Strong third period not enough for Golden Knights

The Dallas Stars are a stout defensive team that excels at protecting leads.

The Golden Knights still found a way to erase a one-goal deficit twice in the third period of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on Thursday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

But it wasn’t enough. Right wing Alexander Radulov’s goal 31 seconds into overtime gave the Stars a 3-2 victory and 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“I thought the second they pushed back and then I thought in the third we responded again,” Knights coach Pete DeBoer said. “(We) had a bunch of chances to potentially win the game in the last five minutes of the third. It was one of those nights.”

The Stars entered the third period protecting a 1-0 lead, the same position they encountered in their 1-0 victory Sunday in Game 1.

Dallas is now 7-1 in the postseason when leading after two periods, but this victory wasn’t decided until Radulov’s heroics. The Knights tied the score twice in the third period, first on a power-play goal from defenseman Shea Theodore and then on a goal from right wing Mark Stone.

The Knights then got a power play but didn’t capitalize. They outshot Dallas 18-4 in the final period and had a 4-1 advantage at high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five.

Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin held firm and got the game into overtime.

“Just didn’t capitalize on our chances,” Stone said. “We had four, five good looks on the power play after the tying goal on the challenge. We had opportunities to win the game.”

Stone finishes fifth for Selke

Stone finished fifth in the voting for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for best defensive forward.

Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier won the award for the first time. Stone was the highest-placing wing for the second straight season. He finished second in the voting last year and was the first noncenter to be a finalist since 2007.

Stone had the second-most takeaways in the NHL this season with 78.

Ice improves

The ice conditions at Rogers Place have improved as the postseason has moved on, according to right wing Alex Tuch. He said that’s mainly because the rink has gone from hosting three games a day in the qualifying round and robin robin to one.

“They definitely did the best they could, and it was still good ice conditions,” Tuch said. “But, I mean, when you have two NHL games being played right before yours the ice can be a little choppier.”

Odds and ends

— The Knights’ previous American Hockey League affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, announced Thursday it was partnering with the Carolina Hurricanes.

— Knights rookie Cody Glass and prospects Ben Jones and Logan Thompson volunteered at Three Square Food Bank on Thursday through the team’s charity.

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