While they both needed seven games to get to this point despite being up 3-1 in their respectiveseriesthese teams were widely expected to be in the Western Conference finals. Dallas needed overtime and an unlikely hero against the Avalanche to make its first conference final appearance since 2008. That team,by the way, hadHall of Famers Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov in its ranks. Game 7 belonged to rookie Joel Kiviranta a 24-year-oldwho had only played 11 NHL regular season games and two bubble games and his hat trick. "We had a secret Finnish weapon over here," said Stars captainJamie Benn regarding Kiviranta next to him during a video news conference with reporters. Stars vs. Avalanche Game 7: Oh, and by the way, don't worry Joel, head coach Rick Bowne s confirmed you'll be in the lineup for Game 1. As for the Golden Knights, things were tight in their Game 7 with the Canucks on the scoreboard at least. Vegas dominated play throughout but Thatcher Demko was once again masterful in net.He stymiedtheVegas offense until almost 14 minutes into the third period when Shea Theodore finally broke through on the power play. Canucks vs. Golden Knights Game 7: "I need a Brandon Ingram Jersey drink after the last three games before I think about Dallas," head coach Pete DeBoer said after his team moved on. Well, there's no time like the present. (1) Vegas Golden Knights (-245) vs. (3) Dallas Stars (+205): Schedule, breakdown, prediction Game Date Time TV channel 1 Sun., Sept. 6 8 p.m. NBC, , SN, CBC, TVAS 2 Tues., Sept. 8 8 p.m. NBCSN, , SN, CBC, TVAS 3 Thurs., Sept. 10 8 p.m. NBCSN, , SN, CBC, TVAS 4 Sat., Sept. 12 8 p.m. NBC, , SN, CBC, TVAS 5* Mon., Sept. 14 8 p.m. NBCSN, , SN, CBC, TVAS 6* Wed., Sept. 16 8 p.m. NBC, , SN, CBC, TVAS 7* Fri., Sept. 18 9 p.m. NBCSN, , SN, CBC, TVAS (*if nece sary) For up-to-the-minute odds: Regular season series Back when theseteams met during the regular season,which feels like 100 years ago, they had different head coaches anddifferent goalies in net (Malcolm Subban for Vegas prior to his trade to Chicago and Ben Bishop for Dallas, who has been unfit to play for most of the postseason). Bishop did play the round robin game but it was Robin Lehner in between the pipes for the Golden Knights. Lehner has been masterful in the postseason and is coming off three shutouts in six starts including Game 7 against the Canucks. In thatlone August meeting before the Stanley Cup playoffs officially began, Vegas roared back from a 3-1 deficit after two periodsto win. "We really didn't have anybody who was very good in the first 40 minutes," DeBoer said after his team scored four in the final frame. "I think we just let them come at us," noted Stars forward Jason Dickinson said. Wesley Matthews Jersey "We didn't take ownership of the game, and it was obviously an embarra sing third period that we don't want to repeat. But it's something we can learn from." DATE ROAD HOME RESULT Nov. 25 Golden Knights Stars DAL, 4-2 Dec. 13 Golden Knights Stars VGK, 3-2 (OT) March 17 Stars Golden Knights PPD Round robin game DATE ROAD HOME RESULT Aug. 3 Stars Golden Knights VGK, 5-3 Offense Both teams bring some offensive fire power to the ice but Vegas has been running rampant offensively since the postseason began (first and second rounds). , they've posted NHL-bests at 5v5 in Corsi For percentage (61.09),Fenwick For percentage (63.07) and Scoring Chances percentage(62.45). By comparison, Dallas has a 49.45 CF%, 50.89 FF% and 51.57 SCF%. But here's the thing:Dallas has scored 3.77 GF/GP while Vegas has scored 2.83 in the first two rounds; obviously, the one big difference is the goals against but we'll get to that in a moment. Also a key for Dallas: the team was only averaging 2.58 GF/GP and were 29th with just 179 goalsin the regular season, so that's a big difference. The big question for Dallas is, can they get regular season point leaderTyler Seguin going? He and captain Jamie Bennsat for long stretches in Game 7 and Seguin only has two goals and five a sists in 13 games. On the flip side, the one thing head coach Rick Bowne s has been getting is balanced scoring as defenseman Miro Heiskanen (17 points), second-line wingerDenis Gurianov (15 points, 10 at even strength) and first-line winger Alexander Radulov who scored two of his seven goals in Game 7. Vegas has also seen scoring up and down its lineup as defenseman Shea Theodore leads the team in scoring with 12 points (eight at even strength) followed by Reilly Smith (11 points) and Mark Stone (10 points). Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch both have potted five goals apiece. Of note, Tuch only tucked in eight goals in 42 regular season games. Edge: Even. Defense Vegas' defense has been superb, and that's obviously due in large part to the goaltending of Robin Lehner. As previously stated, he shutout the Canucks three times in six starts. They did provide quality chances to Vancouver, especially as the team mounted their comeback and through two rounds, the team has the third-worstHigh-Danger Save Percentage (78.33). It's something to keep an eye on, although let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Jersey 's be honest, Lehner has been spectacular. And Mark Stone is a defensive genius. Here's a full highlight reel of Mark Stone just straight up taking the puck from people and stick lifting the hell out of everyone this postseason. What a magnificent maniac he is Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) As for Dallas, well they certainly allowed a whole lotta goals to the Avalanche and 56 (NHL tops) in the postseason.While they won a bunch of games 1-0 or 2-1 during the regular season, this is a different team now. They allowed 4.14 GA/GP, which won't work against a Vegas team that only allowed 2.00 GA/GP to the Canucks and a just 35 goals acro s the postseason. Edge: Vegas. Goaltending Have we mentioned yet how fantastic Robin Lehner has been between the pipes for Vegas? He's been so masterful in net that he's kept three-time Marc-Andre Fleury primarily on the sidelines. In 10 starts between the Blackhawks and Canucks series', he's posted a .922 save percentage, 1.80 goals-against average and three shutouts while stopping 213 of 231 shots. ROBIN LEHNER. What a save, my goodne s. NHL (@NHL) Acro s the ice, No. 1 netminder Ben Bishop has been "unfit to play" for the majority of the series and postseason. Anton Khudobin, who posted a .930 save percentage during the regular season, started six of the seven games against Colorado but was on the bench to start Game 5 (with the Stars up 3-1). "Yesterday, he looked really sharp," said head coach Rick Bowne s after the 6-3 lo s as to why he started Bishop."He felt good. He Devontae Cacok Jersey felt he was ready to go." Khudobin was back in net for Game 6 and Game 7 and should be the guy to go in the Western Conference finals. He's posted a .907 save percentage in 12 games (11 starts) but has a .855 HDSV%, which isn't great against a Vegas team that likes to swarm the net. Edge: Lehner, er, Vegas. Special teams Dallas' special teams showed up in the second round against the Avalanche. They held the high-powered Colorado offense to just 12.5 percent efficiency with the man advantage while also posting 39.1 percent on the power play. By comparison, Vegas' penalty kill was slightly higher with 88 James Worthy Jersey .9 percent penalty kill but only mustered 21.7 percent on the power play against the Canucks. Edge: Even Key players to watch RobinLehner (VGK): Pretty easy for this one. Lehner has been a star after getting to Vegas in late February and has continued to roll in the postseason. Alexander Radulov (DAL): The feisty winger has been a sure-thing for the Stars in the postseason as he has seven goals in 16 games (including round robin) including two big-time tying goals (Game 2 vs Flames and Game 7 vs Avs) and three game-winners. Scoring the winner for a 3rd time in the last 5 games (though he didn't ever see it go in!), Alexander Radulov put forth another fine outing on Monday to tie for 3rd on this list of Dallas players to do so at least 3 times in one Playoff year StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) Golden Knightsvs. Stars playoff history This is the first-ever meeting between the two franchises in the postseason. Last five playoff appearances Vegas Golden Knights YEAR FINISH 2019 Lost in first round to SJ in seven games 2018 Lost in Stanley Cup Final to WSH in five games Dallas Stars YEAR FINISH 2019 Lost in second round to STL in seven games 2016 Lost in second round to STL in seven games 2014 Lost in first round to ANA in six games 2008 Lost in conference finals to DET in six games 2007 Lost in conference quarterfinals to VAN in seven games (1) Golden Knights vs. (3) Stars prediction The way Robin Lehner and the Vegas offensive is going, plan on the Golden Knights heading to their second Stanley Cup Final in the franchise's first three seasons. Prediction: Golden Knights in 6