Heika’s Take: Golden Knights best Stars, set table for thrilling Game 7

Well, this seems to be just what the hockey gods wanted.

When fate pitted the best team in the Western Conference (Dallas) against the defending Stanley Cup champion (Vegas) in the First Round, the belief was that it would be a series for the ages. After the Golden Knights took a 2-0 win in Game 6 Friday, we have that potential with a Game 7 Sunday in Dallas.

The Stars lost the first two games at home in the series, but then rallied to win three straight. That pushed Vegas back against the wall, and defenseman Noah Hanifin responded with a pretty solo effort that broke a scoreless tie in the third period and put the series at 3-3.

“I feel like coming into this series, you probably would have expected this,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “If you had asked us down 2-0 if we would take Game 7 at home, we’d say yeah. So it should be exciting.”

Game 6 was already exciting. Both sides took turns creating scoring chances and both goalies took turns stopping them. Vegas goalie Adin Hill finished with 23 saves for the shutout. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 28 of 29, and Vegas added the empty-netter.

“What a game for goaltenders,” said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. “It’s 0-0 in the third and sometimes those are snooze-fests, but it wasn’t tonight. I think it was one of those games where the goalies were the two dominant players in the game and something had to give.”

Dallas created several grade-A scoring chances. Seguin caused a turnover that led to a breakaway that Hill stopped and followed with a number of stops on an ensuing flurry. Miro Heiskanen had a breakaway coming out of the penalty box. Evgenii Dadonov had a breakaway but missed the net. Logan Stankoven got a puck on his stick with Hill out of position but missed the net.

“We had our looks,” Seguin said. “I had a breakaway, Stanky had one just wide, Daddy had a breakaway or two. The chances were there. If one of those goes in, it’s a different game. That’s hockey.”

Indeed. Vegas got some big breaks in Games 1 and 2, but Dallas made the bigger plays in Game 3. The Stars then created some key scoring opportunities in Game 4 and received great bounces on goals by Dadonov and Ty Dellandrea, and that led Vegas to switch from Logan Thompson to Hill. Dallas beat the new starter in Game 5 at American Airlines Center, but Hill (who led the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup last season) came back and was perfect in Game 6.

“You need to make big saves at big times in big games,” Hill said. “That's how you win playoff games. I think our team learned that last year, and with any team that's won, their goalies had to catch fire at times.”

Oettinger was almost as good as Hill on Friday and got beat by a bit of a fluke. Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin took a puck at the point, wheeled around into the right circle and flung it at the net. The puck deflected in off Stars defenseman Ryan Suter and past a screened Oettinger with 10:06 left in the third.

“We knew it was going to be super tight and it could have gone either way, so it is what it is,” Oettinger said.

The 25-year-old goalie said that if he continues to play the way he has been, that he feels good about Game 7.

“I feel like if I play like that on Sunday, we’re going to win,” Oettinger said.

At the very least, the Stars are excited to have this opportunity. Dallas was down 0-2 in the series and rallied back, so now getting a Game 7 at home is good. Coach Pete DeBoer is 7-0 in Game 7s in his career, and that’s just one of the positive things for the Stars.

“I’m just excited. I’m excited for our group, I’m excited for our fans,” DeBoer said. “I think we know each other well. Now it’s about rest and recovery and getting ready. This is what it’s all about, this is exactly the spot you want to be in, playing to advance, one game at home and let it fly.”

Seguin was philosophical.

“We worked hard for home ice advantage and we’ve got Game 7 there, so it should be great.”

The two teams have been almost dead even in every statistical category, so there aren’t a whole lot of adjustments that need to be made.

“It feels a lot better than where we were last year when we played these guys,” Oettinger said of losing to Vegas in the 2023 Western Conference Final in six games. “It felt like they were a lot better than us. It feels like we’ve played really well this series, so I think if we roll out our best game Sunday, we’ll like the result.”

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.