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Chandler Stephenson was the overtime hero on Sunday afternoon, leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-2 win and 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.
But even he'll admit it wasn't his best game; he took a slashing penalty in the first period and a retaliatory cross check in the second, sending him to the penalty box twice and resulting in a talking-to from head coach Bruce Cassidy between the second and third frames.
“I obviously need to keep my emotions a little more in check,” Stephenson admitted afterwards. “You never want to give a team with a good power play two good opportunities. It was nice to finish it off with that.”
Stephenson jumped on a rebound just 1:12 into the first overtime period and completed the rally and a second straight overtime victory over the Stars. He wouldn't have had the chance if not for a beautiful no-look pass from Jack Eichel to Jonathan Marchessault to tie the game with just 2:22 left in the third period.
“After that, it was like, ‘All right we're back in this,' and I think we have that belief that we're not going to lose,” Golden Knights' Stephenson asserted.
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Teams that have won the first two games in the series preceding the Stanley Cup Final have advanced 91 percent of the time, one of the few times the odds have been in the Knights' favor, per Associated Press.
“They have gone against the usual paths to victory during the NHL playoffs by going 7-3 when the opponent scores first and posting eight comeback wins,” the outlet wrote on Sunday.
Dallas is now basically in must-win territory for Games 3 and 4; if they don't win both contests, they'll give Vegas two opportunities to close out the series at T-Mobile Arena in Games 5 or 7.
