What Golden Knights said after Game 2 win vs. Stars: ‘Gave us all we could handle’

There was a clear difference in how the Dallas Stars opened Games 1 and 2 of their first-round playoff series with the Golden Knights. On Wednesday, Dallas appeared to set the tone with a fast and physical start.

Although Jason Robertson’s first-period strike gave Dallas a momentary lead in Game 2, Vegas responded quickly and controlled the momentum for the rest of the contest. The 3-1 loss meant the Stars face a 2-0 series hole as they hit the road.

Here’s what the Golden Knights had to say after Game 2:

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy

On Wednesday’s game:

“They were better early, had a good push and were physically. They had the first few chances. We needed some timely saves, and we got them. We settled in eventually. You don’t want 1-0 to turn into 2-0, so we did a good job with that. It was a heck of a play by [Ivan Barbashev] on the goal, it was a reload. Strips the guy coming into our end, and we had a quick strike. You go into the intermission 1-1 and we know we haven’t been at our best, but we got through it. There’s going to be a response. Now let’s build our game, and that’s what happened. Credit to them for their start. We bent but didn’t break. We got saves and countered with a nice goal. Now it starts over, and we can start building our momentum. They’re not building off their first period. That’s how I thought it played out from there. I liked our game after the first period and especially the third period being able to check. We had a flurry there where we had a turnover on a breakout, but those are going to happen. But structure wise and our guy’s discipline and how we wanted to play, I saw a level of commitment there from the guys to get it done and we did.”

Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel

On the first goal and being patient throughout the game:

“It was a good effort. We expected them to come out and push hard the first five to 10 minutes. They played hard and physical. [Logan Thompson] made some big stops for us. Obviously, they got the power-play goal. But it’s good. We responded and were able to come in after the first period, and it was all tied. Overall, it was a good first road period from us. We did some good things. You got to expect that. That’s a desperate hockey team and a very good one. They gave us all we could handle.”

On what to expect going into Game 3:

“You got to expect their best. They’re going to throw everything they have at us. Like I mentioned earlier, they’re a great hockey team, and I expect another tight game. I’m sure it’ll be an awesome atmosphere. We really enjoy playing in front of our fans at T-Mobile. Everyone in the room is excited to get back there in our home barn.”

Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar

On managing the early Stars’ push and staying patient:

“Sometimes when they are trying to make those big hits, they can run out of position. For us, if we were just sound defensively and made the little plays to one another, we could break out a little cleaner. As the game went on we saw that more from ourselves, we cleaned up the neutral zone and got more offensive zone time.”

Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin

On being calm and positionally sound in the defensive zone:

“It was huge. We talked about it this morning. We knew [Stars] were going to push. Especially, losing that first one at home. They were physical, but that fits into our style of play well. We’re a big team and we can play that time of game. We handled it, well-poised. Everybody was talking and making big plays out there. That’s what you need in situations like that.”

Golden Knights goaltender Logan Thompson

On defending the middle of the ice well:

“The veteran group we have. Obviously losing [Nic Hague] was unfortunate, but we can just plug [Alec Martinez] in there. It shows we know how to win. We’ve done it all year, and we did it last year. That’s just the experience of our group coming through – shutting them down and keeping them on the outside and making my life a lot easier.”

On his first two postseason games:

“The first game was a little too close for my liking. Today, I settled in there and felt good. It’s fun, but it’s definitely not over. We’ve just got to regroup and refocus and get ready for Game 3.”

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