Faksa's first career hat trick leads Stars to 3-0 win
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Vegas Golden Knights were looking to make more history Tuesday night.
Instead, it was Dallas Stars center Radek Faksa hitting the jackpot in Sin City.
Faksa scored three goals and Ben Bishop registered his second shutout of the season, as the Stars defeated the Golden Knights 3-0.
"Those were huge goals for us," said Faksa, who scored all of his goals in the second period. "For sure I'm happy with the goals. The most important thing, though, is the team win."
The Knights, who had won eight straight on their home ice, tying the mark set by the Toronto Arenas in 1917-18, were looking to set the record for most consecutive home wins by a team in its inaugural season.
Vegas came into the game ranked second in the NHL in goals per game with 3.68 and fifth in goals with 81, but Bishop was stellar all night, stopping 34 shots for the Stars. He recorded his first shutout as a member of the Stars on Nov. 10 against the New York Islanders.
"It's one of our better games on the road," said Bishop, who was traded from the Los Angeles Kings in May. "You want to be better on the road. The first period was important, trying to keep the team in there, and the second period we wanted to take over. It's a big win with two important games on the road. We'll enjoy this tonight and get ready for Chicago."
The Stars snapped a four-game road losing streak, as the night belonged to both Bishop and Faksa, who hadn't scored more than a goal in a game this season.
With both teams down a man in the second period, Faksa took a pass from Dan Hamhuis and beat Vegas goalie Malcolm Subban with a one-timer, to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.
Faksa notched his second goal of the night when he took advantage of traffic in front of the net to sneak one past Subban's left skate, and off the inside of the post.
Seconds later, the Stars caught the Knights sleeping at the blue line, and using a 3-on-1 break, Faksa punched one past Subban for his first career hat trick.
Subban stopped 27 shots.
"We challenged (Faksa's) line two days ago to play against heavier groups," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Rather than match their line with our line, we wanted to push them up and play with top players. They took the challenge head-on. We've asked them to take on added responsibility. I think they've earned it. I think we can do what we did tonight, and that's wear teams down."
Vegas missed first-line forward David Perron, who was listed as a scratch. Perron is tied for third on the Knights with 19 points.
"He's an important player for us, there's no doubt," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "He makes our team go some nights, and he's one of our top six forwards, so when you miss a guy like that it's going to hurt you. Definitely tonight we missed David Perron. I think their D did a real good job tonight, boxing us out, keeping us away from the front of the net. We had some scoring chances, but not a whole lot of great ones. We probably had six or seven minutes where we made some mistakes and it cost us."
With the loss, and the Kings' 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings, Vegas and Los Angeles are tied atop the Pacific Division with 31 points.
NOTES
The Stars have designated their current two-game tour a dad's trip, as 15 players have their fathers with them. ... Vegas C Cody Eakin was selected in Expansion Draft from the Stars. ... Knights C William Karlsson had his career-high five-game goal streak snapped. ... Vegas was shutout for the first time in franchise history.
UP NEXT
Dallas: gets one day off before playing in Chicago on Thursday
Vegas: travels to play Minnesota on Thursday