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Stars Close the Door on Knights Season

The Vegas Golden Knights had their chances. Plenty of them, starting by winning the first two games on the road of the opening round of their playoff series against the Dallas Stars. However, they couldn't win either of their first two home games (Games 3 or 4) which would have given them a commanding lead and advantage in the best of seven game series.

After finally winning at home in Game 6, they had an opportunity to defeat the top-seeded Stars with one more victory. In Game 7 back in Dallas, they missed open shots on goal while having numerous defensive breakdowns and letting Dallas control the neutral zone. Aidin Hill was peppered with shots by the charging Stars, but the Knights still had chances until the final horn sounded.

When the horn did sound, it was Dallas that was celebrating after a wild and intense series came to an end with the Stars winning 2-1 and advancing to the next round while the defending champs season ended prematurely.

The bottom line was, the Golden Knights weren't able to deliver on their quest of going back-to-back and the topsy turvy season turned into an early exit as they couldn't get out of the first round after winning it all last year. They couldn't withstand a team that seemed more focused and determined who wanted to exact revenge from the team that eliminated them last year in the Western Conference Finals.

When people say hockey is a game of inches, that is certainly true. Lucky bounces, ricochets and bad luck are all part of the game. Unfortunately, for Vegas, that sequence happened on the game winning goal.

Radek Faksa broke a 1-1 tie :44 after the second intermission with a wild shot that went off a defenseman hit the post and bounced awkwardly in the net for the decisive goal. Although they had nearly an entire period to find the equalizing goal, it never came as Dallas put on a defensive clinic the rest of the way and throughout this series.

The season will be deemed a disappointment considering they were the defending champions and started the season better than any team in the league winning their first seven games and 11 of their first 12. The Knights returned 22 players from last year's championship roster, but injuries and inconsistencies cost them.

Finishing the regular season as the eighth and final seed didn't bode well for matchups or morale. However, they had their chances to knock of the #1 seed but in the end the better and most consistent team won and advanced.

Dallas moves on and will face the Colorado Avalanche in the next round of the playoffs while the defending champs will have a long off-season to reassess.