Dallas, Texas (WGR 550) - Despite a push from the Dallas Stars in Games 4 and 5 of the Western Conference Final to overcome a 3-0 series deficit, the Vegas Golden Knights take care of business in Game 6 and punch their tickets to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
It was a game that felt over from the start after the Golden Knights got out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. When all was said and done at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Vegas tacked on three more goals to resoundingly beat the Stars, 6-0.
The scoring started early for the Golden Knights at the 3:41 mark of the first after the Stars failed to clear their own zone. Shortly after Vegas kept the puck in from the point, Keegan Kolesar found an open William Carrier in front of the goal, and he outwaited goalie Jake Oettinger for his second goal of the playoffs.
After the Stars take a delay of game penalty near the halfway point of the opening period, the Golden Knights strike with William Karlsson netting his ninth goal of the playoffs. After Reilly Smith's initial shot goes off the skate of Nicolas Roy and kicked away by Oettinger, Karlsson was there to net the rebound into a yawning cage.
About three-and-a-half minutes later, Vegas put the game out of reach thanks to a beautiful end-to-end rush. After defenseman Alec Martinez gathered a loose puck in behind his own net, he quickly got it ahead to Kolesar, who then banked the puck off the boards to Carrier. Kolesar then used his speed to get in behind the Dallas defense, and Carrier returned the favor from earlier to get the Golden Knights out to a 3-0 lead.
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Vegas dominated the opening 20 minutes of play and outshot the Stars, 16-7. It was quite clear from the start the Golden Knights wanted to close out the series on the road rather than have a chance to get the Western Conference Final back to home ice at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.
The Golden Knights extended their lead to 4-0 in the second period off a faceoff win in their own end. Defenseman Nic Hague threw a puck around the boards to Ivan Barbashev, who beat Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen to begin a 2-on-1 rush with Jonathan Marchessault. Barbashev found Marchessault on the fly, and the veteran winger slid a backhand through the five-hole of Oettinger.
Karlsson netted his second goal of the night just 2:06 into the third period, as he fired a wrist shot over the blocker of Oettinger to make the score 5-0.
To add insult to injury, Michael Amadio made the score 6-0 for his third goal of the postseason with just 7:35 remaining in regulation. The goal gave Karlsson his third point of the game, as he added a primary assist with Amadio's tally.
In goal, Adin Hill was very solid all night long, stopping all 23 shots he faced, including four shots on two Stars power play opportunities. He pitched his second shutout of the series after blanking the Stars in Game 3 by a 4-0 score.
As for Oettinger, he remained in the game for all six goals-against, making 23 saves on 29 shots faced in the losing effort.
Monday's win marks the second time in franchise history the Golden Knights have clinched the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl as the Western Conference champions.
Vegas will be looking for its first Stanley Cup title after making it to the Final in 2018 as the first expansion team to ever accomplish that feat. Despite winning the opening game of their series with the Capitals, Washington ended up winning the next four games to win the franchise's first title.
The Golden Knights will face the Panthers in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final after Florida made easy work of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, winning the series in four-straight games.
Related
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Saturday, June 3 at 8 p.m. ET from Vegas.
