Stars back captain Jamie Benn after ejection leads to Game 3 shutout vs. Golden Knights

The theme of the 2023 postseason for the Dallas Stars has been their resilience. They’ve been a team that’s found comfort with their backs against the ropes, and a spark in their most desperate moments. Before Sunday’s Game 2 loss in Las Vegas, the Stars hadn’t lost back-to-back games all postseason.

Resilience?

“That’s the last thing I’m worried about,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Tuesday before the start of Game 3.

It’s hard to imagine DeBoer had that same feeling after what happened later that night.

Game 3 started bad and then avalanched as the Stars fell 4-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights, putting Dallas in the precarious position of a 3-0 deficit. Only four teams have ever come back from down 3-0 to win a best-of-seven series, and if Tuesday was any indication, the odds are against Dallas responding in such rare fashion.

“It’s emotional right now,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “Frustrating for sure. You have to the best you can to flush it and move on.”

Stars captain Jamie Benn was ejected minutes into the game and shortly after Vegas took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Jonathan Marchessault. Goalie Jake Oettinger, the “backbone” of Dallas’ resilience all playoffs, was chased away after allowing three goals on five shots in the first seven minutes. Max Domi was issued a 10-minute misconduct after getting into a fight with Vegas defender Nicholas Hague. Following that news, fans threw bottles and other garbage on the ice, forcing officials to send the teams to their locker rooms with 21.6 left in the second period.

It was Dallas’ first shutout loss of the postseason. It was Vegas goalie Adin Hill’s first postseason shutout.

At least the new on-ice light show unveiled Tuesday was colorful.

The result was shocking, considering the tune the Stars sang after falling down 2-0. DeBoer and players pointed to how much better they performed in Game 2. Sure, they had fallen in overtime for the second straight game, but they were close.

“What’s the alternative? We pack it in for summer?” DeBoer asked rhetorically.

“So [Game 2] is something we have to build off, and we’re going home. We’re going to use that game as a template, add our home crowd into the mix and get back in this series.”

Instead, the Stars did the opposite. In Game 2 they scored just minutes into the game. On Tuesday, Marchessault found some open space, waited for a pass and scored just 71 seconds after the puck dropped.

A one-goal deficit wasn’t a great start, but there were still plenty of chances for Dallas to show its trademark resilience. Then Benn cross checked opposing captain Mark Stone before adding another shot to the head area when Stone was already on the ice. The play was reviewed, and the five-minute penalty was upheld, plus the ejection.

Benn declined to speak after the game.

Both Seguin and veteran Joe Pavelski expressed their support for Benn.

“You guys ask if I’m disappointed in a guy I have so much respect for,” Pavelski said. “We battle so hard, and I have no problem with [Benn]. We needed to be better from there, and we weren’t. We have to move on. We still have an understanding that we’re in the conference finals and those don’t come around everyday, and we still have a little life.”

DeBoer added: “Let’s put it this way: He made a mistake, feels really badly about it. I don’t think anyone in the building feels worse than he does about it. I’m not going to pile on him.

“We will live with the consequences, whatever they are. We lived with them tonight and we’ll live with them going forward if there’s any supplemental discipline.”

As in a potential suspension, which multiple hockey analysts thought might be a possibility for Benn.

The disastrous layers unfolded from there. With Benn out and Evgenii Dadonov ruled out after suffering a lower body injury in the first period, Dallas was down to 10 forwards for the majority of the game – aside for the 10 minutes Domi was out with his misconduct penalty. For perspective: rookie Wyatt Johnston was the last forward left on the line where he started.

The recipe wasn’t conducive to a comeback, or much of a respectable attempt.

Dallas finished with 34 shots on goal, though none of them found the back of the net. The Stars also finished with 35 penalty minutes, compared to Vegas’ total of six minutes.

The Stars still have a chance for redemption. They’ll face Vegas at home on Thursday night with the chance to avoid being swept for the first time in a playoff series since 2001.

And as for resilience?

Maybe it’s something they should be worried about.

“They’ve got to beat us one more time,” Seguin said. “We have a tight group in here, a lot of character, and we’re going to give it everything we got.”

On Twitter: @JoeJHoyt

Photos: Frustration shows as Stars suffer another setback in Western Conference finals vs. Golden Knights

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