Golden Knights shut out Stars in Game 3, 1 win from Cup Final

DALLAS --Adin Hill made 34 saves for the Vegas Golden Knights, who are one win away from the Stanley Cup Final after defeating the Dallas Stars 4-0 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

"I feel pretty good about my game right now, but it speaks volumes to our team too," Hill said. "We haven't lost many games in these playoffs. We're on a kind of roll right now and playing really well defensively, so I just want to keep it going and just focus on the next game."

Game 4 of the best-of-7 series will be here Thursday.

"A lot of stuff tonight's between the ears," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. "As a group, we know that you've got to beat us one more time. We have a tight group in here, a lot of character, and we're going to give it everything we've got."

Ivan Barbashev had a goal and two assists, and Nicolas Roy had two assists for the Golden Knights, who are the top seed from the West.

"We finished plays right," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "So, you get a lead on the road, it makes it a little bit easier to relax and play, not to chase the game. Puck management, we played behind them, we forecheck, we create turnovers, and we play in the [offensive] zone with puck possession. We've talked about that being a big part of our game in the playoffs. We feel we're doing something to put pressure on them. It wasn't just luck or a fortunate break, we did it by playing the way we wanted to play."

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Stars series coverage]

Jake Oettinger allowed three goals on five shots before being pulled 7:10 into the first period for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed from the Central Division. Scott Wedgewood made 10 saves in relief.

"Losses, you don't like them this time of year," Dallas forward Joe Pavelski said. "We've got to go play hockey. We've got to go out, reestablish some momentum for us, work as a four-line team like we've done all year and lay it on the line.

"Find a few goals along the way and try to get a win."

Jonathan Marchessault gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 1:11 of the first period. Jack Eichel gloved down the puck and sent a cross-ice pass to Marchessault, who shot past Oettinger's outstretched right pad from the left face-off circle.

Forty-two seconds later, Stars captain Jamie Benn was ejected after he was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for cross-checking Mark Stone at 1:53.

"Let's put it this way: [He] made a mistake, he feels really badly about it," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "I don't think anyone in the building feels worse than he does about it. I'm not going to pile on him. He's been a leader here for his entire career and leads by example every day on and off the ice. [He] made a mistake.

"Fortunately, Mark Stone is OK and we've got to live with the consequences, and the consequences was a big hole. But I'm not going to stand here and pile on tonight. I don't think it does anybody any good."

On the ensuing power play, Barbashev made it 2-0 at 5:57 when he took a pass from Roy on a 3-on-2 rush and scored off the left shoulder of Oettinger from the top of the left circle.

"The guys did a tremendous job on the kill early on," Pavelski said. "When stuff like that happens, we're killing it good. We get a rush there and it comes back and it ends up in our net. Guys were ready; we went in with good intentions. It looked like [Benn] was going to have a big game. From the couple of shifts he had, he was engaged right away, then got tied up and [everything] happened from there. We've just got to respond better."

William Carrier pushed it to 3-0 at 7:10, roofing a backhand short side from the right face-off dot.

"They made some elite shots on some elite plays," Wedgewood said. "[Oettinger is] 6-foot-5, that guy goes short side, which is probably the shot he should have taken was my read, take over the short side. ... They made some nice plays."

Alex Pietrangelo made it 4-0 at 8:28 of the second period with a shot through traffic from above the circles just as a power play expired.

"We're frustrating the top players, skilled players, but it's a buy-in throughout the lineup. It's not one [defense pair] or one forward line," Pietrangelo said. "Yeah, there's certainly matchups that we use, but collectively as a group, we're clogging up the middle of the ice and we're frustrating teams. Guys are paying a price, they're blocking shots when they need to block shots, and [Hill] is doing his job when he needs to."

NOTES:Marchessault has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past five games. … It was Hill's first career playoff shutout (eighth start). ... Golden Knights forward Brett Howden re-aggravated an injury in the third period, Cassidy said. ... Stars forward Evgenii Dadonov left in the first period with a lower-body injury after colliding with Roope Hintz. There was no update.