Stars clinch Stanley Cup Playoff berth despite loss to Golden Knights

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs despite losing 3-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Dallas is in second place in the Central Division, five points behind the Colorado Avalanche and five points ahead of the Minnesota Wild. It clinched its playoff berth after the Utah Mammoth defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in overtime later on Sunday.

“There’s a lot of emotional hockey we’ve played. I thought we fought back in the third after they outplayed us in the second,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “You can see a little bit of our offense is drying up, just what we’re generating. We’ve survived this stretch with some guys out, some key offensive guys. To win, we’ve played really, really hard, and at some point you’re going to have a little bit of a lull or a dip. That’s the natural part of the season. The last few games we just have not generated the same amount as we were for a while, and that’s part of the ebbs and flows, but we’ve got to find it quickly here.”

Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, Brayden McNabb and Ivan Barbashev also scored, and Adin Hill made 13 saves for Vegas (32-25-14), which had been outscored 10-1 in its previous three games.

“Pretty complete. We stuck with it. They had a push in the third and we bent but didn’t break. We came back and had a push, and Reilly did a great job of putting that one in,” McNabb said. “You don’t want to get too ahead of yourself. We’ve got to go to Winnipeg -- not great in standings, but they’re still a good team. Enjoy it for tonight and tomorrow, and make sure we’re ready for Winnipeg.”

Vegas moved into second place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers.

“We haven’t done a lot of winning lately. We needed a game like this where there’s a little adversity. We pushed through it, a playoff atmosphere," Cassidy said. "For us now, we’ve got to carry it forward. We’ve got to recognize that if that’s what it takes to win, then that’s what it takes. There hasn’t been a lot of easy games for us, especially lately, so we’ve got to dig in on the hard ones."

Wyatt Johnston and Justin Hryckowian scored, and Casey DeSmith made 30 saves for Dallas (43-16-11), which has lost three of four (1-2-1).

“They played well. We started pretty well, first period was tight. They got the lead there. After that, they kept pushing and we couldn’t get our best. We were defending too much and couldn’t get the offense going really,” Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said. “We just have to defend a little better and try to get out of our zone a little bit quicker and play offensive. It’s good teams playing against us and tight games. There’s not much room, but we just have to find it somehow.”

McNabb gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 4:01 of the first period on a snap shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle after skating through three Stars defenders.

Johnston tied it 1-1 at 10:55 with a power-play goal, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Matt Duchene and Heiskanen. Heiskanen's pass from above the right circle found Duchene behind the goal line, where he set Johnston up for a snap shot from the slot.

It was Johnston's League-leading 23rd power-play goal of the season, which surpassed Dino Ciccarelli (22) for the most in Dallas/Minnesota North Stars franchise history.

“For me, just trying to do what I can to help the team win. Obviously, guys out there have been so good at finding me in the middle or what it may be," Johnston said. "Like on that goal there, great play by (Duchene), and just everyone to kind of open them up and find those holes. You want to convert when you get a look. Come playoff time, you can’t expect to get the same looks as you get game one to 40 in the year. You’ve just got to keep working and not get frustrated and try (not) to do too much.”

Hryckowian gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 16:48 of the first when he chipped in the rebound of Colin Blackwell's shot from the high slot.

“It’s one of those ones you probably don’t deserve to win," Duchene said. "I actually thought our third (period) was pretty good. I don’t think we were at our best for 60 (minutes), and they had a really good game. They’re a good team. It’s always tight against them. They’re desperate right now for points. They outplayed us, I think, tonight. They had closer to their A game than we did. We had a good push in the third. First was OK, second wasn’t great, and you just can’t not play that many good minutes against a team like that and come out with a win usually.”

Barbashev tied it 2-2 at 9:10 of the second period with a power-play goal. Brett Howden's cross-crease pass found him at the right post for the sharp-angled shot that beat DeSmith.

“Felt like a playoff game, to be honest,” Barbashev said. “I think we controlled the game for the most part. We started the first period with quite a few mistakes, but I think we got rid of them in the second and third. Just kept pushing. Probably one of the better games all season long against a really good team. Huge win and everyone’s happy.”

Smith gave Vegas a 3-2 lead at 16:22 of the third period. He swept the rebound of Mitch Marner's shot past DeSmith's right pad.

“We got through the third period. They really had a push like five minutes into the third period, couple of extended shifts in our end. We got through it and didn’t panic, caught our breath,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Got some saves from (Hill) in that stretch. Scored first, so I liked that part. They got a couple, so it didn’t deter us. I thought it was one of our better periods in terms of possession and territorially being the better team.”