Golden Knights rally for OT win to go up 2-0 on Stars in West finals

Chandler Stephenson scored 1:12 into overtime to cap a late rally that gave the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Jonathan Marchessault’s goal with 2:22 left in the third period forced extra time before Stephenson knocked in a rebound of teammate Shea Theodore’s shot to put the top-seeded Knights two wins away from the Stanley Cup Final.

The Stars had taken a 2-1 lead into the third period on Jason Robertson’s tiebreaking power-play goal midway through the second. Miro Heiskanen scored 2:47 into the game for Dallas before Vegas’ Mark Stone converted on a 5-on-3 power-play chance with just over 10 minutes elapsed in the opening period.

Dallas, which lost 4-3 in overtime in Friday’s Game 1, tied an NHL record with its fourth overtime defeat in a single postseason. The Stars will attempt to regroup when the series moves to Dallas for Tuesday’s Game 3.

The first two games of the Eastern Conference finals between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes were also decided in overtime, marking the first time in league history each of the opening two games of both conference finals went to OT.