Knights on the brink after routing Stars

LOS ANGELES: The Vegas Golden Knights thrashed the Dallas Stars, 4-0, on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) to move within one win of ice hockey’s Stanley Cup Final.

Right wing Jonathan Marchessault launched a flurry of early scoring that saw the Knights sprint into a four goal lead midway through the second period.

That proved to be enough to seal victory against an outclassed Dallas side, whose fans vented their frustration in the second period forcing a halt in play as objects were thrown onto the ice at the American Airlines Center.

Marchessault’s early strike was followed by goals from left wings Ivan Barbashev and William Carrier to put the Knights 3-0 up in the first period before defenseman Alex Pietrangelo made it 4-0 in the second.

The early onslaught led to Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger being pulled before the end of the first period. He was replaced by Scott Wedgewood, who made 10 saves in relief.

A miserable night for Dallas also saw captain Jamie Benn ejected early after he was assessed a major penalty for a brutal cross-check on Vegas captain Mark Stone.

Vegas goalscorer Marchessault later branded Benn’s ugly challenge “disgusting.”

“It’s just not a hockey play right?” Marchessault said. “It was pretty disgusting — he leans on top of him and gives it to him in his head.”

The victory means the Knights are now on the threshold of returning to the Stanley Cup final, five years after reaching the ice hockey showpiece in their inaugural season in 2018.