Wrapping up a five-game road trip and playing their eighth road game in the last nine, the Lightning might have exhaled in this Sunday matinee against the Stars. But there was no letdown. Instead, they rallied from an early deficit, grabbed the lead in the second period, and then put on a defensive clinic in the third period. The Lightning improved to 12-0-1 in their last 13 contests and completed their longest road trip of the season with a 4-0-1 record.
A Lightning defensive-zone turnover led to Oskar Back’s opening tally at 4:00. Soon after, the Stars received a power play with a chance to extend their lead. Dallas entered the game with the second-best power-play percentage in the NHL. But the Lightning produced an excellent kill to keep the deficit at one. Within a minute of getting back to even strength, they tied the game.
Coming out of the penalty kill, Jon Cooper sent out a unit of Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, and Dominic James. From the defensive zone, Charle-Edouard D’Astous delivered a clean outlet to James, who completed a give-and-go sequence with Guentzel before finishing a shot from the left circle at 8:04. For the rest of the game, James played on a line with Guentzel and Gage Goncalves.
The game didn’t feature a high shot total for either team, but Andrei Vasilevskiy did face some dangerous chances during the first two periods. He made four key saves late in the first period to preserve the tie: a Mikko Rantanen backhander, two in-alone chances for Justin Hyrckowian, and a breakaway for Jason Robertson with the teams skating four-on-four.
The Lightning netted two second-period goals. The first of those came moments after Jake Oettinger stopped a point-blank chance for Anthony Cirelli, and then Vasilevskiy denied a tap-in rush chance from Sam Steel. After the Vasilevskiy save on Steel, the Lightning countered. Cirelli set up Darren Raddysh for a right-point shot. Steel blocked the shot but was slightly shaken up and subsequently out of the play. Kucherov passed to Brandon Hagel near the crease. Hagel got behind Oettinger for a stuff-in attempt. Esa Lindell blocked the first try, but Hagel eventually forced it past Lindell’s stick at 11:05.
The Stars received a power play at 14:20 with a chance to tie. But Vasilevskiy stopped three Dallas shots during the kill, including a close-range shot from Roope Hintz. After the power play ended, the Stars applied pressure for the next two shifts. Once the Lightning finally cleared the puck to center ice, the Stars attempted to re-enter the offensive zone. But Raddysh poke-checked the puck off the stick of Wyatt Johnston at the Lightning’s blue line. Oliver Bjorkstrand was at the end of a shift, but he collected the puck and moved it forward to Guentzel, who had just come over the boards with James. They attacked the offensive zone on a two-on-one. Guentzel passed to James in the slot for a one-timer. Oettinger stopped the initial shot, but Guentzel followed up and deposited a backhander past Oettinger’s stick at 18:50 to make it 3-1.
The Lightning put on a defensive clinic in the third period. The Stars managed to post just two shots on net and only 11 total attempts. Tampa Bay spent most of the frame in possession of the puck in the offensive zone. As is often the case, the line of Yanni Gourde, Zemgus Girgensons, and Pontus Holmberg was especially effective in that regard. Fittingly, that line was on the ice when the Lightning sealed the win with an empty-netter. Holmberg scored his eighth goal of the season, a new career high.
The Lightning return home to face San Jose on Tuesday before heading back on the road next weekend.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Jake Guentzel — Lightning. Goal and assist.
- Dominic James — Lightning. Goal and assist.
- Charle-Edouard D’Astous — Lightning. Assist.
