Stars defeat Golden Knights in OT in Game 5, reach Stanley Cup Final

Denis Gurianov scored a power-play goal 3:36 into overtime, and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Stanley Cup Final with a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Monday.

Gurianov took a pass from John Klingberg and scored on a one-timer from the right face-off circle.
"Unreal feeling, obviously," Klingberg said. "All the hard work we've been putting down is to be where we're at, to be where we are right now. We're one series away from the Stanley Cup. … The ups and downs we've been going through. It's all worth it. We're there now. One series left. We're not done yet."
The Stars, who advanced to the Cup Final for the first time since 2000, will play the Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Islanders. Tampa Bay has a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final. Game 5 is in Edmonton, the hub city for the conference finals and Cup Final, on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
WATCH: [All Stars vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Jamie Benn and Joel Kiviranta scored, and Anton Khudobin made 34 saves for Dallas, the No. 3 seed in the West, which was trailing 2-0 in the third period.
"It's a feeling you can't describe," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "… You only get so many cracks at going to the Stanley Cup Final. You've got to take advantage of it. … When you're behind the bench and you see that puck go in and you know you're going to the Stanley Cup Finals, words just can't describe the emotion that comes through. … It's so rare to get to the Finals that you've got to enjoy every minute of it."

Chandler Stephenson and Reilly Smith scored, and Robin Lehner made 23 saves for Vegas, the No. 1 seed.
"This year is probably the best, most skilled team I've played on in my career, and to not win the Stanley Cup, that was our one goal," Smith said. "We didn't want anything short of that. We definitely feel defeated. … We all feel like this is a wasted opportunity."
Kiviranta tied the game 2-2 with a power-play goal with 3:47 remaining in the third when he put in a loose puck to the right of the net.
"Of course it felt good because it was late third and tying goal," he said. "So we got the opportunity to score the winning goal."

Benn got the Stars within 2-1 at 9:54 of the third when he scored after the puck came to him off the skate of linemate Alexander Radulov.
"It says a lot about our group," Benn said. "Sometimes it doesn't always go your way in the first couple of periods, but we stuck with it. Once again, [Khudobin] kept us in it as long as we needed, and we found a way to get it done."
Stephenson took a saucer pass from Shea Theodore and beat Khudobin five-hole for a 1-0 lead at 8:14 of the first.
Smith scored from the right circle 15 seconds into the third period for a 2-0 lead. It was his first goal in 11 games.
"As forwards, we just weren't able to help our team out in those timely situations," Smith said. "… It just seemed that no matter what we were doing, it just wasn't ending up in the back of the net. ... They were coming back and scoring a timely goal when we were all over them for long stretches, and those lulls killed us."
The Golden Knights were outscored 9-8 in the series and each of their four losses was by one goal, including two in overtime.
"It's that time of year, 1-0, 2-1 games, you have to be able to win them, have to be on the right side of them," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "We were right there. It's a very slim margin. We just couldn't get a timely goal in order to put us in a position to be on the right side of that ledger."

The Stars are 10-1-0 in one goal games and 5-0 in games decided after regulation in the postseason.
"It says we finds ways," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. "There's no panic. There's composure. Just knowing that we're going to get the job done. … Everything's falling in our favor right now. Just got to keep it going."
NOTES:The Stars advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the fifth time in their history and third since relocating from Minnesota prior to the 1993-94 season. Dallas defeated the Buffalo Sabres in 1999 (six games) and lost to the New Jersey Devils in 2000 (six games). The Minnesota North Stars lost to the New York Islanders in 1981 (five games) and Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 (six games). … Vegas lost for the first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when leading entering the third period (5-1). Dallas won for the second time in the postseason when trailing going into the third (2-7-0). … The Golden Knights outshot the Stars 166-118 in the series.
NHL.com staff writer Tim Campbell contributed to this report