3 Keys: Golden Knights at Stars, Game 3 of Western Conference Final

(P1) Golden Knights at (C2) Stars

Western Conference Final, Game 3

Vegas leads best-of-7 series, 2-0

8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS

DALLAS --The Vegas Golden Knights will try to take an overwhelming lead against the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

The Golden Knights, who hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, have won four straight, beginning with Game 5 of the second round against the Edmonton Oilers.

"Our goal is to get 11 wins now in the playoffs and we're at 10, so let's focus on that going into Dallas," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Monday.

The Golden Knights won each of the first two games of this series in overtime; forward Brett Howden scored at 1:35 of OT in a 4-3 victory in Game 1, and center Chandler Stephenson's goal at 1:12 gave Vegas a 3-2 triumph in Game 2.

"They've got a really good home record," Cassidy said. "Obviously you're upset when you're that close, so they're going to have a real sense of urgency going back there. For us it's one game at a time and get to our game in a hurry. I know it's cliche, but that's what it is at this time of the year; you've got to get to your game and stay at it longer."

The Stars are 5-2 at home this postseason, their only losses were 3-2 in double overtime in Game 1 of the first round to the Minnesota Wild, and 5-4 in overtime in Game 1 of the second round to the Seattle Kraken. The Golden Knights are 4-1 on the road during the playoffs.

"We've got to do what they did. We've got to hold serve here at home," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Monday. "The home crowd gives you an advantage and energy this time of year and we've got to use that. I'm excited about coming home and playing in front of our fans and hopefully scratching our way back into the series."

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Stars series coverage]

Stephenson did not skate Tuesday; Cassidy said Stephenson was under the weather, but "I'm assuming he's going to go (for Game 3). We'll find out tonight, but that's the plan."

Teams that hold a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series are 345-55 (.863) overall, including 78-8 (.907) in a round before the Final.

Here are 3 keys for Game 3:

1. Treating this like Game 7?

OK, this isn't a Game 7 and the Stars can't be eliminated Tuesday, but it definitely would be a tougher road if they fell behind 3-0 in the series. So, Dallas is acting as if this were Game 7, or at least it would like to play the way it did in Game 7 of the second round, a 2-1 win against Seattle on May 15.

"That's what we have to keep doing right now," Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said Tuesday. "It's just simple: Good breakouts, it starts from there, and then we go through the forecheck hard, get pucks to the net. Just a simple game. We didn't do anything special in the Seattle game either, so that's how we need to play again tonight."

2. One-goal deficit, no problem

Vegas allowed the first goal in Games 1 and 2 of this series, but came back to win each time. The Golden Knights are 7-3 in games when allowing the first goal this postseason.

Obviously, they would rather avoid the early deficit. But if it happens again, they're confident they'll have the right response.

"We trust our game. We trust the way we play," Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said Monday. "Whether we're up or down, maybe it doesn't go our way all the time, but we feel like the process is going to work whether it's a win or not.

"We have a lot of faith in this room. Everybody is on the same page. That's what you want. We've got a lot of experience in this room keeping us fresh mentally, on the same level throughout a series and throughout the playoffs."

3. Dealing with Vegas' defense

DeBoer talked of the Golden Knights having "absolutely the deepest [defense] core in the League, 1-6," beginning with the top pair of Alec Martinez and Pietrangelo. He said, in dealing with that group, the Stars have to be ready to play a few more tight games.

"I think you've got to be comfortable in 2-1, 3-2 games and I think we are," he said Tuesday. "I think you have to be comfortable knowing that you're not going to probably get four or five or six goals and we've got to be comfortable in that low-scoring game on both ends of the ice, both offensively and defensively."

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Nicolas Roy

Brett Howden -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

William Carrier -- Teddy Blueger -- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud

Adin Hill

Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Michael Amadio, Paul Cotter, Ben Hutton, Phil Kessel, Kaedan Korczak, Brayden Pachal

Injured: Laurent Brossoit (lower body), Logan Thompson (undisclosed)

Stars projected lineup

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski

Mason Marchment -- Max Domi -- Tyler Seguin

Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Evgenii Dadonov

Luke Glendening -- Radek Faksa -- Joel Kiviranta

Ryan Suter -- Miro Heiskanen

Esa Lindell -- Colin Miller

Thomas Harley -- Joel Hanley

Jake Oettinger

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Ty Dellandrea, Nils Lundkvist, Fredrik Olofsson, Riley Tufte

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)

Status report

Hakanpaa took part in the Stars' morning skate Tuesday and will be a game-time decision, DeBoer said; the defenseman has missed three games because of a lower-body injury. ... Dallas did not take line rushes but could make changes prior to game time.

NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report