Golden Knights shut out Stars in Game 6, push series to limit

LAS VEGAS -- Adin Hill made 23 saves, and the Vegas Golden Knights stayed alive by defeating the Dallas Stars 2-0 in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

“I always have confidence in myself,” said Hill, who made a second straight start after Logan Thompson started the first four games of the series. “My game had a little stretch there where I struggled and let some goals in that I should haven’t, but in practice, I never really lost it. It’s a mental thing, more than anything. When I got my number called in Game 5 (a 3-2 loss), I just went out and tried to be positive and have a good game. I felt like I played decent that game, though a couple of things I could have cleaned up. 

“I felt like it came together a little better tonight, but it's a team effort out there.”

Game 7 will be in Dallas on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, BSSW, SN, TVAS), with the winner advancing to face the Colorado Avalanche in the second round.

“There's nothing better than Game 7,” said Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who is 7-0 in Game 7. “I mean, that's what you grow up dreaming about -- you know, playing, and the second-best thing is coaching in them. So yeah, just excited. I mean, I'm so excited for our group. I'm excited for our fans in Dallas.”

Noah Hanifin got the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights, the defending Stanley Cup champions, who are the second wild card from the West.

“It's been a really tight series. There's not a lot of room out there,” Hanifin said. “They're a great team, and they play really well defensively, as do we. So yeah, it was nice to be able to squeeze one by them tonight. I think we did a really good job of hanging on to the lead and not sitting back too much.”

Jake Oettinger made 28 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 1 seed from the Central Division.

“I try to do my job,” Oettinger said. “I feel like [if] I play like that on Sunday we're going to win. … It feels like we’ve played really well this series. If we roll out our best games, we should like the result.”

Hill made three saves in three seconds at 1:41 of the second period, all from close range, including two on Tyler Seguin.

Stone cleared the puck out of the crease at 14:48 after Hill stopped a Ty Dellandrea shot from the right circle with Dallas short-handed.

And at 16:26, Hill stopped Miro Heiskanen on a breakaway at the right post after the defenseman came out of the penalty box.

“What a game for goaltenders,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It's a 0-0 game in the third. Sometimes those are snooze fests, right? But it wasn't tonight. I think it was one of those games that the goalies were just the two dominant players in the game. Eventually something had to give and went our way.”

The teams each had 18 shots entering the third, when the Golden Knights outshot the Stars 12-5.

Hanifin gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 9:54 of the third. He gathered the puck at the point, made a move around Dellandrea and scored with a wrist shot from the right face-off dot.

“[Noah’s] a good hockey player. He can finish plays. He’s done a good job for us in all areas,” Cassidy said. “We need a goal tonight, right? We were struggling early to finish. We generated a lot of chances. Someone had to break through. It happened to be him. 

“He jumped on a loose puck. He definitely has good instincts on offense in terms of being assertive and on his toes.” 

Stone scored an empty-net goal at 19:41 for the 2-0 final.