Stone scores in return for Vegas, Knights beat Stars 4-3 in Dallas

Stone missed the final 26 games of the regular season after rupturing his spleen on Feb. 20, and had just returned to full-contact practice two days earlier. But he quickly made an impact on the playoffs, with his back to the net in the slot as he tipped a Hanifin shot that got past screened goalkeeper Jake Oettinger on a power play just 1:23 into the match.

Vegas led 2-0 when Marchessault scored on a pass from Ivan Barashev. Marchessault and William Karlsson are the only Knights to have played in all 89 playoff games for the franchise that has made the postseason in seven of eight seasons.

Marchessault’s score came just about a minute after the Stars thought they had tied the game on a goal by Ryan Suter, whose 1,444 regular-season games without a Stanley Cup are the most of any active player. But Suter’s goal was taken off the board for an offside against Mason Marchment after a coach’s challenge and an official replay.

The Stars got goals from captain Jamie Benn, Jason Robertson and Marchment, who scored with 8:14 to go.

Benn took a long pass from Wyatt Johnston and after charging towards the net, he made a slick move and threaded the puck through Thompson’s legs to put the Stars up 2–1.

Oettinger, an All-Star this season, has allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of his last 11 regular-season games. He had 11 saves.

He gave up three goals in the first period, including Hertl’s three-second goal on a Dallas penalty. Hertl won the face-off, then went to the front of the net and took a pass from Hanifin, swiping at the puck before gathering it back up and slamming it into the net for a 3–1 lead.

Just 40 seconds later, Robertson scored after rookie Logan Stankhoven took the puck away from Stone at the blue line.

McNabb had eight of Vegas’ 19 blocked shots.

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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press