Heika’s Take: Stars continue road dominance, even series in Game 4 win

The best road team in the NHL proved itself in Las Vegas this week, as the Stars took two wins at T-Mobile Arena and evened up the best-of-seven playoff series with the Golden Knights.

Dallas grabbed a 4-2 win on Monday that exemplified so many of the things that made this team good on the road. Showing patience, perseverance and depth scoring were chief among them. Now, what many believe is the best first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs heads back to Texas for Game 5 Wednesday with both teams chomping at the bit for more.

“This was big for our group,” said captain Jamie Benn. “There was no panic in our game. We knew they were going to come out hard, they’re a good team. But we weathered the storm and found a way to win.”

After Dallas dominated the first 30 minutes of Game 3 and eventually won it in overtime, Vegas had motivation on its side in Game 4. The Golden Knights took a 1-0 lead and had twice as many shot attempts out of the gate. But the Stars were able to stick with it and tie things up on a fluky shot from Evgenii Dadonov, and that really helped the Stars get to their feet.

After Michael Amadio scored for Vegas on a hard-working goal 14 minutes into the first period, the Stars had to scramble. But Dadonov flipped a puck on net from deep in the corner, and it deflected off of goalie Logan Thompson’s mask and into the net three minutes later for a tie game.

“It’s crazy,” said goalie Jake Oettinger. “Hopefully, we learn from that. Throw pucks at the net and you’re going to score dirty goals like that in the playoffs.”

Oettinger has seen it happen against him, so he felt getting one the other way was a good omen. But the ability to overcome the push was more than just good fortune. Oettinger was great in net, the Stars battled back, and the strategy of the series took center ice.

“It’s two really good teams going at it,” said Stars forward Ty Dellandrea, who scored the game-winning goal. “We’ve kept going back and forth. It’s playoff hockey and it’s exciting.”

Vegas took a 2-1 lead in the second period on a nice rebound goal from Jack Eichel. Then, Dallas bounced back and tied things up at 2-2 on a power play goal from Wyatt Johnston. Dallas drew two power plays in the second period and that helped the Stars hold a 17-6 advantage in shots on goal in the middle frame. DeBoer said he felt his players read the physical play of the Knights and reacted well. Vegas finished with a 43-20 advantage in hits, and DeBoer said Dallas used that.

“They had the advantage in some shots ([n the first period], but I thought they were running around chasing hits and we talked about using that against them, and I thought in the second period we really took control of the game when we drew some penalties and made them play in their own end,” DeBoer said.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said he feels his team needs to be physical to negate the skill of the Stars.

“We’re a big team, we want to finish checks,” Cassidy said. “I think there are areas on the ice where you have to finish Dallas. They have a lot of skill and we have to be hard on them and make them earn their ice. We took away a lot of their rush game tonight, which is one of the biggest parts of their game.”

The back-and-forth in the series was evident early in Game 4. Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb hit Stars forward Logan Stankoven, and Benn returned the favor seconds later by laying out McNabb. That’s just part of the details that each side is trying to execute.

Asked about how the Stars came back from being down 0-2 in the series after two losses at home, Oettinger said, “It’s not surprising to anyone in this room.”

“We felt good about our game in Dallas and it just didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” Oettinger added. “Series go a million different ways. It’s not always how you draw it up. I couldn’t be more proud of the way the guys played, just the decisions and the little plays that separate this time of year.”

With the score tied 2-2, both sides were digging in when the Stars got one of those great efforts. The fourth line with Dellandrea, Craig Smith and Sam Steel had a ferocious shift and Smith found himself off to the right of the Vegas goal. He whipped a shot into the crease, and it bounced off of Dellandrea’s chest and went into the net for a 3-2 Stars lead late in the period.

“We can get out of the period 2-2, but we stayed too long in the shift,” Cassidy said. “Then, we mismanaged the puck. It's a fortunate play, but they're putting everything to the net. You're going to get some of those bounces.”

That allowed the Stars to lock things down in the third period, and Roope Hintz added an empty-net goal to put an exclamation point on the game.

“I thought in the second period we really took control of the game,” DeBoer said. “The play in the third period was just locking it down. You don't like to sit back that much, but I felt like we were smart like they were in Dallas when they had the lead going into the third.”

Both sides are learning from each other, which makes the series all the more interesting. Dallas was the top seed in the West this season, while Vegas got in as the eighth seed. But the Golden Knights are the defending Stanley Cup champions and battled injuries all season. Now, they are healthy and at full strength.

“I think everyone knew that these games would be like this,” DeBoer said. “You look at the four games and I don’t think we have played a poor game yet. I’m excited about our group getting home.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.