Knights say ‘thick skin’ key to success
DALLAS — The Golden Knights certainly know how to rally when they have fallen behind in these NHL playoffs because it has happened so much.
“We’ve got a thick skin,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s veteran guys that know that one goal, getting scored on first, shouldn’t dictate the rest of the game.”
Even though the Knights have trailed in 11 of their 13 games this postseason, including 10 times when the opposing team scored first, they have a 2-0 series lead over the Stars in the Western Conference final. The Stars, who scored first in both of those road games before losing in overtime, host Game 3 on Tuesday night.
“Just trying to stick with our game,” Knights center Jack Eichel said. “You know you’re not going to be your best every night. But some nights when you’re not at your best, you find ways to win hockey games . ... You just keep working and you hope you get a bounce or someone makes a play.”
That was true Sunday in Game 2, when Eichel’s slick backhand pass late in regulation after a Stars turnover set up Jonathan Marchessault’s tying goal. And when Chandler Stephenson made a game-winner 1:12 into overtime by knocking in a rebound during a sloppy line change by the Stars.
“We could have won both games,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I don’t think it’s less troubling that we lost both games in overtime . ... There’s mistakes made, and they cashed in.”
The Knights’ current streak of four consecutive comeback victories matches the longest in NHL playoff history — they are 8-3 overall after falling behind, and 7-3 when surrendering the game’s first goal. Their two wins over the Stars made them only the fourth team to score in the opening two minutes of overtime in consecutive games in the same postseason.
Their plus-30 goal differential in the first period during the regular season trailed only the Hurricanes, who are in the East final, and they were only a plus12 combined the rest of those games. The Knights have been outscored by seven goals in the first period during the postseason.
“Now in the playoffs, it seems like we’re chasing a bit,” Cassidy said. “Yet, I don’t think we played poorly in the first period in a lot of games.”
The Stars have back-to-back losses for the first time since mid-March. They became the first team ever with OT losses in three consecutive series openers in the same postseason, but didn’t rebound with a win in Game 2 against the Knights like they did against the Wild and Kraken.
“We’ve got a really resilient group,” Suter said. “Everyone showed up to play (Sunday) after Game 1 wasn’t very impressive. And then guys got it together. And now we need to go home and have that same effort.”
The Stars franchise overcame an 0-2 deficit in its very first best-of-seven NHL series, when the Minnesota North Stars rallied to beat the Kings in the first round of the 1968 playoffs. The Stars have since lost their last 12 series when falling in an 0-2 hole, six while still in Minnesota and six in Dallas, the last a first-round series against the Ducks in 2014.
The Stars went 8-14 in games that went past regulation in the regular season, two of those shootout wins while sweeping all three of their games against the Knights. The Stars are now 0-4 in overtime this postseason.
“The teams that go deep find ways to win in overtime,” DeBoer said.
The Knights are two wins away from getting to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in the franchise’s six seasons. The Knights made it in their inaugural 2017-18 season, when they beat the Capitals in the opener, then lost four in a row.