Lagace keeps Golden Knights afloat in win vs. Stars
DALLAS -- Five different players scored and Maxime Lagace stopped 36 of 39 shots for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 5-3 win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday at American Airlines Center.
Alex Tuch, David Perron, former Star Reilly Smith, Brayden McNabb and Erik Haula scored for Vegas (19-9-1), which won its fourth straight. Brendan Leipsic and former Star Cody Eakin each added two assists.
Tyler Pitlick, Jason Spezza and Jamie Benn scored for Dallas (16-13-1), which lost its third straight. The Stars have been outscored 13-5 in their last three losses.
Vegas took an early lead when Tuch scored his seventh goal of the season, knocking in a Leipsic pass at 12:13 of the first period. Leipsic dispossessed Stephen Johns behind the Dallas goal before feeding Tuch.
Pitlick capped a flurry in front of the visiting net with his third goal of the season to tie the game at 14:28 of the first.
The Golden Knights pulled ahead again when Perron scored his seventh goal of the season on a wrist shot from the right circle 4:58 into the middle frame with Vegas on the power play.
Dallas answered 27 seconds later when Spezza one-timed a slap shot from the slot for his fifth goal of the season.
Vegas responded again with two unanswered to lead 4-2 after 40 minutes. Smith made it a 3-2 game when he scored his eighth goal of the season off the rush after a Dallas turnover 46 seconds after Spezza's goal.
McNabb then gave Vegas a two-goal lead when he beat Ben Bishop, who stopped 34 of 38 shots, far post on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle for his second goal of the season at 8:35 of the second.
Benn ended a nine-game goalless streak when he scored his 12th goal of the season off the rush on a wrist shot from the left point 4:16 into the third period.
Haula added an empty-netter with 43 seconds remaining.
NOTES: The Golden Knights scratched C Stefan Matteau, D Jon Merrill and D Shea Theodore. ... The Stars scratched D Julius Honka. ... Four Golden Knights have Dallas ties. C Cody Eakin, LW James Neal and RW Reilly Smith each played for the Stars while G Maxime Lagace played in the Dallas organization. ... Stars G Ben Bishop started after missing the 3-0 loss at St. Louis on Thursday with a sore back. ... The Golden Knights and Stars were meeting for the third and final time this regular season. ... Stars LW Antoine Roussel returned after missing the previous four games with the flu.