Golden Knights stay hot with win against Stars

LAS VEGAS -- Mark Stone had an assist in his return for the Vegas Golden Knights, who stayed hot with a 3-2 victory against the Dallas Stars at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

Stone had missed the previous 14 games with a lower-body injury.

“It was good. Long layoff, but I feel good going into it,” Stone said. “So nice to get it back into a familiar spot and just play. Good opponent to come in. It's going to be a close, intense game. So, it was a good team win."

Tomas Hertl, Jack Eichel and Nicolas Roy scored, and Shea Theodore had two assists for Vegas (18-7-3), which has won three straight and is 7-1-1 in its past nine games. Adin Hill made 38 saves.

“We’ve been really solid [defensively],” Theodore said. “With what we've given up, [Hill] has been there to make a big stop. That's got to continue. We have a couple days here to breathe a little bit, relax, recharge. We're going to go on the road with that.”

Mavrik Bourque and Mason Marchment scored, and Jake Oettinger made 25 saves for Dallas (16-10-0), which has lost two straight.

“I thought 5-on-5 was a pretty even game, we might have even been ahead for spurts of it,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Special teams are a great equalizer, and we shot ourselves in the foot with the penalties we took.”

Hertl gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 15:23 of the first period, finishing a pass from Stone in the low slot on the power play.

“When [Stone] and Jack start playing catch with the puck, it's two options from the same side of the ice to three left sticks, right? So, we can get shots away quickly,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “So, chemistry's been good all year. Good for him to find Hertl.”

Bourque tied the game 1-1 at 6:39 of the second period. Kaedan Korczak misplayed the puck along the end boards, and Bourque got to it at the right post and jammed a shot underneath Hill’s left pad.

Eichel put Vegas ahead 2-1 at 15:40, one-timing a pass from Theodore in the bottom of the left circle for a power-play goal.

Roy extended the lead to 3-1 at 16:48. He picked up the puck along the left boards, avoided a stick check from Logan Stankoven, and scored blocker side with a shot off the post.

“It was a big goal. We were kind of pushing, but our power play was really good tonight,” Roy said. “Obviously, having [Stone] helps a lot, but I think it was good timing for sure.”

Marchment cut it to 3-2 at 17:26 of the third period with Oettinger on the bench for the extra skater.

“We got to just bear down, find a way to get some greasy ones,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “We’re probably looking for too many pretty ones. That’s how you score in this league. A lot of goals are scored within five feet of that net off tips and rebounds and off your body. We just have to keep putting pucks there and players as well.”

NOTES: The Golden Knights have won eight games this season by one goal, which is tied with the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, and Colorado Avalanche for most in the NHL. ... Hertl has scored seven power-play goals this season, which is tied for second in the NHL.