NHL Pacific

The Golden Knights finally decided to stop playing with their food and put an end to these Western Conference Finals.

Vegas came out with a purpose in its 6-0 Game 6 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday night to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2018, its first year as a franchise.

Everything went the away team's way at the American Airlines Center in Dallas as the Golden Knights kicked off the first period with a three-goal explosion that basically gave them one foot through the door.

William Carrier gave his squad an early lead with a goal 3:41 into the game. William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar piled on later in the period to finish off an exquisite 20 minutes.

Vegas would get three more insurance goals from Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Michael Amadio to put the game out of reach and end Dallas' season after what had been a valiant effort in the last couple of games.

The Stars didn't have much of a response for most of the night.

Goalie Adin Hill once again had a terrific night in the crease as he continues a surprisingly excellent postseason after stepping in for Laurent Brossoit. Hill saved all 23 shots that he faced in the win

NHL Twitter was in awe of how dominant and in control Vegas was in the biggest game of its season.

Vegas will now return to the Stanley Cup Final and hope that it gets a different result than what happened in 2018 when it lost to the Washington Capitals in five games after a dominant postseason run.

The Golden Knights will take on the red-hot Florida Panthers, a No. 8 seed that started playing their best hockey of the year at the perfect time, eliminating the No. 1 overall seed Boston Bruins in the first round.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Saturday, June 3 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

After being on the verge of flatlining, the Dallas Stars' heartbeat grew a little bit stronger Saturday night.

The Stars got a heroic effort out of an unexpected place in the form of winger Ty Dellandrea, who came up with two huge goals in the third period to help lead Dallas to a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

After going down 3-0 to start the series, it has now brought two games back and has struck some fear into the heart of Vegas as they try to avoid being the fifth team in league history to blow that type of series lead.

The Golden Knights struck first in each of the first two periods but each time the Stars were up to it with a response, setting the stage for a masterful third period by Dellandrea, who had just one postseason goal going into this game.

The Stars were also able to overcome a pretty strong performance by Vegas' goalie Adin Hill, who came up with 30 saves on the night.

It was always going to be a tall task for Dallas to go get a win on the road and they came through big time. It is now on the way to potentially make history in the postseason.

NHL Twitter couldn't help but be in awe of Dellandrea's clutch performance when his team needed it most.

In a development that probably no one saw coming, Dallas will now have an opportunity to force a Game 7 on on their home ice in Game 6 and will need something big out of star Tyler Seguin, who has struggled much of this series.

While the pressure will still be on the Stars, as they are on the brink of elimination, Vegas has to be feeling the heat now too, as it is flirting with the wrong side of history.

Game 6 is set for Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.

The Stars have some life.

After falling behind twice in the first two periods, Dallas avoided a sweep against the Vegas Golden Knights on its home ice thanks to an overtime winner from Joe Pavelski.

When Vegas' Jonathan Marchessault scored midway through the second period to give his team a 2-1 advantage, it looked like the Golden Knights had punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final and followed up the Florida Panthers with a sweep.

But Dallas was unwilling to lay down as Jason Robertson found an equalizer in the closing minutes of the period to knot things back up.

And thanks to some excellent goalkeeping from both sides in the third, neither team was able to get a winner in regulation.

Just over three minutes into overtime, Dallas played the power play to perfection, and Pavelski took full advantage, sinking one of the biggest goals of his career.

And NHL Twitter was loving every second of it.

Pavelski saved the Stars for a night, but there's still an immense mountain to climb as they are down 3-1 in the series. They are looking to become the fifth team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

The last team to do it was the Los Angeles Kings nine years ago against the San Jose Sharks.

There may be no tougher task than the next one, going back to T-Mobile Arena and having to beat the Golden Knights on their home ice.

Game 5 is set for Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET.

The Calgary Flames appear to have a replacement for former general manager Brad Treliving lined up.

According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Craig Conroy will be named the team's general manager this week.

Rumors have continued to link Conroy to the GM vacancy:

It would likely be a popular appointment.

Conroy, 51, spent parts of nine seasons with the team during his playing career, accumulating 97 goals and 211 assists during two different stints in Calgary. Since 2011 he's worked in the organization's front office as a special assistant to the general manager (2011-14) and as Treliving's assistant general manager (2014-present).

He would be filling a vacancy that the team wasn't necessarily expected to have this offseason.

"Today is not a good day for me," Flames president of hockey operations and interim general manager Don Maloney told reporters in April after the team and Treliving mutually parted ways. "It's not. ... Brad Treliving is a good friend, and I think a very good hockey man. He left us, for his reasons. But we move on."

"I thought for sure that he would re-sign," he added.

In Treliving's nine seasons, the Flames reached the playoffs five times, though they didn't qualify this past campaign.

As for Conroy, Flames' legend Jerome Iginla is hoping to see him land the gig, calling him a "really good candidate" in late April.

"I hope Calgary chooses him," he added, per The Athletic's Julian McKenzie. "I've always talked with (Conroy), we still keep in touch and talk hockey. We've always talked about working together. But I think he's put in so much time. I know what he does behind the scenes. I know how passionate he is and I think he'd be great for it."

Brett Howden didn't want to see Game 1 of the Western Conference Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars reach four overtimes.

After Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final saw Matthew Tkachuk score in the fourth OT to give the Florida Panthers a 1-0 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, Howden scored just 1:35 into overtime in Game 1 of Friday's Western Conference Final to lead the Golden Knights to a 4-3 win over the Stars.

The tally marked Howden's third goal of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs and first since he scored twice in Game 4 of Vegas' first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets. In addition to Howden, the Golden Knights received goals from William Karlsson, who scored twice, and Teddy Blueger.

The Stars saw Jason Robertson score his first goal since Game 5 of the team's first-round series against the Minnesota Wild, and Jamie Benn scored at the 18:01 mark of the third period to force overtime.

Roope Hintz also tallied his 10th goal of the postseason and now leads all players in playoff points.

Still, it was Howden who caught the attention of NHL fans on Twitter for his overtime heroics:

The Golden Knights will face an even bigger challenge in Game 2 against the Stars, which need to play a lot better than they did on Friday night if they hope to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

Game 2 between the Golden Knights and Stars is set for Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.

Another season has come to a painful end for Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.

The Oilers couldn't take advantage of having the best player in the world in his prime as they fell to the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 at Rogers Place in Game 6, cutting another stellar McDavid campaign short.

A year after making it to the Western Conference Finals, Edmonton has fallen short of that mark.

Much like Game 5, the first period seemed to go completely the Oilers' way as McDavid and Warren Foegele helped give them a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission.

They just weren't able to carry that performance all the way through.

Vegas turned up the pressure in the second 20 minutes as Jonathan Marchessault continued his incredible postseason by coming up with a hat trick in the period to give the Golden Knights a 4-2 lead that they would never relinquish.

Even in a game with McDavid on the ice, Marchessault looked like the best player by a wide margin.

In the series against Edmonton, the 32-year-old forward had eight points with five goals and three assists.

The performance of Vegas goalie Adin Hill also can't be overstated either, as he stepped up once again in place of the injured Laurent Brossoit. Hill saved 38 shots and finished with a .950 save percentage in the biggest game of his career.

As for the Oilers, they'll have a lot to think about this summer as they look for a way to maximize the team around McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

NHL Twitter chastised the organization for wasting the superstars' prime years.

At the end of the day, McDavid is still only 26 years old and is the best player in the NHL by a solid margin. But every year that the Oilers don't seriously compete for the Stanley Cup feels like a huge missed opportunity.

He still has three years remaining on his contract, but Edmonton shouldn't give him any potential reason to want out before then.

As for the Golden Knights, their dominant run continues as they return to the conference finals for the third time in their six-year existence. They are looking to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final since their inaugural season in 2018.

Vegas will face the winner of Monday night's Game 7 matchup between the Seattle Kraken and Dallas Stars .

The Seattle Kraken and Dallas Stars are going to Game 7.

Seattle staved off elimination Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena with a 6-3 win over Dallas in Game 6 of their second-round series, and a berth in the Western Conference Final will be on the line in a do-or-die Game 7 in the Big D on Monday.

The Kraken were dominant from start to finish in Saturday's Game 6 victory, but it was rookies Tye Kartye and Matty Beniers who were praised for helping Seattle force one final game in this second-round matchup.

Kartye scored at the 4:23 mark of the second period to extend the Kraken's lead to 4-1 before Beniers iced the game with a goal at the 8:43 mark of the third period to put Seattle up 5-2.

Beniers finished the game with one goal and one assist, which came on Kartye's goal.

Beniers, who was selected second overall in the 2021 draft, had NHL fans salivating at his potential after he tallied his third goal of the postseason:

Beniers was named a Calder Trophy finalist after putting together a stellar rookie season that saw him tally 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points in 80 games. He now has three goals and four assists in 13 playoff games.

With the series slated to shift back to American Airlines Center, the Kraken are going to need Beniers to put together an equally impressive performance in Game 7 if they hope to reach the Western Conference Final.

Even if the Kraken don't reach the conference final, this has been a highly successful season for the franchise, which celebrated its inaugural campaign during the 2021-22 season.

Despite a herculean effort by superstar Connor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers find themselves on the brink of elimination following a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knight in Game 5 on Friday night.

McDavid scored two of his team's goals, including a magnificent solo play early in the third period to cut the deficit to one, but it wasn't enough to overcome another strong performance by the Golden Knights on their home ice at T-Mobile Arena.

After Edmonton went up 2-1 going into the second period, Vegas poured in three goals in the second 20 minutes to take a commanding 4-2 lead and never fell behind again en route to taking a 3-2 lead in the series.

Golden Knights star Jack Eichel had a great game with a first-period goal to go along with two assists to help push his team to the win. Jonathan Marchessault also came up big with three assists for a playoff career high.

As for the Oilers, McDavid just needed a bit more help from the rest of his supporting cast, and they may have been able to pull off the road upset, but it wasn't meant to be.

Regardless, NHL Twitter was left in awe of McDavid's greatness once again despite the loss.

If the Oilers are going to mount a comeback in this series, they're going to need a couple of more clutch performances from McDavid, as well as contributions from the rest of the roster to help ease some of the pressure off the superstar's shoulders.

McDavid has been spectacular throughout the postseason, especially this series. He's had at least two points in every game except for one, a huge 5-1 loss in Game 3.

Luckily for Edmonton, the Oilers will have an opportunity to save their season on their home ice at the Rogers Place on Sunday in Game 6.

It might be time to come up with a nickname for the Stars' deadly top line.

Joe Pavelski scored, Jason Robertson racked up three assists and Roope Hintz tallied twice as the Stars won Game 5 over the Seattle Kraken, 5-2, Thursday night in Dallas.

The Stars lead the second-round series, 3-2.

Hintz now has 18 points in 11 playoff games, tying the Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl for the NHL lead. He holds the Dallas franchise record for points in a single postseason, per the NHL on TNT broadcast.

Robertson, whose goalless drought has now extended to a rare six games, recorded helpers on each of Hintz's goals as well as Pavelski's tally.

The Stars scored twice on their first three shots. Wyatt Johnston and Hintz both tallied in the first six minutes, and the Kraken headed into the period break trailing 2-0 despite leading in shots, 14-5.

Pavelski made it three-nil for Dallas with his seventh goal of the postseason just 35 seconds into the second period, but the Kraken responded under two minutes later with a goal from defenseman Adam Larsson to get the visitors on the board.

Seattle tried to gain momentum from Larsson's tally by double-shifting 40-goal scorer Jared McCann. That paid off when McCann scored off of a defender's skate seven minutes into the second, cutting the Stars' lead to 3-2.

In the third period, confusion took over American Airlines Center as referees waved for play to continue after Hintz scored top-shelf over Philipp Grubauer's blocker. The play was whistled dead moments later, and fans began a belated celebration as the Stars regained a late two-goal lead, 4-2. An empty-net tally sealed the win.

The Stars now have the chance to close out the series in Seattle, where the Kraken will fight to extend their season Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.