The reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights will open their defense of their title as a No. 8 seed in a first-round series that opens Monday night, April 22, in Dallas. The American Airlines Center in Dallas is where the Knights last year wrapped up the Western Conference final with a Game 6 victory.
Like Vegas was last year, Dallas is now the top seed in the West and has been on a roll. The Stars (52-21-9, first in the Central Division) won 17 of their last 21 regular-season games to earn the top seed in the Western Conference. They set a franchise record with an NHL-high eight 20-goal scorers, and All-Star goalie Jake Oettinger has allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of his past 11 starts.
Vegas (45-29-8, fourth in the Pacific Division) was 13-12-2 when finishing the regular season without captain Mark Stone after he lacerated his spleen on Feb. 20. He was back at practice before this series and it’s anticipated he will play.
So will defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (appendicitis) and left wing William Carrier, who missed the final 11 games with an upper-body injury. Carrier is one of the five original Golden Knights players who has appeared in all of the franchise’s six playoff runs before this year.
“Probably a better team than where they finished,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin told The Associated Press. “It’s a great test for us. When you have a goal of going all the way, a lot of times you’ve got to get through the defending champs.”
Vegas won all three regular-season meetings, the last on Dec. 9. There was a shootout and overtime game before 12 different Knights had points in a 6-1 win in Dallas.
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said he’s planning to start goalie Logan Thompson over Adin Hill, who had a 1.99 goals-against-average and two shutouts when Vegas beat the Stars in a six-game Western Conference Final last year.
