Stars win in shootout after Golden Knights rally from 3 down in 3rd

LAS VEGAS -- Mavrik Bourque scored twice for his first multigoal NHL game, and the Dallas Stars recovered after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 in a shootout at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

“I just see him growing,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “It’s not easy. He’s a young player. It’s his first multigoal game, and I thought he played really well tonight.”

Mikko Rantanen scored the deciding goal in the third round of the shootout after Mitch Marner tied it 4-4 for Vegas with 49 seconds remaining in regulation. Tomas Hertl won a face-off back to Marner, who scored through traffic with a wrist shot from the point with Adin Hill on the bench for the extra attacker.

“Just saw an opening to the net,” Marner said. “I saw Hertl going to the front. Honestly, was just shooting for a rebound or tip there. Lucky enough I found that one.”

Wyatt Johnston and Matt Duchene scored, and Jamie Benn and Sam Steel each had two assists for the Stars (31-14-9), who have won three in a row. Jake Oettinger made 17 saves.

Dallas also blew a three-goal lead in the third period on Tuesday before recovering late for a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues.

“It’s three in a row now. Obviously, the last two games they came back down by three,” Bourque said. “But tonight we’re better, and it’s not an easy rink to go in and win. We’ve got to fix some stuff, but it’s a hard league. It’s hard to win.”

Marner and Keegan Kolesar each had a goal and an assist, and Reilly Smith and Ivan Barbashev also scored for the Golden Knights (25-14-14), who have lost five of their past six (1-3-2). Hill made 23 saves.

“It’s a bit baffling at times,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Take care of the puck and play direct. You’ve heard me say that. Play direct. That’s why it’s baffling when they see the end result. It’s on me to do a better job to get them to understand.”

Duchene gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 1:37 of the first period. Benn cut across the low slot and got Hill out of position, and although his centering pass wasn't able to be handled by Steel, it wound up on the stick of Duchene, who scored into the open net.

Kolesar tied the game 1-1 at 4:07 of the second period. Marner helped poke the puck out from the left corner into the low slot, where Kolesar scored glove side on Oettinger.

Bourque responded to put Dallas back in front 2-1 at 8:46. He scored on a one-timer from the low slot off a pass from Roope Hintz after Jason Robertson poked the puck away from Kolesar behind the net.

Bourque then made it 3-1 at 14:16 on another one-timer, this time from the right circle off a short backhand pass from Benn.

“He played a good game,” Benn said. “He’s fitting in with [Hintz] and [Robertson]. It’s not always easy playing with elite guys like that. He’s doing great and it’s nice to see him get a couple.”

Johnston pushed the lead to 4-1 at 16:43. His initial chance following a face-off win by Rantanen was stopped by Hill, but Johnston skated into his own rebound and scored high glove side from the left hash marks.

Smith cut it to 4-2 at 4:04 of the third period, scoring a short-handed goal from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush.

Barbashev got the Golden Knights to within 4-3 at 13:54, shooting around Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen and scoring blocker side from the high slot.

It was Barbashev’s first goal since Dec. 27 (17 games).

“It’s a little bit too much,” Barbashev said. “I’ve been struggling for a bit, but I saw my game. It may be getting better lately in the last couple of games. But it’s huge for me.”