Bill Guerin scored 2:51 into overtime, Thomas Dumba got his first goal of the season and the Vegas Golden Knights edged the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Thursday night.
Reilly Smith scored his 11th goal and backup goaltender Maxime Lagace stopped 34 shots for Vegas.
Jamie Benn scored his 13th goal of the season and defenseman Roman Polak got his first of the season for Dallas. Ben Bishop, starting in place of an injured Kari Lehtonen, made 31 saves.
The Golden Knights have won five of six to improve to 3-1-0 since Marc-Andre Fleury, the NHL’s second star of the week, left the lineup with a left leg injury.
Dallas lost in regulation for the first time in eight games, but coach Jim Montgomery praised the work of Bishop and the defense in front of him.
“In the third period, the best penalty kill in the league,” Montgomery said. “If you take your time and read your angles, he does a great job with the puck. It’s exciting to have a goaltender like that, a guy who is so athletic.”
Benn beat Lagace with a wrist shot that squeezed through the pads 3:56 into the third period. Benn, the Stars’ leading scorer, scored his eighth short-handed goal of the season, six of them in a season in which he has 53 points.
But the Golden Knights tied it on Smith’s wrist shot from the slot at 9:15. Smith’s 31st goal also extended his point streak to a career-high five games.
Dumba broke a 2-2 tie at 18:05, skating in from the blue line and firing his slap shot through traffic past Bishop for his fourth goal of the season.
“It’s nice to get rewarded, but we didn’t play a good 60 minutes,” Dumba said. “It’s all about coming out with the two points right now.”
Star captain Jamie Benn has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his last nine games.
Dumba had missed 13 games with a left shoulder injury, but returned on Monday night against Winnipeg after missing five straight games.
GLADDLED MASS
The Golden Knights were not fined or disciplined for their penalty in the fourth minute of the second period. Vegas’ Brad Hunt took a boarding penalty, and Dallas’ Jamie Oleksiak took a delay of game penalty for holding. Malkin made the Stars pay on the ensuing power play. He skated behind Dallas’ defense and forced Bishop to come out of the crease and nearly crashed into Dallas’ Nick Ritchie, who was positioned partially behind the net.
FROM WONDERKID TO ALL-TIME HERO
Former NHL All-Star and Hall of Famer Mats Sundin attended Thursday’s game to help support his hockey academy in Nevada. Sundin played 1,009 regular-season games and 166 playoff games in 19 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders. The native of Sweden is one of only five players in NHL history to score 100 goals in both the regular season and playoffs. He is also the only active player to do so.
UP NEXT
Stars: Continue their five-game homestand against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.
Golden Knights: Host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
