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Vegas Golden Knights dealt OT heartbreak and Playoffs exit by Stars

By Andrew Steele-Davis |
Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars celebrates as the game-winning goal by teammate Denis Gurianov goes past Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars celebrates as the game-winning goal by teammate Denis Gurianov goes past Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars celebrates as the game-winning goal by teammate Denis Gurianov goes past Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars celebrates as the game-winning goal by teammate Denis Gurianov goes past Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

It was a heartbreaker of a Game 5 for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Stanley Cup dream is officially over for the Vegas Golden Knights, who lost 3-2 in Overtime to the Dallas Stars as their elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs was confirmed.

Vegas lost this series in five games with the Stars crowned worthy Champions of the Western Conference, being presented with the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl after the game.

It was a tough and bitter pill to swallow for the Golden Knights, who at one point looked like they were on the cusp of forcing a Game 6.

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Chandler Stephenson got Vegas off to the perfect start midway through the first period, latching onto a sublime pass from Shea Theodore before beating Anton Khudobin on the rush.

Then, following a scoreless second period, Reilly Smith fired a beautiful shot over the glove of Khudobin seconds into the final frame to put the Golden Knights firmly in the driving seat.

However, as was the case throughout this series, the offense then dried up for the Knights and it gave Dallas a golden-laden path back into the game.

Jamie Benn recorded his eighth goal of the postseason and third of the series to make it a one-goal game, before Joel Kiviranta sent the game to Overtime with a power play goal.

All of a sudden the Golden Knights were swimming against the tide, and they were wiped out 3:36 into OT when Denis Gurianov scored the game-winner on the PP after Zach Whitecloud was sent to the box for Delay of the Game.

It was absolute heartbreak for the Golden Knights who failed to live up to lofty expectations in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight year, and a huge off-season now awaits this franchise.

But, for now, let’s revisit a brutal Game 5 by breaking it down period-by-period…

First Period

Robin Lehner got the start for the Golden Knights but the huge news was that Mark Stone was in the lineup after leaving Game 4 hurt.

Vegas had struggled to set up screens in-front of the red hot Anton Khudobin in the first four games of this series, and that’s something they tried to correct early in Game 5.

William Carrier set up office in-front of the net with Nate Schmidt firing a shot into the glove of Khudobin.

It was then Lehner’s turn to make a big save before the Golden Knights landed the first punch of the night.

In his own zone, Shea Theodore saw Chandler Stephenson in on the rush and fired a sublime, pinpoint pass to the forward who got in behind the defense before beating Khudobin with a deke.

The Golden Knights, as they did all series, was controlling and dominating puck possession and they were also completely stifling the Stars’ offense.

Vegas outshot the Stars 14-9 in the first period.

Second Period

It was more of the same in the middle frame as the Golden Knights continued to dominate and control play.

However, Dallas gifted Vegas three power plays in the middle period and they were unable to cash in on any of them.

Denis Gurianov also rang a shot off the post while William Carrier again set up an excellent screen in-front of Anton Khudobin.

Third Period

If you don’t convert on your power plays then you are asking for trouble and the Golden Knights left the door open for Dallas going into the final period.

Granted, it was a brilliant start to the third for Vegas after Paul Stastny chipped the puck to Reilly Smith to start the transition game, and Smith saw that Anton Khudobin was prepared for the pass across to Jonathan Marchessault and instead opted to fire a shot up high.

That was as good as it got for the Knights, however.

At 9:54 in the period Stars Captain Jamie Benn continued his Conn Smythe level of play, spinning in close before firing home a wrist shot past Robin Lehner.

It was a huge moment in the game and it ended up shifting the momentum firmly in Dallas’ favor.

Tyler Seguin tested Lehner with a one-timer before the Golden Knights were dealt a near-fatal blow.

With 3:47 to go in regulation and with Dallas on the power play, the Stars showed Vegas how to get bodies to the net.

John Klingberg let a shot go from the point and Joel Kiviranta was planted right in-front of Lehner to scoop up the rebound and put the puck home to send the game to Overtime.

Overtime

The Dallas Stars were 4-0 in games that went beyond regulation in the postseason, and that wasn’t a good omen for the Vegas Golden Knights.

And so it proved when Zach Whitecloud went to the box for Delay of Game, leading to the Stars going on the power play for the fourth time in the game.

With 3:36 played in OT, Dallas delivered the knockout punch when Denis Gurianov took a dish from John Klingberg before ripping a wicked one-timer past Robin Lehner for the game-winner and the goal that ended the series.

It was a brutal loss in five games in the Western Conference Final for the Golden Knights, who were expected to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

Let’s go over some notes and stats from Game 5…

Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars retrieves the game winning puck after an overtime win against Robin Lehner #90 and the Vegas Golden Knights during the first overtime period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars retrieves the game winning puck after an overtime win against Robin Lehner #90 and the Vegas Golden Knights during the first overtime period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Notes & Stats

Here are some key stats from Game 5…

  • SOG – DAL: 26 – VGK: 36
  • FO% – DAL: 53% – VGK: 47%
  • PP – DAL: 2/4 – VGK: 0/3
  • PIM – DAL: 10 – VGK: 12
  • HITS – DAL: 34 – VGK: 47
  • BLKS – DAL: 22 – VGK: 22
  • GVA – DAL: 19 – VGK: 17

Here was the Official Scoring Summary from Game 5:

  • Chandler Stephenson (3) – Theodore (12), Tuch (4) – 8:14 / 1st
  • Reilly Smith (5) – Stastny (6) – :15 / 3rd
  • Jamie Benn (8) – Radulov (6), Lindell (5) – 9:54 / 3rd
  • Joel Kiviranta (4) – PPG – Klingberg (12), Gurianov (8) – 16:13 / 3rd
  • Denis Gurianov (9) – PPG – Klingberg (13), Hintz (9) – 3:36 / OT
William Karlsson #71 of the Vegas Golden Knights checks Blake Comeau #15 of the Dallas Stars during the third period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
William Karlsson #71 of the Vegas Golden Knights checks Blake Comeau #15 of the Dallas Stars during the third period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Let’s go over some notes from Game 5…

  • The Stanley Cup dream is over for the Vegas Golden Knights who lost in five to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.
  • Huge congratulations to the Stars, by the way, who devised a gameplan that completely shutdown the Golden Knights and nullified all of their strengths. They are a loaded team with great goaltending and some huge pieces, and they will now look to cap off a stunning run by winning the Stanley Cup.
  • Back to the Golden Knights, though, and this will go down as the second postseason disappointment in two years. This one stings just as much as last year given that the Knights were built to win it all this year.
  • They went all in by firing Gerard Gallant and replacing him with Pete DeBoer, before acquiring a pure rental in Robin Lehner at the Trade Deadline. They had all the pieces needed to overcome any team that stood in their way but, in the end, some fatal flaws were exposed.
  • One of those flaws was the offense, which was constructed to sink a small fleet of battleships. However, it was powerless against the Stars, scoring just eight goals in five games. The offense also stuttered in the series against Vancouver and it causes some concern going forward.
  • Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson, Paul Stastny, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault all went quiet in the Western Conference Final, and the Vegas front office will have some big decisions to make in the off-season in order to add more balance to the forward corps.
  • Another flaw was the system with DeBoer refusing to change things despite the fact that it clearly didn’t work against Dallas. While the Golden Knights did dominate possession and ranked high in almost all metrics in all five games, they couldn’t score and failed to set up screens and rebounds. That will have to change going forward.
  • The power play was also at fault, going 0/3 in Game 5 and the inability to convert on the man advantage allowed Dallas a route back into the game and, ultimately, it allowed the Stars to finish off the Knights in five games.
  • The PP was also hugely disappointing throughout the last two rounds, going 5/23 in the series against the Vancouver Canucks and 3/22 in the Western Conference Final against the Stars. Not good enough.
  • Again, there are clear flaws on this roster and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon will need to work out a way to eradicate those, although he will have to work around a flat cap for the 2020-21 season. So it won’t be easy.
  • One person you can absolve from blame, however, is goalie Robin Lehner who was sensational for the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 2018-19 Vezina Trophy finalist posted four shutouts inside The Bubble to go along with a 1.99 Goals Against Average and a .917 Save Percentage.
  • Someone else who can’t be faulted is defenseman Zach Whitecloud, who was on the end of an incredibly unlucky Delay of Play call that led to Dallas scoring the series-clinching goal in Overtime. It was a tough moment for the rookie who emerged as a real key piece for the Golden Knights both during the regular-season and inside The Bubble.
  • In terms of the opening two periods of Game 5, the Golden Knights couldn’t have scripted it any better. They were starting to set up screens in front of net, they were completely dominating puck possession and they were also doing a great job of shutting down the Stars.
  • However, going 0/3 on the power play in the second period started the downfall, and the Stars did what the Knights couldn’t by going 2/4 on the power play, with special teams ultimately deciding Game 5 and the series.
  • It was also interesting to note that two role players, Joel Kiviranta and Denis Gurianov, scored the game-tying and then the game-winning goals, with Dallas’ depth outshining Vegas’ stacked roster.
  • Both teams blocked 22 shots each while the Golden Knights outhit the Stars 47-34 as they played desperate hockey for the first two periods, before falling apart in the third.
  • Nate Schmidt, who suffered a rough postseason, led all Golden Knights skaters in 23:57 minutes of total ice time, compared to Miro Heiskanen who led the Stars with a whopping 28:05.
  • The Official Three Stars of the Game were: 1. Jamie Benn 2. Anton Khudobin 3. Denis Gurianov.

Let’s look at our own Three Stars of the Game…

Shea Theodore #27 of the Vegas Golden Knights commits an interference penalty on Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars during the second period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Shea Theodore #27 of the Vegas Golden Knights commits an interference penalty on Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars during the second period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Shea Theodore was the First Star of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Golden Knights, let alone Game 5. The defenseman is quickly establishing himself as one of the best offensive blueliners in the NHL, and he’s become a key piece on this Vegas roster. Theodore finished Game 5 with one point, three shots on goal, four blocks and a +1 rating in 19:53 minutes of total ice time, in addition to leading the Golden Knights in postseason points with 19 (seven goals, 12 assists). Theodore also produced a sublime pass for Chandler Stephenson’s goal, a pass that the Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer made a habit of making.
  2. Robin Lehner was huge for the Golden Knights throughout the postseason, and he was big in Game 5. The elite goalie stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced and, once again, gave his team the best possible chance to win. We will now see what happens in the long-term with Lehner a pending UFA this off-season.
  3. Reilly Smith made it a two-goal game early in the third period with what was a huge goal, going up high to beat Anton Khudobin. It ultimately didn’t count for anything but it was a stellar play by Smith, who finished third in points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Golden Knights with 14 (five goals, nine assists).

The 2019-20 season is now officially over for the Vegas Golden Knights, but it will be a busy and truncated off-season for this franchise.

Next. Game over for VGK. dark

Stick with us for a breakdown of what lies in wait for this team, in addition to full coverage of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and Free Agency!

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