Stars' offensive woes mounting against Golden Knights in Western Final

Dallas Stars coach Rick Bowness dished out the niceties a coach typically does after his team is shut out, crediting the opposing goalie for the role he played.

But what Bowness said next gave a better indication for his thoughts on why the Stars couldn't score against goalie Robin Lehner and the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-0 loss in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Tuesday.
"We didn't put nearly enough chances against him, we didn't put nearly enough shots against him," Bowness said following the game. "We believed we could come back; we didn't get that spark to push us over the hump."
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Stars series coverage]
The Stars have been lacking that spark since defenseman John Klingberg scored on their first shot of the series, 2:36 into Game 1 on Sunday.
It's an about-face from what the Stars did against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round, when they scored 28 goals in seven games, including at least three in a period four times. They also scored seven goals in Game 7 of the first round against the Calgary Flames, including five in the second period.
Klingberg's goal was all Dallas needed to win Game 1, but with no goals on 48 shots in the past 117:24 of the series, the Stars have entered dangerous territory against the Golden Knights.
The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 in Edmonton, the hub city for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final, on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS). The Golden Knights appear confident in their ability to score again, and the Stars are crediting the opponent for shutting them down.
"I think it just goes to show how well structured and how good of a team Vegas is," Dallas captain Jamie Benn said. "They don't give you much, and you've got to take advantage of your opportunities. Probably for us, we need to take advantage of our power-play time. That's got to be a difference in this series."
The Stars are 0-for-4 with three shots on goal in 4:34 of power-play time in the series.
The Golden Knights aren't giving the Stars much of a chance to establish a consistent power play, which can't be expected to change considering Vegas is 88.7 percent on the penalty kill (fifth in NHL) and has been shorthanded on average 3.12 times per game in the postseason.
"A lot of it has to do with who you're playing against," Dallas general manager Jim Nill said. "Vegas is a very good team. I think we're very similar teams. You look at the [regular-season] standings, they're four points ahead of us and we had two games in hand, so very close in the standings. We're both big, heavy teams. We both support the puck well and we both get great goaltending, so I think what you've seen is what you're going to get."
But that's a potential issue for the Stars because the Golden Knights got hot in the second period of Game 2 and scored three goals in less than 10 minutes.
The Stars have not had that type of burst yet in the series, and now they've got some key forwards who are entering prolonged slump territory.
Tyler Seguin and Corey Perry each has no points in the past six games. Roope Hintz has no goals in the past five games. Benn and Joe Pavelski each has no goals in the past four games.
Even defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who brought an eight-game point streak (three goals, 10 assists) into the series, has been held off the score sheet in Games 1 and 2, a small sample size, for sure, but perhaps enough to show how difficult it's going to be to generate offense against the Golden Knights.
"The one thing I've noticed in this bubble is the ebbs and flows of the game, the momentum changes, and so far we haven't seen that in our series," Nill said. "I think that's because both teams have great structure and are very consistent that way, but also I've seen in these games there's always games within the games. Will we see things open up? We may. But once again, I think we've got two well-coached teams, two very disciplined teams, and they're going to be tight games the rest of the way."
The good thing is the Stars are comfortable in tight games.
They're 7-1-0 in one-goal games in the postseason. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning, with nine, has more wins in one-goal games.
The Stars are also comfortable when they trail in games. They're 4-6-0 when allowing the first goal and 4-4-0 when trailing after the first period in the postseason.
"I don't think there was anybody on that bench that didn't have a thought that we might come back," Pavelski said about the feeling going into the third period in Game 2 trailing 3-0. "We know what this team can do in these situations."
They can score. They've proven it in previous rounds. They need to find a way in Game 3 even if the opponent's ability to shut them down is unlike any other they've faced in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"Vegas is a great team, they've been favorites all along," Seguin said. "You expected them to respond [in Game 2]. I expect us to respond next game."