Vegas Golden Knights: Top 3 reasons they can beat the Dallas Stars
The Vegas Golden Knights have what it takes to get past the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.
After nearly blowing a 3-1 lead to the Vancouver Canucks, the Vegas Golden Knights proved to be too much for the Canucks to handle in Game 7 of their second round series, as they won 3-0. For the second time in franchise history, the Knights are in the Western Conference Final, where they’ll face the Dallas Stars, who nearly blew a 3-1 lead of their own.
The Stars are no pushover. Though they struggled during the Western Conference round-robin tournament and right before the hiatus in mid-March, they’re a completely different team now. The Stars, remarkably, have gone from an all-defense team who tries to suppress offense as much as possible on both sides to being a flat-out offensive juggernaut.
This Western Conference Final should be a very entertaining one. Few teams have been more exciting this postseason than the Golden Knights and the Stars. However, it’s Vegas who has the clear upper hand in this matchup. Here are three reasons why the Golden Knights are favorites to return to the Stanley Cup Final after a one-year hiatus.
Goaltending
Trading for Robin Lehner was a brilliant move for the Vegas Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury was having a down year and the Golden Knights want to win now, so they made the trade for Lehner. Now they have two proven netminders who can carry the load in the postseason.
Lehner, AKA “Kung Fu Panda”, has been great so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 12 games, he’s posted a .918% save percentage, including three shutouts. All three of those shutouts came against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round. Lehner also posted a .934% save percentage in that series.
The Golden Knights don’t let Lehner get tested too much, which is a testament to how good they are defensively. But when he gets tested, he’s more often than not stepped up in a big way. The Stars present a unique challenge to Vegas, but with Lehner in net, they have a great chance of overcoming the challenge.