While even the second round of this year’s playoffs will start on Sunday evening, it still remains to reveal the last team that will pass through the sieve of the opening round. On Monday night, the Stars will meet the Knights for the last time in Dallas. Both teams believe in each other and do not intend to end the season. However, only one can advance.
The series is like on a swing. Vegas opened the first round with two wins on the ice of Dallas and took a 2-0 lead. But then came three wins for Dallas and a turnaround in the series. Everything indicated that it would be impossible to stop the rampant opponent, but the Knights managed to do it and even zeroed out the Stars on their ice. Thanks to a great performance by goalkeeper Adin Hill, they forced a decisive seventh game.
It is Hill who could be the central character of the Vegas game even in the last game of the opening round. The experienced goalkeeper replaced Logan Thompson in goal in the fifth game, but Vegas lost 2-3. Nevertheless, he got another opportunity in the sixth match and with 23 saves he picked up a 2-0 victory.
“Adin already managed to shutout Dallas several times, so what again, Hilly?” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy was in a good mood during the last training session, who recalled that last season in the playoffs Hill managed to pick up two shutouts against Dallas and added another this year in the sixth game. “I’m sure they have some plan for him,” he mused about his opponent’s tactics.
Even because of that, Cassidy still didn’t know who he was going to deploy. And it was not certain even at the time of writing this article. Although everything indicates that Hill will start in goal, the choice may fall on Thompson at the last minute. After all, throughout the season Vegas goaltenders alternate as long as both are healthy.
At the same time, Cassidy is fully aware that it is the goalie position that can decide the advancing team, as he does not expect any wild shootout. “You cannot advance without a good goalkeeper. I think you can see the quality on both sides. The goalkeepers never made a bad catch. It’s a series in which they dictate a lot of results,” he added.
Unbeaten in seven games
Of course, Dallas will also need a good goaltending performance. Although the Stars have one more joker up their sleeve, perhaps a little unconventional. He is coach Pete DeBoer, a man who has never lost a decisive Game 7. According to official NHL statistics, he has a record of 7-0 in seven games.
The fans of Dallas believe that his magic will not pass and it is their darlings who will enter the next round. “I wish it was that simple,” coach DeBoer said after Saturday’s practice. “I wish it was just a pre-match speech that I could say every time and guarantee a win. Every seventh game is different, just like tomorrow’s,” he admitted.
He doesn’t want to go on vacation yet, either, and would like to keep fighting for the Stanley Cup with the Stars. However, he knows that the defenders of last year’s title have a lot of experience from demanding and high-profile fights for everything. That is also why he is happy that the decisive match will be played in Texas in front of a home audience that will help his charges to cheer him on. Although he otherwise holds the opinion that the environment is not so decisive.
“I wouldn’t trade an away game for a home game at the American Airlines Center for anything in the world. I’ve said all along that home-ice advantage doesn’t matter until Game 7, and then I think it does. The home crowd can really cheer you on, at least in my experience,” he pointed out.
So what will be key to Dallas’ success?
“We played six games against this team. I think we know what works, when it worked and when it didn’t. They know the same about us. It’s about which team can stick to their tactics the longest, not deviate from the plan and not lose patience. Will need some rebounds on the goal, good performance from the goalie. And of course you need special formations to work,” he said of the importance of power play and fade formations.
“It all depends on one evening. I don’t think it will surprise anyone that these two teams reached the decisive match. That’s probably how it should have ended,” he added thoughtfully.
The battle for the last place in the second round of the playoffs will begin at half past two in the night from Sunday to Monday.
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Tags: final battle coming Dallas believes magic coach Vegas considers goaltender
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