The Dallas Stars had a chance to make it back to the Western Conference Final as they hosted the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 on Tuesday night.
Instead, they defeated themselves in a 4-0 win over the Golden Knights, led by their captain Jimmy Bean who was sent off for an undisciplined penalty less than two minutes into the match. By the end of the game, the Stars pulled their starting goaltender, lost a forward to injury, sat back for a long stretch with another undisciplined play, and the second half ended early as fans threw objects on the ice.
The Golden Knights are up 3-0 in the series and can clinch their second Stanley Cup Final appearance with a win in Dallas on Thursday night.
How the Dallas stars destroyed themselves
Vegas’ Jonathan Marchesault scored 71 seconds on the Golden Knights’ first shot.
Follow every match: Latest NHL scores and schedules
Then Bean made things worse.
Explanation of the rules: Why are major penalties reviewed in the NHL?
Eastern Final: The Panthers lose the captaincy but push the Hurricanes over the edge
He pulled out the Golden Knights’ Captain Mark Stone. Then Ben leaned over and examined a sliding stone in the face/neck area at 1:53 of the first period. The on-ice referees called for a five-minute big penalty which was confirmed after a review, leaving the Stars without their #4 playoff scorer for the rest of the game.
Bean scored 33 regular season goals and had 11 points in 16 playoff games. He could face additional discipline from the league.
“He made a mistake,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “Nobody feels it worse than he does.” “Thank God, Mark Stone is all right. We’re going to live with the consequences, whatever they are. We lived with them tonight and we’ll live with them going forward if there’s any further discipline.”
Ivan Barbashev scored on the five-minute power play and William Carrier scored 17 seconds after the penalty expired to give Vegas a 3-0 lead. This led to DeBoer pulling goaltender Jake Oettinger (three goals on five shots) for the third time this postseason.
Superstar Evgeny Dadonov left the match with a lower body injury after colliding with teammate Rob Hintz and did not return. DeBoer did not receive any post-match update.
Dallas’ Max Dumy scored a 14-minute penalty late in the second half in a scuffle with Nicholas Hague. Stars fans threw objects on the ice, causing the referees to end the period early and move the last 22 seconds to the start of the third period.
“I think we all have to do better to get out of this hole,” DeBoer said.
What did the Golden Knights do right?
They scored first for only the fourth time in the playoffs and didn’t need to come from behind as they had progressed in the league eight times.
“We’ve done it by playing the way we want to play, and that’s the encouraging part,” said coach Bruce Cassidy.
Barbashev, trade deadline acquisition and former Stanley Cup winner, had a goal and two assists. That gives him 13 points in 14 games this postseason.
Carrier and Alex Pietrangelo scored their first goals of the postseason, and Adin Hill had his first in the final game.
But Brett Hodden, who scored in overtime in Game 1, left Game 3 early with a lower-body injury. Cassidy said he didn’t think he was serious. “We decided not to push it,” Cassidy said.
“Student. Incurable problem solver. Amateur baconaholic. Introvert. Infuriatingly humble music fanatic.”