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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 winning and insurance goals also came with another accomplishment in that they guaranteed Stars captain Jamie Benn will return for Game 6, after being suspended for the past 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. Even then? His window started to close when Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo tried closing down on the shot only to have the puck deflect off his stick and sneak just underneath Adin Hill’s glove to give the Stars a 3-2 lead with 9:27 remaining in the third period.
Barely 90 seconds later, Dellandrea scored again to practically guarantee Game 6.
Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud was behind the net when he tried playing the puck off the boards that led to Stars forward Max Domi scooping a loose puck that he tried throwing on net as he was being pushed from behind. Dellandrea recovered the rebound and lifted a shot over…
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