Alex Pietrangelo's bad penalty proves costly as Stars beat Golden Knights in Game 5
Vegas Golden Knights veteran defenseman Alex Pietrangelo took an undisciplined penalty Wednesday night and it proved costly as the Dallas Stars pushed the defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink of elimination with a 3-2 victory.
Pietrangelo delivered a backhanded punch to the face of Stars forward Tyler Seguin, who was bloodied on the play. The defenseman was called for a major penalty for elbowing, but the call was reduced to a roughing minor penalty after a review.
Dallas' Jason Robertson scored on the power play a little more than a minute later to give the Stars a 3-2 lead with less than four minutes left in the second period.
“A veteran guy should know better," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said.
The Golden Knights weren't able to come back and now trail 3-2 in a first-round series they once led 2-0.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger robbed Chandler Stephenson on a third-period breakaway to help seal the win.
The call against Pietrangelo was the second penalty in the game that was reduced from a major to a minor after a review. Seguin received a minor for an illegal check to the head of Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore.
"We didn’t like the hit on Theodore by Seguin," Cassidy said. "Quite obviously left his feet. Targeted the head, so you’re going to be upset. But that’s playoff hockey. You’ve got to find a way to channel it.”
Pietrangelo won a Stanley Cup last season with Vegas and in 2019 as the captain of the St. Louis Blues. He also was called for a roughing penalty in Game 4 that led to a Stars power play. He was suspended for a game in the second round last season for slashing the Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl.
The Golden Knights changed goalies from Logan Thompson to Stanley Cup winner Adin Hill for Game 5 but it wasn't enough to halt Vegas' slide.
Captain Mark Stone put the Golden Knights up 1-0 in a carbon copy of his Game 1 goal.
Evgenii Dadonov and Matt Duchene put the Stars up 2-1 before William Carrier scored to tie the game 2-2 after one period.
Game 6 is Friday in Las Vegas.
Oilers advance after Game 5 win vs. Kings
Connor McDavid set up two goals by Leon Draisaitl as the Edmonton Oilers rallied to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3.
The Oilers knocked out the Kings in the first round for the third consecutive season and will face the winner of the Vancouver Canucks-Nashville Predators series. Vancouver leads 3-2 with Game 6 Friday night in Nashville.
Edmonton pretty much had its way in the series, outscoring the Kings 22-13. McDavid had 12 points.
But it wasn’t just the offense and power play (nine goals) that got the Oilers to the second round. They won 1-0 in Game 4 as the Kings put on heavy pressure. They stopped all of Los Angeles' 12 power-play chances in the series.
What's next for the Los Angeles Kings?
The Kings, who haven’t won a playoff series since 2014, must make a decision on interim coach Jim Hiller.
Both of their goaltenders, Cam Talbot and David Rittich, are unrestricted free agents. So are forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Trevor Lewis and defenseman Matt Roy. Youngster Quinton Byfield is due for a new contract after a breakthrough season and Blake Lizotte, Carl Grundstrom, Arthur Kaliyev and Jordan Spence are also restricted free agents.
The Kings need to hope for more from Pierre-Luc Dubois, who disappointed after being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in the offseason. He has seven more years left on his contract at a $8.5 million cap hit.