Stars can clinch playoff berth, eliminate Golden Knights in 'huge' game

The Dallas Stars can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday, and they can do something that has never been done before: eliminate the Vegas Golden Knights from playoff contention.

The Stars hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference entering their game against the Golden Knights at American Airlines Center (8:30 p.m. ET; BSSWX, ATTSN-RM, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
Dallas leads Vegas by three points. Each team has three games to go.
If the Stars (44-30-5) win in regulation, they will clinch a playoff berth and the Golden Knights (42-31-6) will miss the postseason for the first time since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18.
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"It's huge," captain Jamie Benn told the Stars website. "That's obviously what you want as a player and a team, is to not rely on somebody else to do your job. We have a chance to get into the playoffs with a big win, so that's what we're going to try to do."
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said: "We're still in it. You have to think that way. We have to have a big game on Tuesday to keep our chances alive."
If Vegas earns at least one point, anything can happen, forward Max Pacioretty said.

The Golden Knights are also six points behind the Los Angeles Kings for third in the Pacific Division and four behind the Nashville Predators, who hold the first wild card from the Western Conference. The Kings have two games remaining and the Predators three. Los Angeles will clinch if Dallas wins in any fashion. Nashville will clinch if Dallas wins in regulation.
"It's not going to be easy here these last three games," Pacioretty said. "We've got to play to the very end and give ourselves a chance."
The Stars lost three straight games in regulation before a 3-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
The Golden Knights are coming off a 5-4 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday, when they gave up the tying goal with 0.9 seconds left in the third period, costing them a point.
Rookie goalie Logan Thompson started against the Sharks and likely will start against the Stars. The Golden Knights announced Monday that Robin Lehner will have shoulder surgery and is out the remainder of the season, and called up Jiri Patera from Henderson of the American Hockey League.
Thompson, named the most outstanding goalie in the AHL in the 2020-21 season, is 9-5-1 with a 2.64 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and one shutout in 16 games (14 starts) this season.
"He's not a young goalie," Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said. "He's not a 20-year-old. He's 25. He's won the best goaltender in the American League. So he's been in situations like this where you lose and you've got to bounce back the next night. I'm not worried about him."
DeBoer said he isn't worried about the Golden Knights in general. Vegas is 8-2-0 against Dallas in the regular season and won the last game 5-4 at T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 8, coming back after falling behind 3-1 and pulling Lehner in the second period.
"I'm really confident," DeBoer said. "We're going to need to be great, and I think we've got another level we can get to here [Tuesday] in Dallas."