With 4:39 left in the second period of Game 5, Alex Pietrangelo made a painful mistake.
The Las Vegas defenseman punched Stars forward Tyler Seguin in the face, sending him bleeding to the penalty box and receiving five minutes of major time. Replays showed that Seguin hit him with his hand, not his elbow, and the match was ultimately cut to two minutes.
Just 73 seconds later, the Stars took advantage of Pietrangelo's mistake. Jason Robertson grabbed the rebound with his own shot and scored his second power-play goal of the series. This score was the winner of the match.
The hit appeared to be retaliation for another hit Seguin had on Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore during that period. Pietrangelo's mistake Wednesday wasn't the only one of the series. Following a roughing penalty committed against Rope-Hintz in Game 4, Wyatt Johnston's power-play goal midway through the second period tied the score at 2-2, giving Dallas another victory.
“The veteran players couldn't have known any better,” Las Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game. “There's a controlled aggression on the ice in every series, so that's an area where you have to run the numbers and try to get them right. …Especially now with their power play going well, the margins are… Too thin.”
The Stars have been taking advantage of Las Vegas' physicality as they return to Las Vegas on Friday with three straight wins and a 3-2 lead in the series. The Golden Knights are a bigger, more offensive team, but those traits have led to self-inflicted injuries.
The Stars aren't a very physical team. They have allowed 17.8 hits per game this regular season, which ranks second from bottom in the NHL. Meanwhile, Vegas ranked eighth with 24.6 hits per game.
The average height and weight of players on the Stars roster is 6-2 and 201 pounds. For Las Vegas, it's 6 wins, 2 losses, and 206. But Dallas is without its biggest player in this series, Jani Hakanpaa, who is 6-7, 222.
Still, players like Logan Stankoven, listed at just 5-8,171, are winning puck battles on the boards.
“Sometimes it's difficult, especially under the wall and when you're trying to get the puck out,” Stankoven said. “You have to find where the puck is and you have big defensemen coming at you. You're just making heads-up plays.”
Stars coach Pete DeBoer noted after Game 4 that the Golden Knights were trying to chase down hits. It was a similar strategy that cost the Stars in Game 2 at home, and ultimately contributed to their 3-1 loss.
But especially in the last two games, Dallas took advantage of the Golden Knights' overaggressiveness, making them pay for it on the power play when they scored 5-on-5 and when those hits crossed the line. .
The Stars are 12-4 on the power play in this series, including 7-3 in the last two games. On Wednesday night, they scored two goals on the man advantage. The Stars entered the series with a significant special teams advantage, ranking sixth on the regular season power play (24.2%). Las Vegas ranked 20th (20.2%).
“The power play is so important in the playoffs because it's so hard to score five-on-five, especially in this series,” Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “The difference between winning and losing is very small, so when you get a man advantage you have to take advantage of it. [Wednesday] Because of that difference. ”
Dallas found itself in Vegas' position last season when the two teams met in the Western Conference Finals. Self-inflicted acts such as unnecessary penalties changed the course of the series — most notably, captain Jamie Benn received a two-game suspension for cross-checking Las Vegas captain Mark Stone in Game 3. That's what I received.
The Stars let Pietrangelo let his emotions get the best of him, as he has in the past two games. It played a huge role in costing them the series.
“I think every time you lose in the playoffs, good teams try to use it to make themselves better,” DeBoer said of what they learned from last year's mistakes. “We talked about how we self-destructed at certain points in the series last year, and I think we’re doing a really good job of not making it easy on them.”
The intensity and physicality increases in the playoffs with each series, but the Stars have learned over the past three games that they don't have to deviate too much from their style to match Las Vegas. Staying calm and composed led to them taking control in the second half of the series.
When the margin is this thin and most games are decided by one point, a play like Pietrangelo's could easily decide the series.
“Every game is a tense game. There is no room for these two teams,” said Seguin. “There's emotion in the game. [Pietrangelo’s] He's a great player. They are a great team so let's see what happens in the next game. ”
On X/Twitter: @Rasimak
Check out more Star coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
