Vegas Golden Knights vs. Dallas Stars Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/26/2022

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX

Where to watch: Bally Sports Southwest Extra, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Golden Knights: 42-31-6

Stars: 44-30-5

It has been about as horrendous of a week as you can ask for the Vegas Golden Knights. They've done everything wrong from losing games they should've won, to completely botching their No. 1 goalie's potential surgery.

All of that to say Vegas still has a chance at making the playoffs, but they've got to win all of their games remaining, and that includes Tuesday's against Dallas in which would need to be in regulation.

The Golden Knights were two minutes away from an important two points and coming into this matchup with a chance to pass Dallas. Then, two goals from the San Jose Sharks and a shootout loss later, and Vegas' season is hanging in the balance.

"Definitely a tough pill to swallow," Vegas captain Mark Stone said. "We have to win the next game [Tuesday at the Stars]. If we win the next game, you never know what could happen. You can get some help. We've gotten some along the way. Really a devastating loss, but we're still in it. You have to think that way. We have to win a big game on Tuesday to keep our chances alive."

And now with the news that Robin Lehner is undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, it's going to be Logan Thompson's net the rest of the way. The young goalie has played well, but is likely going to be asked to win three games in four nights in order to give the Golden Knights a chance.

What a trainwreck of a franchise and they should be ashamed.

The Dallas Stars have not played well as of late, losing four of five coming into Saturday's game against the Seattle Kraken, but they delivered when it counted most.

Roope Hintz's two goals completed a comeback for Dallas in a 3-2 win over Seattle to push this 3-point cushion on Vegas. After losing by combined 9-4 in the Alberta back-to-back, the Stars were fortunate to find the back of the net enough to make it happen.

"Give our guys full credit, they dug deep to find the win," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "I know [Seattle] played last night (6-3 loss at the Minnesota Wild), but they're a fast hockey team. We were clearly running on fumes at the end, but they dug deep and they found the will to win, and that's what was the difference tonight."

The Stars have had to rely big time on their youth, especially Jason Robertson and Hintz, but this is the time of year for veterans to take over. Joe Pavelski is entering playoff time, and eyes will be on Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.

But the key is trying to make life easier for rookie goalie Jake Oettinger, who has had an incredible season to this point. His GAA and save percentage has dipped in the past few weeks, but you can't ignore what he's done. This isn't to say Scott Wedgewood should start, but this is a pressure-packed moment for the young goalie.

I have no idea which way this game is going to go. Part of me thinks Vegas will rally and do things well in the midst of adversity, but also feels like they've finally ran out of steam. I think it goes to overtime, which is the worst thing to happen for Vegas, and Dallas pulls it off. Stars win 3-2

Golden Knights are 15-6 following two or more overs this season.

Golden Knights are 8-0 after two straight games where both teams scored three goals or more this season.

Stars are 16-14 in April games the last three seasons.

Golden Knights:

Mattias Janmark -- Jack Eichel -- Evgenii Dadonov

Max Pacioretty -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Michael Amadio

William Carrier -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Ben Hutton -- Alex Pietrangelo

Alec Martinez -- Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson

Stars:

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski

Michael Raffl -- Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin

Marian Studenic -- Radek Faksa -- Joel Kiviranta

Fredrik Karlstrom -- Jacob Peterson -- Luke Glendening

Ryan Suter -- Miro Heiskanen

Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg

Joel Hanley -- Jani Hakanpaa

Jake Oettinger

Points: Jonathan Marchessault -- 64

Goals: Jonathan Marchessault -- 29

Assists: Chandler Stephenson -- 40

Goalie: Logan Thompson -- 9-5-2, 2.54 GAA, .917 SV%

Points: Joe Pavelski -- 78

Goals: Jason Robertson -- 38

Assists: Joe Pavelski -- 51

Goalie: Jake Oettinger -- 28-15-2, 2.56 GAA, .914 SV%