DALLAS — In unexpected news from Game 3: Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was chased away just seven minutes and 10 seconds into the first period after allowing three goals.
Even more unexpected: Captain Jamie Benn didn’t even last that long.
Desperately needing a victory, the Stars couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start in Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas scored just 71 seconds into the game on a Jonathan Marchessault wrist shot. Less than a minute later, Benn was called for a cross-check against Vegas captain Mark Stone, then was given a game misconduct penalty for pushing Stone near the head area when he was on the ice.
During the first intermission, Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault spoke briefly about Benn’s cross-check to ESPN.
“That’s one of those that’s not a hockey play. It’s pretty disgusting,” Marchessault said. “He leans on top of him and just gives it to him in his head there. It’s one of those that we just wanted to get one on the power play and make them pay and we executed. So it’s a pretty good first period for us.”
Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev scored during the five-minute penalty, and William Carrier added Vegas’ third goal shortly after that penalty period ended.
Stars head coach Pete DeBoer pulled Oettinger after that third goal. He faced five total shots on goal. It was the third time he had been chased away this postseason. Scott Wedgewood came in for Oettinger and quickly made a glove save, sparking a big cheer from the fans at American Airlines Center who needed something positive.
The odds of coming back down 2-0 in the series already weren’t in Dallas’ favor. A 3-0 deficit would be drastically worse. Only four teams have ever come back to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.
Evgenii Dadonov also became a notable absence for the Stars after he collided with Roope Hintz on a Stars power play. If Dadonov is done for the night, Wyatt Johnston would be the last one left on the line that started the game.
