3 Keys: Golden Knights at Stars, Game 6 of Western Conference Final

(P1) Golden Knights at (C2) Stars

Western Conference Final, Game 6

Vegas leads best-of-7 series 3-2

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

DALLAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights will try to make the Stanley Cup Final and the Dallas Stars will try to avoid elimination for the third straight time when they play Game 6 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Monday.

Vegas took a 3-0 lead in the series. Dallas won Games 4 and 5 without forwards Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov. Benn served a two-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for cross-checking Golden Knights forward Mark Stone during Game 3 and will return in Game 6. Dadonov has a lower-body injury and remains out.

"I'm excited to play," Benn said. "Obviously I didn't want the season to end on that note, so I'm looking forward to tonight."

The Golden Knights can make the Cup Final for the second time in six seasons since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18. The Stars can become the 10th team in NHL history to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in a best-of-7 series.

Game 7 would be at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Stars coach Peter DeBoer said the Golden Knights must feel the pressure.

"You're up 3-0, and now you're staring in the face of a Game 7," DeBoer said. "So how could you not?"

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs Stars series coverage]

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said he doesn't think his players are "looking at pressure in any way shape or form," and are in a "very enviable position" to be able to get to the Cup Final.

"Closing series, it's hard," Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "But if you told me a few months ago that you would be up 3-2 playing a Game 6 in Dallas, I would have taken it any time."

Here are 3 keys for Game 6:

1. Benn's return

Benn had 78 points (33 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games during the regular season and has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 16 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Among players who have taken more than 75 face-offs in the playoffs, he leads the NHL at 63.2 percent.

"He's our captain, our leader, so it's great to have him back," Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said.

That said, the Stars are 0-3 with Benn and 2-0 without him in the series.

"Nobody likes sitting, especially in the playoffs, so I'm sure he'll be excited to get back," Stone said. "But I don't think it changes really any dynamic of the game."

2. Dallas forecheck and Vegas breakout

Vegas had 24 giveaways in Game 5, largely due to the Dallas forecheck.

The Stars pressured the strong side, their defensemen pinched aggressively, and the Golden Knights were too stubborn and predictable.

"We have to get our feet moving on first touch and get it to the other side, or we have to rim out sometimes and win the battle on the wall," Cassidy said. "Their [defensemen] will be pinching. Our guys have to get there first -- body position, stick position, whatever you need."

Cassidy said the Golden Knights need puck support on both sides to keep the Stars off balance.

"If they start changing [their breakout], we'll make adjustments," Stars forward Luke Glendening said, "but we're going to stick with what we do."

3. Slot battles

Cassidy said this has become a "slot-battle series."

Dallas scored three goals in the slot in Game 5. Glendening deflected a point shot, forward Jason Robertson chopped at a puck in a thicket of sticks and bodies, and forward Ty Dellandrea banged in a loose puck in front of the net.

"Particularly, our net front, we've got to be a lot harder," Cassidy said. "We've got a big [defenseman] corps. We've got to play like it again, and then we've got to get inside in front of their net."

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Michael Amadio

Brett Howden -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

William Carrier -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud

Adin Hill

Jonathan Quick

Scratched:Teddy Blueger, Paul Cotter, Ben Hutton, Phil Kessel, Kaeden Korczak, Brayden Pachal

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

Stars projected lineup

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski

Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Tyler Seguin

Mason Marchment -- Max Domi -- Ty Dellandrea

Luke Glendening -- Radek Faksa -- Joel Kiviranta

Ryan Suter -- Miro Heiskanen

Esa Lindell -- Jani Hakanpaa

Thomas Harley -- Joel Hanley

Jake Oettinger

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched:Nils Lundkvist, Colin Miller, Fredrik Olofsson, Riley Tufte

Injured:Evgenii Dadonov (lower body)

Status report

The Golden Knights will utilize the same personnel as Game 5 but with some tweaks to the forward lines. "We've moved [Roy] around for different reasons. On the road, we've had a lot of success rolling four lines," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Everything we've done guys are comfortable with. We're not panicking or anything, switching lines around. Howden's going back to where he's played the majority of the season, [Roy] has been between [Carrier and Kolesar] all season, so it's just the look we used to have." ... With Benn's return, the Stars will make changes to the forward lines. Dellandrea and Olofsson were the last forwards on the ice during the morning skate. ... Dadonov will miss his third straight game.

NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report