Lagace, Golden Knights hold off Stars

DALLAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights scored three times in the second period and won their fourth straight game, 5-3 against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

David Perron, Reilly Smith and Brayden McNabb scored in the second period, and Maxime Lagace made 35 saves for Vegas (19-9-1), which defeated the Nashville Predators 4-3 in a shootout Friday.
"Max was outstanding. He made a lot of big saves for us and it was a good hockey game," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "There was a lot of north-south hockey for both teams, a lot of good scoring chances for both teams, and like I said, I thought Max was outstanding for us."
WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Stars highlights]
Dallas (16-13-1) has lost three straight after a season-long five-game winning streak.
"It shows us that we've got a lot of work to do if we're going to play with the best teams in the League," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "We can either be there or do what we're doing. We're kind of stuck in the middle, so we've got to figure it out."
Alex Tuch gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 12:13 of the first period. Cody Eakin forced a turnover by Stars defenseman Stephen Johns before Brendan Leipsic passed to Tuch.

Tyler Pitlick tied it 1-1 at 14:28 on a rebound. Radek Faksa stole the puck behind the net and Antoine Roussel took the initial shot.
Vegas took a 2-1 lead at 4:58 of the second period when Perron scored on the power play. Dallas tied the game 2-2 27 seconds later when Jason Spezza scored on a one-timer.
Vegas regained the lead at 3-2 45 seconds after Spezza's goal when Smith scored after a turnover. McNabb made it 4-2 at 8:35 on a wrist shot over Ben Bishop's right shoulder.
"It's nice, every night there's someone else stepping up at the right time to score a big goal," Perron said. "We need to keep that going."
Benn made it 4-3 at 4:16 of the third period, scoring his first goal in nine games on a wrist shot.

"It doesn't mean anything if you don't win the game," Benn said.
Erik Haula scored into an empty net with 43 seconds remaining to make it 5-3.
Lagace made 15 saves in the third period for his sixth win.
"I just kept my eyes on it, I knew they were gonna buzz," Lagace said. "They like to look for the tap-ins, I just kept my head on the puck and ended up on my blocker or pads."

Goal of the game

Perron's goal at 4:58 of the second period.

Save of the game

Lagace's pad save on Roussel with 4:38 remaining in the third period.

Highlight of the game

McNabb's goal at 8:35 of the second period.

They said it

"They're huge. We know these are big wins to stay tight in the (Pacific Division) standings and keep up with [the Los Angeles Kings]. It was a real gutsy effort last night. We came out pretty strong in this game, and Max played great. He won that game for us. It was good to see for him and it was good for our team." -- Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb
"This is a really disappointing game. This is fight back, give it away, fight back, give it away. When you're as poor as we were early in our own end, it really puts you in a tough spot. To work hard and just kind of give it away in the next shift is really disappointing. I would say we overworked in the offensive zone and underworked in the zone that really counted, and we paid dearly for it. It's disappointing. It's an extremely disappointing loss." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock

Need to know

It was the final game of the regular season between the teams, with Vegas going 2-1-0. … Lagace spent three seasons in the Stars organization before signing with Vegas this offseason. … Roussel returned to the lineup after missing four games with an illness.

What's next

Golden Knights: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Stars: At the New York Rangers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-SW, NHL.TV)