Five thoughts from Stars’ Game 2 loss to Golden Knights: Late response eludes Dallas

The Stars fell into a two-game hole in their first-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights after dropping their second home game 3-1.

After striking first in the first period, Vegas answered with two goals to secure the win and added an empty netter with 33 seconds remaining.

The Stars will now have to hit the road and steal a game in Vegas to keep their season alive.

Here are five thoughts from Game 2 of Stars-Golden Knights:

Both teams brought next-level physicality

The Stars were given a wakeup call in Game 1 when Vegas delivered 55 hits to their 31, reminding the Stars — who are far from the league’s most physical team — of the type of hockey their opponent plays.

On Wednesday, the Stars tried to match it.

Dallas, which averaged only 17.8 hits per game in the regular season, recorded 53 total while Vegas had 55 again. That included Mason Marchment delivering a booming hit on Zach Whitecloud in the first period and Jason Robertson following it up with a hit on Mark Stone not long after, which made the Dallas crowd go wild.

Jamie Benn, Mason Marchment and Radek Faksa were among Dallas’ leaders with seven, seven and six hits. Keegan Kolesar led Vegas with nine.

The Stars haven’t needed to resort to a physical game this season. One of their most physical players — Jani Hakanpää, their leader in hits by 86 — hasn’t even been available for the last month. But it might be a necessary strategy to compete both with Vegas and in playoff-style hockey.

Forward Tyler Seguin suggested postgame that Dallas may have focused too much on the physical aspect of the game, especially when it needed a late goal.

“Maybe we’re hitting too much,” he said. “Maybe we have to go after the pucks more.”

However coach Pete DeBoer said the only drawback in his eyes was that Marchment and Faksa were both injured in the process.

“I like the fact both teams were physically engaged,” he said. “I didn’t think it hurt our game other than we lost some bodies.”

Jason Robertson’s playoff success vs. Vegas continues

Stars forward Jason Robertson went through a slump last postseason where he went eight games in the first and second rounds without a goal. He came alive again in the Western Conference Finals against Vegas, scoring five goals and an assist in the series.

Robertson has goals in the first two games this series, scoring on the power play for Dallas late in the first period Wednesday. The man advantage was for a penalty he drew.

Robertson has been Dallas’ most consistent point earner this season. While he scored 17 fewer goals in the regular season than last year, he was still the team’s leader in points with 51 added assists.

However, his goal-scoring abilities are shining through early in the playoffs, especially when the goals are few and far between.

Dallas forced into line changes early in the series

After Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin gave his team the lead with 1:07 remaining in the second period, Dallas returned to the ice in the third with a sense of desperation.

Facing a 0-2 deficit while starting the series at home was far from ideal and prompted the Stars coaching staff to make some changes.

Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Joe Pavelski started on a line together while Logan Stankoven joined Robertson and Roope Hintz for the final 20 minutes.

DeBoer rarely changes the Stars lines, especially the top one of Robertson, Hintz and Pavelski. He’s only done so a handful of times this season.

The last two lines ultimately changed as well, as Marchment and Faksa exited the game early with injuries during the third period.

The change did not spark a goal for Dallas, which was held scoreless in the third.

Vegas’ defense proving to be a problem for Dallas

Vegas finds its sweet spot when it can build a lead and then rely on its defensive game. That’s what happened again Wednesday night.

The Golden Knights allowed the Stars just 21 shots on goal, including just five in each of the last two periods. After blocking 20 shots in Game 1, Vegas blocked an additional 16 in Game 2. However, Dallas competed with them, adding 18.

Even with defenseman Nicolas Hague out of the lineup due to a lower-body injury, the Golden Knights have unmatched defensive depth and were able to slide Alec Martinez in easily.

“I think they have a deeper roster than they had last year if you look at their entire lineup, including their scratches,” DeBoer said.

The Stars finished third in the league in goals per game at 3.59 but have been held below that average in both playoff games so far.

When the Stars have needed a late goal, no one is answering the call

Dallas trailed by one in the third period of both of the first two games and neither time was able to find the equalizer.

In fact, Dallas didn’t score in either the second or third period Wednesday. The first period was Dallas’ worst throughout the regular season, as the Stars relied on its offense that thrived in the second period to come back in 26 games.

But through two games this series, Dallas has three first-period goals and only one outside of that, which came in the third period of Game 1.

Dallas resolved one of its struggles from Game 1 by taking the early lead. However, that did only so much good since Vegas was able to score 82 seconds later.

“I think we’ve had our chances,” Seguin said. “They’ve been enough to win and just didn’t do it.”

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