LAS VEGAS — A healthy scratch to start the series, Ty Dellandrea scored two pivotal, third-period goals in the Dallas Stars' 4-2 victory on Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference final.
The win kept the Stars' season alive for at least two more days. Game 6 is Monday night in Dallas. Dellandrea's game-winning and insurance goal also came with another accomplishment in that they guaranteed Stars captain Jamie Benn will return for Game 6, after being suspended for the last two games for a cross-check on Golden Knights captain Mark Stone in Game 3. «It's a lot of desperation, we have a lot to play for here,» Dellandrea said. «Our group's really come together and leaned on one another.
Guys have stepped up.… We've really been leaning on one another and playing for a lot here. It's been a group effort for sure.» Stars defenseman Thomas Harley set up Dellandrea's goal by breaking up a Golden Knights' entry with his stick, passing it to Joel Kiviranta, who then played a diagonal cross-ice pass to Dellandrea for what was a 1-on-3 rush.
Creating time and space was a challenge yet Dellandrea temporarily had both right when he launched a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.