The Western Conference Final is suddenly a close series as the Vegas Golden Knights face the Dallas Stars in Game Six. The Golden Knights took a 3-0 series lead and looked poised for a sweep but have stumbled in back-to-back games. The Stars looked poised for elimination but won Game Four in overtime and Game Five on the road and now have all the momentum heading back home. The Golden Knights look to advance to the Stanley Cup Final while the Stars look to force a Game Seven and complete the reverse sweep and Game Six should be a great one.
The Golden Knights have strumbled in the last two games with their offense, which scored 11 goals in the first three games, falling flat and scoring only four goals in the last two games. Jonathan Marchessault and Ivan Barbashev have scored five goals and six assists while Jack Eichel, Chandler Stephenson, and Nicolas Roy have added two goals and 10 assists but the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore can step up as they added 19 goals and 76 assists from the point this season but only one goal and three assists in this series.
The offense has struggled recently but the defense has carried the Golden Knights throughout the series, allowing only 12 goals. Alex Pietrangelo and Alec Martinez have led the top pairing while Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb, and Zach Whitecloud have added depth to the unit, creating turnovers in the defensive zone and limitin g shots on the net. Additionally, goaltender Adin Hill has been great in this series, saving 162 of the 174 shots he's faced.