The Vegas Golden Knights, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, opened their title defense with a 4-3 victory over the top-seeded Dallas Stars on Monday night.
Mark Stone, who missed the final 26 games of the regular season with a lacerated spleen, scored just 1:23 into the game. Tomas Hertl, playing in his playoff debut for the Golden Knights, made it 2-0 just seconds later. Jonathan Marchessault extended the lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal in the first period.
The Stars rallied in the second period, getting goals from Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson. Marchment scored with 8:14 left in the third period to bring the Stars within one, but the Golden Knights held on for the victory.
Logan Thompson made 27 saves in his playoff debut for Vegas, while Jake Oettinger stopped 11 shots for Dallas.
Game 2 of the series is set for Wednesday night.
