Stars Host Slumping Golden Knights Amid Hot Streak
The Dallas Stars will try to extend their strong run when they host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, while Vegas arrives looking to halt a prolonged slump.
Dallas enters the matchup riding a 12-game point streak and sits second in the NHL standings with 88 points. The Stars’ only setback during that stretch came Friday in a 5-4 shootout loss to league-leading Colorado, ending a franchise-record 10-game winning streak.
The team rebounded Sunday with a 4-3 overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored the decisive goal just 22 seconds into overtime on a pass from Matt Duchene, pushing Dallas’ point streak to 12 games, tied for the fourth-longest run in franchise history. The club record is 15 games, set during the 1998-99 season when the Stars captured the Stanley Cup.
Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan credited his team’s resilience after the victory.
“We stuck with it,” Gulutzan said. “… They’ve played us hard all year, and they’ve given us lots of trouble. We were much better (Sunday) than we were in the previous two. The guys got confidence off of that, and they got confidence coming off the winning streak, and we’ve been really good at staying with it in these situations.”
Vegas arrives in Dallas in the midst of a difficult stretch. Since a 7-2 victory over Nashville on Jan. 17, the Golden Knights have posted just five wins in their last 17 games, going 5-10-2 over that span. The team has also lost five of its past six games and has slipped behind the Anaheim Ducks for first place in the Pacific Division.
Slow starts and inconsistent goaltending have contributed to the downturn, with Vegas falling behind 3-0 in four games during a recent five-game stretch.
The Golden Knights are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Noah Hanifin tied the game at 1-1 midway through the second period, but Edmonton controlled much of the action, hitting the post or crossbar three times before taking the lead early in the third period on a breakaway goal by Vasily Podkolzin. Leon Draisaitl added another goal to extend the advantage to 3-1.
Vegas briefly narrowed the deficit when Jack Eichel scored a short-handed goal with 3:17 remaining, but Kasperi Kapanen secured the win for Edmonton with an empty-net goal.
Hanifin acknowledged the frustration surrounding the team’s recent results.
“It’s difficult here right now with what’s going on. It’s frustrating,” Hanifin said. “I thought we played a pretty solid game (Sunday). Had a lot of chances. Just seems to be right now we’re not getting those bounces.
“Obviously, losing to a divisional opponent like that, the way the standings are, it’s tough. But it’s not going to get easier. We have another tough game against Dallas coming up, and playing every other day or so. Can’t dwell on this. Just got to keep pushing.”
Another concerning trend for Vegas is its record against playoff-position teams. The Golden Knights have lost 16 of their last 17 games against such opponents, with the only win coming in a 4-3 overtime victory at Detroit.
Tuesday’s matchup will be the second of three meetings between the teams this season. Dallas won the first encounter Jan. 29 in Las Vegas, 5-4 in a shootout. Despite surrendering a three-goal lead in the third period, the Stars prevailed with two goals from Mavrik Bourque and the shootout winner from Mikko Rantanen.
