Stars trim Knights, move within one game of finals

Jamie Benn's goal late in the second period proved to be the winner and the Dallas Stars move within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals with a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday night in Edmonton.

Jamie Benn's goal late in the second period proved to be the winner and the Dallas Stars move within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals with a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday night in Edmonton. The Stars lead the best-of-seven Western Conference final 3-1 and will look to close out the series Monday night.

Benn netted his team's first power-play goal of the series for the winner, converting a rebound with 58.3 seconds remaining in the second period. Until then, Vegas had killed 22 consecutive penalties. Goaltender Anton Khudobin once again sparkled for Dallas, providing a 32-save performance and looming large during a Vegas 70-second five-on-three power play late in the third period.

As has been the case the last couple of games, Vegas owned the shot clock, but the Stars have received the timely offense. After a scoreless first period, Alec Martinez opened the scoring with a Vegas power-play goal at 7:44 of the second period, blasting a one-timer for the marker.

Shots on goal were 22-6 in Vegas' favor, but the Stars pulled even four minutes later thanks to Joe Pavelski's backhander that ricocheted off a defender's stick and over an outstretched hand of Vegas goalie Robin Lehner. It was just his team's second shot on goal in the period. The loss may be doubly difficult for Vegas. Mark Stone, who went into the game tied for second on the team with seven playoff goals, and also has 10 assists, missed a portion of the second period after blocking a shot with his right foot. He returned for the third period but appeared to be in pain with every stride.

Stars center Roope Hintz left the game late in the first period. Hintz, who has two goals and eight assists in the playoffs, collided with teammate Corey Perry and appeared to jam his neck. Both teams had to make a switch due to injuries suffered last game.

The Golden Knights were without forward Tomas Nosek, which brought Nick Cousins into the lineup, while Dallas forward Radek Faksa joined goalie Ben Bishop and defensemen Taylor Fedun and Stephen Johns on the sidelines. Andrew Cogliano returned to the lineup after missing four games due to injury. Lehner made 18 saves for the Golden Knights, who lost for just the second time when scoring first this postseason.

--Field Level Media

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