The battle between the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars on Tuesday was as big as the state of Texas. It featured numerous events, such as a scrum, a goal called off from an offsides, and overtime hockey. The Golden Knights were looking for some revenge after Friday's loss. Surely, they'd get that on Tuesday, right?
The ever-so-pesky Wyatt Johnston scored a hat trick as the Stars defeated the Golden Knights, 4-3, in overtime. The Stars improved to 32-17-1 and added two points to bump their total to 65. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights go to 31-15-5 on the season but improve by a point in the standings, putting them back atop the Pacific Division. Jake Oettinger had 25 saves on 28 shots, while Adin Hill had 25 saves on 29 shots.
An early offside killed a potential goal from Ivan Barbashev. But that didn't stop Jack Eichel from doing Jack Eichel things on a backhanded feed from... Barbashev. That goal was Eichel's seventh straight game with a point.
You ever see a team score on their first shot of the game... TWICE in one game? 🫨
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 29, 2025
After Ivan Barbashev's goal was disallowed, Jack Eichel bounced right back with one of his own pic.twitter.com/fuDLJkUyJN
The chaos continues between the Golden Knights and Stars
Of course, the Stars had to respond to the 4 Nations Face-Off representative scoring with a goal of their own. Matt Bourque was the guilty party as he scored his sixth goal of the season. But a certain turtle scored his 19th goal of the season (and his 10th straight game with a point). Fun must be always, especially when scoring on Jake Oettinger.
Then, the second period came and the Stars got trapped in a couple of penalties. Shea Theodore had a galaxy brain move to set up the 5-on-3, passing to a Stars player to make the power play as long as possible. The result? Pavel Dorofeyev adding another power play goal, his 10th of the season (22nd goal overall).
However, Theodore's turnover led to a shorthanded goal. Wyatt Johnston sped down the ice with Roope Hintz to put a rebound past Adin Hill, putting Dallas within one. The third period got chaotic when Mark Stone was tripped by Roope Hintz, running to Miro Heiskanen in the process. In turn, he took Heiskanen's lower body out of commission from the aftermath. Four minutes later, Johnston got the equalizer, proving to be a thorn in Vegas's side. Then, the pesky Johnston would score the game-winner for the hat trick.
What's next for the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars?
The Vegas Golden Knights will face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets, completing a challenging three-game homestand. The matchup will go down on Thursday at 7:00 PM, where Vegas will have their hands full with another aspiring playoff team. The good news? Columbus is 7-14-4 away from Nationwide Arena entering Wednesday.
As for the Dallas Stars, they head back to the Lone Star State to take on the Vancouver Canucks. The action takes place on Friday at 5:00 PM PST, providing the Stars with an ample opportunity for two more points. The game's one half of a two-game stand with a contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday being the other.
Sometimes, you desperately want to exact your revenge on the person who wronged you, whether it's the brainiac co-worker with a Napoleon complex who annoys you to no end. The Stars were that brainiac on Tuesday night, defeating the Golden Knights in a heavyweight bout. Who knows? Maybe Vegas will run into Pete DeBoer one more time as they always do.