Stars beat Golden Knights 4-0 in DeBoer’s return to Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jake Oettinger made 27 saves as the Dallas Stars won 4-0 on Monday to give the Golden Knights their first shutout of the season and win coach Pete DeBoer’s return to Vegas.
This was DeBoer’s first game at T-Mobile Arena after being fired from Vegas when the Golden Knights failed to make the playoffs last season. DeBoer, on the other hand, won 98-50-12 in 2 1/2 seasons in Vegas, made the playoffs twice and won the Pacific Division once.
The Golden Knights played a video tribute against DeBoer and assistant coach Steve Spott at 6:48 of the first period, and both received a hearty round of applause from the crowd.
“I loved my time here,” DeBoer said before the game. “I’ve kept my house here. In the short time we’ve been here, we’ve played a lot of really good hockey.”
DeBoer was behind the bench for the Golden Knights when they were last shut out 4-0 by Edmonton on April 16. Dallas recorded its first shutout since beating Anaheim 5-0 on December 1.
The Stars drew with Winnipeg for first place in the Central Division on 59 points, but the Jets have a game in hand. Vegas stayed in first place in the Pacific with 58 points.
The Stars took a 1-0 lead after 5:45 when captain Jamie Benn scored from the slot. He passed Neal Broten to rank second in the stars’ career list with 993 games played. Mike Modano, who played for the Stars from 1993 to 2010, holds the franchise record with 1,459 games.
The other Stars goals came from Joel Kiviranta, Ryan Suter and Tyler Seguin. Seguin’s goal, an empty neter, extended his scoring streak to three games. Ty Dellandrea had two assists.
Oettinger scored his third shutout of the season — first since December 1 against Anaheim — and fifth of his career.
Dallas dominated the game save for a late second-half surge from the Knights when they had their best chance of getting the puck past Oettinger.
The Knights struggled to find an offensive rhythm, and that’s to be expected as they once again had to juggle their lines with left wing William Carrier after suffering an upper-body injury against Edmonton on Saturday. He has five goals and 11 assists in 43 games.
Vegas usually opens every game with the fourth line on the ice to set a more physical tone, but opted for the first line in this game. Dallas handled every lineup the Knights put out there.
NEXT
Stars: On Wednesday in San Jose.
Golden Knights: At home against Detroit on Thursday.
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