LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vegas scored two power-play goals in captain Mark Stone’s return from injury, and the Golden Knights got some measure of revenge with a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Friday night.
Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel scored with the man advantage for the Golden Knights, and Nicolas Roy had an even-strength goal. Shea Theodore had two assists, and Adin Hill made 37 saves to improve to 6-1-1 over his past eight starts.
Mavrik Bourque and Mason Marchment scored for the Stars, and Jake Oettinger made 25 stops.
Vegas has won three games in a row and is 7-1-1 over its past nine.
Stone played for the first time since Nov. 6 at Edmonton. Stone, who had been out with a pulled muscle, rejoined the top line of Eichel and Ivan Barbashev and had the primary assist on Hertl’s goal.
Dallas beat the Golden Knights in seven games in last season’s playoffs. This was the teams’ first meeting since then.
Takeaways
Stars: They couldn’t stay out of the penalty box, even giving the Golden Knights a 5-on-3 opportunity and later a double minor while on a power play of their own.
Golden Knights: Dallas’ 39 shots on goal were misleading. The Golden Knights forced the Stars to often shoot from the perimeter, the third game in a row Vegas’ defense forced the action.
Key moment
With Dallas’ Jamie Benn serving a double minor for high sticking, Eichel scored from the left circle to put Vegas ahead for good a 2-1 with 4:20 left in the second period.
Key stat
The Golden Knights went 2 for 6 on the power play. They entered the game with the NHL’s sixth-best unit, converting on 26.6% of their chances. The Stars’ penalty kill was fifth at 83.1%.
Up next
The Stars host Calgary on Sunday. The Golden Knights play at Winnipeg on Thursday.
