William Karlsson scored two goals and provided an assist to help the Vegas Golden Knights advance to their second Stanley Cup Final with a 6-0 victory Monday night over the Dallas Stars, who had extended the Stanley Cup final. Western Conference six games away after losing the first three. .
William Carrier, Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio each recorded a goal and an assist for the Knights, while Jonathan Marchessault had a goal. Carrier, Marchessault and Karlsson were part of the Knights’ inaugural 2017-18 season that ended in the Cup final.
Adin Hill stopped 23 shots for his second career playoff shutout, both against the Stars during this series when he went 4-0 in Game 3 last Tuesday. The Knights were already one win away from clinching the series before Dallas overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in Games 4 and 5.
The Knights will take on the Florida Panthers on Saturday night in Las Vegas to kick off the Stanley Cup Final.
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Jonathan Marchessault #81 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during Game Six of the Western Conference Finals of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Vegas led the Western Conference in the regular season with 51 wins and 111 points. The Panthers completed a four-game sweep of Carolina in the Eastern final last Wednesday, but their 40 wins and 92 points in the regular season were the fewest among the 16 teams that started this season’s NHL playoffs.
Instead of having to face a do-or-die Game 7 at home against the Stars, coach Bruce Cassidy and the Knights got off to another fast start and never left any doubt about the outcome of this series that included three overtime games.
The Stars got captain Jamie Benn back after his two-game suspension for a cross check to the neck area on Las Vegas captain Mark Stone early in Game 3, but Benn was already down to a minus-2 rating without a shot. after playing just 3:46 in the first period.
Vegas clinched the lead when Carrier scored 3:41 into the game after a puck popped over the net near three Dallas players. Carrier skated across the front of the box and put a backhand into the net, the ninth time this postseason the Knights have scored in the first five minutes of a game.
Karlsson’s power play goal midway through the first half made it 2-0, and after a penalty that likely kept him from scoring.
Vegas Golden Knights center Ivan Barbashev celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period of Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
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Nicolas Roy fired a shot that deflected off Jake Oettinger’s glove and into the air behind the goalkeeper. Karlsson was charging into the box when Stars defenseman Esa Lindell raised his stick and knocked the puck out of play, drawing a delay of game penalty.
With the man advantage, Reilly Smith fired a shot from the circle to the left, which Roy deflected to the front and then came off Oettinger’s extended skid before Karlsson hit the rebound.
After Kolesar made it 3-0 in the first and Marchessault scored his ninth goal in the second, Karlsson’s franchise-record 10th goal in these playoffs extended the lead to 5-0 just two minutes after the third. period.
Oettinger was 3-0 as the Stars faced elimination this postseason, including in the second round of Game 7 against Seattle before stopping 64 of 68 shots in the past two games against the Knights.
That was after Vegas hit 3 goals on 5 shots in the first 7:10 to knock him out of Game 3, which was the only lopsided game of the series until the end. Two of his three regular season games were shots.
Michael Amadio #22 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates on the bench after scoring a goal during the third period against the Dallas Stars in Game Six of the Western Conference Finals of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
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Dallas was only the fifth team to force a Game 6 in an NHL conference final or semifinal after being down 0-3, and the first since the Stars lost to Detroit in a sixth game in 2008. Only two teams made it. to a Game 7, and both lost: the New York Islanders to Philadelphia in 1975; and the New York Rangers to Boston in 1939.
Vegas avoided a Game 7 at home against the Stars and former coach Peter DeBoer, who is 7-0 in do-or-die games, including the Seattle series finale two weeks ago.
DeBoer coached Vegas in their only Game 7 wins — in the second round in 2020 against Vancouver and in 2021 in the first round against Minnesota — but the Golden Knights fired him after they missed the playoffs last season for only time in its brief existence.