Dallas and Vegas have met twice before in the Western Conference Final. This year, one of these teams will be sent home after the first round.
Dallas and Vegas have met twice before in the Western Conference Final. This year, one of these teams will be sent home after the first round.
The Vegas Golden Knights have only been in the NHL since the 2017-18 season, but there has already been plenty of playoff history with the Dallas Stars.
The 2024 postseason is Dallas's fifth since 2018-19, and Monday will mark the third playoff matchup with Vegas since then.
The two clubs first met in the Western Conference Final during the 2020 playoff bubble. Dallas came out on top in five games, but each of their four wins came by just one goal. Vegas got the upper hand in last season's conference final, taking out the Stars in six games, three of which went into overtime.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer, along with assistants Steve Spott and Misha Donskov, have been involved in all six of Vegas's postseason appearances, either behind their bench or the opponents'. Stars forward Joe Pavelski has been involved in his share of tussles against Vegas, facing them in five of their six playoff appearances.
"A lot of familiarity," DeBoer said last week. "It's crazy to think with 32 teams in the league that that's the case. When I look at that list, every one of those journeys was a different story. A lot of great memories and not-so-great memories along those trails."
When DeBoer was head coach with the San Jose Sharks, he, Spott and Pavelski met the Golden Knights during both the 2018 and 2019 postseasons. Donskov was director of hockey operations until becoming an assistant in 2020.
Vegas eliminated the Sharks in the Western Conference Second Round in 2018 en route to their run to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell to the eventual champion Washington Capitals.
In 2019, San Jose and Vegas met again, this time in the first round, with the Sharks prevailing in seven games. They eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the second round before bowing out to the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Final.
DeBoer took over as Golden Knights' head coach midway through the 2019-20 season. He led the club to the Western Conference Final along with Spott and Donskov, only to be sent packing by Pavelski and the Stars in five games.
DeBoer and his staff took Vegas as far as the third round of the playoffs the following season. Two years later, DeBoer and Spott were with Dallas when they lost to Vegas in the conference final. Donskov was still on the Golden Knights' staff that season before joining DeBoer and Spott prior to the 2023-24 campaign.
Now, the Stars and Golden Knights meet again, this time in the first round.
The two clubs may have a lot of familiarity with each other in the playoffs, but they haven't met in a game since December 9, when Vegas completed a sweep of the three regular-season meetings for a 1-0-2 record.
Much has changed since then. Dallas ended up soaring to the top of both the Central Division and Western Conference, while Vegas tumbled to the second wild card spot. The Golden Knights were active at the trade deadline, acquiring defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames, forward Tomas Hertl from the Sharks and Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals. It will be the Stars' first look at the trio in a Vegas uniform.
The Stars, meanwhile, traded for Chris Tanev, who played with Hanifin on the Flames. Tanev is looking forward to playing against his old teammate.
"Once we saw we were playing each other, we sorta halted all communication," Tanev said Monday. "We'll be ready to go and battle against him, and I think it'll be fun."
The Golden Knights were plagued with injuries, losing forward and captain Mark Stone (lacerated spleen), defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (illness and appendicitis) and forward William Carrier (upper-body injury).
Stone has missed the last 26 games, Pietrangelo 11 of the last 13, and Carrier the final 11. All three were cleared for action when Vegas held practice Sunday, and are expected to play Monday.
DeBoer certainly thinks so and is planning accordingly.
"I think we all know who's in the lineup, don't we?" DeBoer said Sunday with a laugh. "I'm assuming they're all in. I think that's the assumption. Good. Let's go. Drop the puck."
Special teams will play a key role in the series, and Dallas hopes to improve their power play against the Golden Knights. In the three games between the clubs this season, the Stars were 0-for-8 on the power play. Their penalty kill was much better at 9-for-10.
For the season, the Stars were 24.2% on the power play, sixth-best in the NHL. Vegas, meanwhile, ranked 20th at 20.2.
Dallas has the advantage in penalty-kill average (82.0%, eighth-best in the NHL) to Vegas's 79.3%, 16th-best in the league.
All the numbers and past history won't mean a thing when Game 1 starts. Vegas is seeking another Stanley Cup, while the Stars are looking for their first Cup since 1998-99.
"I've been a lot of years here where the first few, we didn't talk about the Stanley Cup much," forward Tyler Seguin said Monday. "As of late, we've had years where there's more expectations. It's kind of at the point now where it's Stanley Cup or failure. It sounds negative, but that's what's super exciting."
Golden Knights Projected Lines:
Barbashev-Eichel-Marchessault
Stephenson-Hertl-Stone
Howden-Karlsson-Mantha
Carrier-Roy-Kolesar
Hanifin-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Theodore
Hague-Whitecloud
Thompson
Stars Projected Lines:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Johnston-Stankoven
Steel-Faksa-Dadonov
Harley-Heiskanen
Lindell-Tanev
Suter-Lundkvist
Oettinger
Craig Smith will be a healthy scratch in Game 1 to make room for Dadonov, who returned to the lineup in the regular-season finale against the Blues. He missed 29 games after suffering a lower-body fracture February 10.
Puck drop for Monday is 8:30 Pm CT, and the game can be viewed on Bally Sports Southwest and ESPN. Put the coffee on; it's going to be a late night.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
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