Dallas Stars Beat the Vegas Golden Knights
The Dallas Stars won in seven games against the Vegas Golden Knights, a highly impactful series on both ends of the ice. After going down 2-0 to start the series, the Stars battled back and won the next three games.
Game 7 was as competitive as any this season, winning 2-1. The Stars scored a goal in the third period to put them up a goal and goalkeeper Jake Oettinger did everything he possibly could to get the win.
After the game, he had the following to say, according to ESPN.
“The last period was a clinic. Just so proud of the guys of how we responded,” Oettinger said. “It’s a long playoffs, and you’re going to need different guys to step up at different times. A lot of hockey left, so hopefully a lot more heroes. It’s going to be a fun ride.”
Oettinger, who struggled some during the regular season, is one of the main reasons the Stars won this game. If it wasn’t for what he was able to do in the back of the net, it’s a possibility that the Golden Knights would be moving on and not the Stars.
He recognized his ups and downs this season, but was happy to get the win, according to Mike Heika of NHL.com.
“It had a lot of ups and downs. I had some dark moments in the regular season. I felt like I didn’t play my best game in Game 1 of the series. After that, I felt really good about my game,” Oettinger said. “With how good of a team we are, if I do my job, we’re going to be a tough team to beat. I’m trying to be a small part of this team and do my job. There are still some things I can clean up. I’m excited to have played well and help this team move on.”
Another tough task awaits them as they’ll take on a Colorado Avalanche team that finished with 304 goals in the regular season, the most in the entire NHL. The Avalanche beat the 110-point Winnipeg Jets in five games.
Is Winning it All a Realistic Possibility?
As the Dallas Stars advance in the postseason, the question is now whether they can win it all. If they continue to defend the puck the way they did in Game 7, and if Oettinger plays the way he did, there’s a good argument to be made that they’re the best team in hockey.
Despite winning in Game 7, it’s important to recognize that Colorado has arguably the best offence in a very long time. With Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar – who all finished in the top 16 in points during the regular season – it’s almost impossible to stop them.
Still, the Stars had a better regular season than the Avalanche and have just as much playoff experience as them. If anyone can beat them, the Stars have the talent and experience to do so.
As they head into the series, head coach Peter DeBoer had the following to say.
“It’s obviously emotional,” DeBoer said. “So many emotions going back to last year and losing, the mixed emotions. There are so many great people over there that I worked with. I have great affection for them, and we were happy for them to win, but we really wanted to win this series. We wanted our turn. We did all the right things all year to get the first seed, and then you draw a team like Vegas, which I honestly think has a deeper team than last year.”
“It’s another big test, a huge test,” DeBoer said. “There are some similarities to Vegas, and the one thing about them is we’re very familiar with them. It’s not like we need a lot of work on pre-scout. We’re very familiar with each other. We’ll enjoy this one in the short term and then start thinking about that.”
His team is thinking about the disappointing ending to last season and will do everything in their power to make that not happen again this time around.
