Los Angeles—Denis Gurianov scored a powerplay goal 3:36 into overtime as the Dallas Stars punched their ticket to the 2020 Stanley Cup finals with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Joel Kiviranta also scored a power play goal late in the third period goal to force overtime as the Stars rallied from a 2-0 deficit Monday night to shock the Golden Knights and win the Western Conference final series 4-1.
“We found our game. We scored a goal and that got us going, then the powerplay took over,” said forward Joe Pavelski of the Stars’ eighth come-from-behind win in the postseason.
On the winning goal, Gurianov, 23, took a pass from John Klingberg and hammered a one-timer past Vegas goalie Robin Lehner on the short side that sparked a mob scene celebration with Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin in the middle.
Canada’s Jamie Benn also scored while Khudobin stopped 34 shots for the Stars, who advanced to their first Stanley Cup final since 2000.
Dallas will play either the New York Islanders or the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL championship. The Lightning can wrap their series up with a win on Tuesday in the NHL’s quarantine bubble in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dallas has been outshot and outplayed for most of the series, but thanks to timely scoring and brilliant goaltending from Russia’s Khudobin they were able to stun the favoured Golden Knights.