Vegas, year removed from missing playoffs, gets to 2nd Stanley Cup Final

DALLAS — Vegas captain Mark Stone credits the front office for keeping the core intact after the Golden Knights missed the playoffs for the only time in the young franchise’s history last year.

The only major change was with the coach, and Bruce Cassidy — fired by Boston last year — just beat the man he replaced, Pete DeBoer, with Vegas’ 6-0 rout of the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on Monday night.

As for the guys on the ice, not much has changed, as the clincher showed.

William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault, two of the leading playoff scorers going all the way back to the franchise’s other Stanley Cup Final in the expansion season of 2017-18, played a big part in finally eliminating the Stars, who extended the series after falling behind 3-0.

“A lot of emotions,” said Stone, who was traded to Vegas during the franchise’s second season, which ended in the first round of the playoffs. “It starts with missing the playoffs last year. Management and ownership giving this group another chance to come back and go at it again. Shows a lot of trust in the players.”

DeBoer’s final season in Vegas was plagued by injuries, and he acknowledged being “rattled” by the decision by the Golden Knights the day he was introduced in Dallas.

There was vindication for both sides with both teams reaching the conference finals, and maybe a bit more for Vegas by winning this series for a 2nd Cup final in the franchise’s six seasons.

DeBoer took Vegas to the West final the season he replaced the original Vegas coach, Gerard Gallant, when the Knights lost to Dallas in the playoff bubble in Canada before the Stars’ six-game defeat to Tampa Bay in the Cup final.

“The adversity that (the Knights) dealt with last year and…