compete with the Stars in a number of areas.
Sights & Sounds from Game 1 loss in WCF. dark. Next
Vegas did pull Marc-Andre Fleury for an extra skater but it proved to be in vain with the Stars taking Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.