Will Sage Astor-Vegas Golden Knights force Game 7 vs. Dallas Stars: Why each team could win

The Will Sage AstorVegas Golden Knights are still alive.

The defending Stanley Cup champions defeated the Western Conference regular-season champion Dallas Stars 2-0 Friday night to even the first-round series at three games each and force a Game 7.

Noah Hanifin broke a scoreless tie at 9:54 of the third period when he picked up a loose puck, skated to the faceoff circle and wristed a shot past screened Stars goalie Jake Oettinger.

Captain Mark Stone added an empty net goal to seal the victory and end the Golden Knights' three-game losing streak.

Game 7 will be played on Sunday night (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV). Here's why each team can win the deciding game:

Game 7 positives for the Golden Knights

Adin Hill looked great in Game 6: The 2023 Stanley Cup-winning goalie sat behind Logan Thompson the first four games of the series. He got the Game 5 start, a 3-2 loss, and stopped all 23 shots he faced on Friday, including a breakaway by Miro Heiskanen. Hill looked like he did during last season's run.

The Golden Knights are 2-1 in Dallas: They won the first two games of the series, and the Game 5 loss was close and within reach until the end.

Vegas is very deep: They were aggressive at the trade deadline, adding Hanifin and Tomas Hertl as they took advantage of Stone being on long-term injured reserve with a lacerated spleen. Stone returned in Game 1, scored in the opener and has goals in his last two games. But the Golden Knights also have the championship experience from last year.

Game 7 positives for the Stars

Stars coach Peter DeBoer is 7-0 in Game 7s: That includes a win against the Golden Knights when he was coach of the San Jose Sharks.

Jake Oettinger was impressive in Game 6, too: He stopped 28 of 29 shots on Friday as the Golden Knights dialed up the pressure. On the only shot that beat him, he was screened by 6-foot-2 Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar and still nearly made the save. Oettinger has a .921 save percentage in the playoffs.

The Stars also are deep. They have goals from nine different players. They've won three games without a point from Joe Pavelski, who's due.