Recap: Stars can't stop Golden Knights in third period, lose 5-4

LAS VEGAS --Hockey can be an unforgiving sport at times, and the Stars went from being on their way to an eighth straight victory to seeing their winning streak snapped in the blink of an eye.

Their franchise-tying seven-game winning streak ended in heartbreaking fashion on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in a 5-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. It was a gut-wrenching way to see their streak snapped, having held a two-goal lead midway through the third period and having several glorious chances in the final minute of regulation.

The barrage of goals from the Golden Knights featured three unanswered tallies in a span of six minutes that turned a two-goal deficit into a 5-4 lead.
Joe Pavelski scored twice, including what seemed to be a massive insurance goal at the 8:56 mark of the third period that restored a two-goal lead for the Stars, but Vegas responded 63 seconds later.

"There's always gotta be a big commitment in all three areas of the ice," said Pavelski. "You can't take things for granted. It's a tough league. There are good teams out there and you're seeing a lot of them on a nightly basis. It's just big-time commitment each and every night in certain areas. Sticking our nose in there, taking a hit to make a play at times, get it deep. Little things that make it tougher on teams to come 200 feet."

Jason Robertson and Tyler Seguin also tallied goals for the Stars, who scored three times on the power play.

Braden Holtby did all he could but surrendered three unanswered goals in the final frame and finished the game with 40 saves on 45 shots.
"Special teams were huge, goaltending was great, but five-on-five, we just didn't have the energy we normally play with," Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. "Simple as that. Puck management at the blueline wasn't our normal game and managing the puck through the neutral wasn't our normal game. We just made it way too easy for them to fly at us."

Mark Stone scored twice for Vegas, including the game-tying marker with under six minutes left in regulation, and Max Pacioretty potted the go-ahead goal and eventual game winner with less than five minutes to go.
"We had chances, but we didn't do a good enough job defending," said Pavelski. "They were around the net and got a couple to go in. There are moments like this throughout a season. It's how we come out of it now. We had a good stretch winning games and playing good hockey. We have to understand that and get back to that commitment right away on Thursday]."
That's a good thing for the Stars, as they'll have a chance to get right back into the win column on Thursday against the LA Kings at Staples Center.
*This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.*
***Kyle Shohara** is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter **[@kyleshohara*.