NHL: Golden Knights' flaws catching up to them ahead of tilt with Stars

The Vegas Golden Knights, who have won just five of their last 17 games, hit the road Tuesday night to face the hottest team in the NHL, the Dallas Stars.

Dallas, second in the NHL with 88 points, enters the game on a 12-game point streak. Their only recent setback was a 5-4 shootout loss to league leader Colorado on Friday, which ended a franchise-record 10-game win streak.

The Stars bounced back Sunday with a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Miro Heiskanen scored the game-winner off a Matt Duchene pass just 22 seconds into overtime, extending Dallas’ point streak to 12 games — tied for the fourth-longest in franchise history. The team’s record 15-game streak came in 1998-99, the season they won the Stanley Cup.

“We stuck with it,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “They’ve played us hard all year and given us lots of trouble. We were much better Sunday than in the previous two games. The guys got confidence from that, and from the winning streak. We’ve been really good at staying with it in these situations.”

Meanwhile, Vegas has struggled since a 7-2 win over Nashville on Jan. 17. The Golden Knights are 5-10-2 in 17 games since, losing five of their last six contests and falling behind the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division standings.

Poor starts and inconsistent goaltending have been major issues. Vegas fell behind 3-0 in four games during a five-game stretch.

The Golden Knights come off a 4-2 loss to third-place Edmonton on Sunday. Noah Hanifin tied the game 1-1 midway through the second period, but Edmonton dominated, hitting the post or crossbar three times before taking the lead. Vasily Podkolzin scored early in the third to make it 2-1, followed by Leon Draisaitl’s goal for a 3-1 lead.

Vegas made it close when Jack Eichel scored a short-handed goal to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 3:17 left, but Kasperi Kapanen sealed the win with an empty-net goal.

“It’s difficult here right now with what’s going on. It’s frustrating,” Hanifin said. “We played a pretty solid game, had a lot of chances. Just seems like we’re not getting the bounces. Losing to a divisional opponent like that, with the standings the way they are, it’s tough. But it’s not going to get easier. We have another tough game against Dallas coming up. Can’t dwell on this. We just have to keep pushing.”

Another concern for Vegas: the Golden Knights have lost 16 of their last 17 games against teams in playoff position. The lone win came in overtime at Detroit, 4-3.

Tuesday’s matchup marks the second of three regular-season meetings between Dallas and Vegas. In the first, Dallas overcame a three-goal third-period deficit to win 5-4 in a shootout on Jan. 29 in Las Vegas, with Mavrik Bourque scoring twice and Mikko Rantanen netting the game-winner in the shootout.

-Field Level Media/Reuters