DALLAS- Time doesn’t seem to catch up with Joe Pavelski.
At 38 years and 318 days, the forward became the oldest player to score an overtime goal in an elimination game to keep the Dallas Stars alive with a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals at American Airlines Center on Thursday.
Pavelski won it on a power play at 3:18 with a one-timer from the left circle, scoring his ninth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The record was held by Chris Kunitz (37 years, 241 days), who set it with the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals.
“You just live in the moment and try to create what you can. It’s very exciting games to be a part of and great opportunities to keep playing,” Pavelski said.
Video: VGK@DAL, Sp4: Pavelski creates a unique PPG in overtime
Dallas was awarded a power play in overtime when Vegas defender Brayden McNabb was penalized for high-hitting forward Ty Dellandrea at 2:28. Pavelski conceded the win, giving the Stars their first win in five overtime games this postseason, including the first two of the Conference Finals.
It was Pavelski’s 73rd career playoff goal, the most among active players, and ties with Dino Ciccarelli for 13th on the NHL all-time list.
“He’s timeless, you know? What do you say about him?” said Stars coach Peter DeBoer. “I watched this film over and over again. [It] never gets old but he lives for those moments and he wants to be in those situations. Always and delivers almost every time.”
Trailing 3-1 in the best-of-7 series, Dallas will attempt Saturday (8:00 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS) in Game 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas again to avoid elimination.
“We didn’t have the greatest success in extra time,” said Pavelski. “It was still a moment where we wanted to attack, we had a chance and we wanted to leave. There was a bit of pressure on us. Think when the penalty comes, you know it’s a great opportunity to make more of it.” Look at that. It probably wasn’t the cleanest [power play] We wanted to start early but we grabbed a puck or two and found some space. It was definitely nice to see one come in.
“They won a couple of games against us in overtime. It’s been a pretty close streak, so we’ve just got to stick with that attitude. There were a lot of casualties from the guys, big blocks along the way and important saves.” and there are fundamentals tonight. We have to go out and do it again.
Much like DeBoer, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger wasn’t surprised that Pavelski delivered another defining moment.
“Who else?” said Oettinger.