Golden Knights hoping for 2018-like response against Stars

The Golden Knights have been down 1-0 in the Western Conference Final before.

Two years ago, the team traveled to Winnipeg and lost 4-2 to the Jets. The Knights won the next four games to advance to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

This year’s team features plenty of new players and a new opponent, but the group can lean on that experience as it looks to fight back in Game 2 against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

“I mean, it’s a different year,” said defenseman Brayden McNabb, who played each game of the 2018 postseason. “It’s one game. We didn’t play our best. We know that. We know we need to be better for Game 2, and we will be. It happened (two years) ago, but this is a different time with different players. We know what went wrong, and we know what we need to fix.”

The Knights have 13 players from their inaugural season, and another one in Paul Stastny who was on the other side of the 2018 Western Conference Final.

Those guys know what it takes to fight back in a series. Newcomers Alec Martinez, Max Pacioretty, Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone — who have all played in a conference final previously — do, too.

Coach Pete DeBoer is going to lean on those veterans as the team tries to respond from its 1-0 loss in Game 1 on Sunday.

“You get to this time of year, the players take it over,” DeBoer said. “Everybody knows what their good game looks like. It’s who can impose it on the other team for the longest stretches. Really, the further it goes, the less coaching you do and the more the players take it over.”

Goaltending comes through

The Knights have had offensive woes lately, but their goaltending has been outstanding. Both Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury are providing the team with impressive performances.

The Knights rank 11th in team save percentage this postseason (.909) and sixth in goals against average (2.22). They were 25th in save percentage (.900) and 13th in GAA (2.91) in the regular season.

“I think both guys have been excellent,” DeBoer said. “We knew coming in here that if I was to draw it up, I knew we were going to want to be able to play both guys, and they’ve allowed us to do that by how professional they’ve been and their preparation, their willingness to jump in there and get the job done for us.”

Reaves returns

The Knights will get right wing Ryan Reaves back for Game 2. The bruiser was suspended for Game 1 on Sunday after delivering a check to the head of Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Motte in Game 7 of the second round.

Reaves led the NHL in hits with 316 during the regular season. He ranks third this postseason with 74.

“I think everyone knows what Ryan Reaves brings,” DeBoer said. “He brings physicality, but he brings energy to our group, too. He creates a certain amount of room for people on the ice. He’s a big piece of our group.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.