Nuts & Bolts: Lightning and Stars meet in Game 6 on Monday

MONDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Stars are playing Game 6 of a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final tonight...Both franchises are in search of their second Stanley Cup...Tampa Bay can become the first team to join the NHL in the 1990s or later to win multiple Stanley Cup championships (also 2004)...The Lightning are 3-3-2 (reg. season and playoffs) against Dallas in 2019-20, including a 3-2 record in the SCF...The Bolts have outshot the Stars in six of seven meetings this season -- including all five games of the SCF -- and own a 241-191 cumulative advantage in shots...Brayden Point (4-3--7 pts.) and Nikita Kucherov (1-6--7 pts.) lead all skaters in the Stanley Cup Final for scoring through five games... Brayden Point and Joe Pavelski each have four goals to pace all skaters for goals in the Stanley Cup Final...Nikita Kucherov leads all skaters for shots (21) in the Stanley Cup Final...Brayden Point paces the Stanley Cup Final for power-play goals (2), while Victor Hedman (1-3--4 pts.) and Nikita Kucherov (0-4--4 pts.) are the power-play scoring leaders in the Stanley Cup Final...Andrei Vasilevskiy has started all seven meetings against Dallas in 2019-20 and has allowed 21 goals on 190 shots...Tampa Bay is 6-for-16 (37.5%) on the power play in the Stanley Cup Final...The Lightning are 2-0 in 2020 SCF when leading after one period and 2-0 when up after two periods.

MONDAY'S STORYLINES
The Lightning are within one win of lifting the second Stanley Cup in franchise history (also: 2004)... Tampa Bay has never lost a playoff series when owning a 3-1 lead -- going 9-0 in such situations -- and have never gone beyond Game 6 when leading a series 3-1...The Lightning are 7-2 in overtime this postseason and are the fourth team in NHL history to earn seven or more overtime wins in a playoff year, joining 1993 Montreal (10), 2002 Carolina (7) and 2003 Anaheim (7)...The Bolts have played more overtime minutes this postseason (221:14) than any other NHL team in a single playoff year...The Bolts are 22-10 all-time in playoff overtime contests for the best OT win percentage in NHL history (.688)... Tampa Bay has yet to lose back-to back games this postseason and is 6-0 in games following a loss; the only other team in Lightning history not to lose back-to-back games in a playoff run was the 2004 Cup team that went 7-0 in games following a loss...The Bolts are 7-7 all-time in Game 6s, including a 1-0 record in the 2020 Playoffs, and 1-1 in Stanley Cup Final Game 6s.
PUTTING UP PALAT OF POINTS (AND GOALS)
Tampa Bay left wing Ondrej Palat scored his third goal of the Stanley Cup Final and 11th goal of the 2020 Playoffs Game 5 vs. DAL, giving him three goals over the last four games...Palat's 11 goals this postseason are tied for the fifth most in a single playoffs in Lightning history and just two goals shy of matching the record of 13 set by Tyler Johnson (2015) and Brayden Point (2020)...Palat registered his 32nd career playoff goal in Game 5 and can tie Martin St. Louis for second place among Tampa Bay's all-time playoff goal scorers with one more goal.
TBL ALL-TIME LEADING PLAYOFF GOAL SCORERS
1. Nikita Kucherov - 36 goals (89 GP)
2. Martin St. Louis - 33 goals (63 GP)
3. Ondrej Palat - 32 goals (91 GP)
4. Tyler Johnson - 28 goals (92 GP)
Palat registered his 60th career playoff point with his goal in Game 5 and became the fourth player in Lightning history to record 60 career playoff points, joining Nikita Kucherov (94 pts.), Victor Hedman (69 pts.) and Martin St. Louis (68 pts.)...Palat has posted points in four-consecutive games (3-2-5 pts.) and ranks tied for third for goals and tied for fourth for scoring among players from both teams in the Stanley Cup Final.
POINTING THE WAY
Lightning center Brayden Point tallied two assists Game 5 vs. DAL for his third-consecutive multi-point game and ninth multi-point game of the 2020 Playoffs...Point has tallied points in four-straight games (4-3--7 pts.) and 18 of 22 games this postseason...Point (4-3--7 pts.) is tied with teammate Nikita Kucherov (1-6--7 pts.) for the scoring lead in the Stanley Cup Final and is tied with Joe Pavelski for most goals in the Cup Final...Point's 13 goals are tied for the most in a playoff season in Lightning history.
TBL MOST GOALS IN A PLAYOFF SEASON
T-1. Brayden Point (2020) - 13 goals (22 GP)
T-1. Tyler Johnson (2015) - 13 goals (26 GP)
T-3. Ruslan Fedotenko (2004) - 12 goals (22 GP)
T-3. Brad Richards (2004) - 12 goals (23 GP)
The Lightning are 10-0 this postseason when Point scores a goal...Point has 32 points this postseason, second most in a playoff year in Lightning history and trailing only teammate Nikita Kucherov, who has 33 points this postseason...Point's 32 points are tied for the eighth most by a player younger than 25 years old in NHL history (most: Wayne Gretzky - 47 pts. in 1985).
IN THE NIK OF TIME
Bolts right wing Nikita Kucherov tallied an assist Game 5 vs. DAL for his fourth-consecutive game with a point (1-6--7 pts.)...Kucherov has 33 points this postseason -- a franchise record for a single playoff year -- for the highest single postseason total since Evgeni Malkin recorded 14-22--36 pts. in 24 games for Pittsburgh in 2009...Kucherov's 33 points are tied for the 17th most in a playoff year in NHL history (most: Wayne Gretzky - 47 pts. In 1985)...Kucherov's 26 assists this postseason are the most ever by a primary winger in NHL history and tied for the fifth most among all skaters all-time in the League... Kucherov is one of just three players all-time to record 26 or more assists in a single playoff year, joining Wayne Gretzky (4 times) and Mario Lemieux (1 time)...Kucherov tied Victor Hedman as Tampa Bay's franchise leader for Stanley Cup Final scoring with his assist in Game 5.
TBL ALL-TIME SCF SCORING LEADERS
T-1. Nikita Kucherov - 2-8--10 pts. (11 GP)
T-1. Victor Hedman - 1-9--10 pts. (11 GP)
3. Brad Richards - 4-5--9 pts. (7 GP)
HED OF THE CLASS
Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman saw his three-game point streak (1-5--6 pts.) come to an end in Game 5 vs. DAL...Hedman has scored 10 goals this postseason, most by a NHL defenseman in the 2020 Playoffs, most by a Lightning defenseman all-time in a single postseason and third most all-time by a NHL defenseman in a playoff season.
MOST GOALS BY A NHL D-MAN IN A PLAYOFF SEASON
1. Paul Coffey (EDM) - 12 goals in 18 GP (1985)
2. Brian Leetch (NYR) - 11 goals in 23 GP (1994)
3. Victor Hedman (TBL) - 10 goals in 24 GP (2020)
With three game-winning goals in the 2020 Playoffs, Hedman is one game-winning goal shy of the most by a NHL blueliner in a single playoff year (most: Slava Voynov - 4 in 2013 w/ LAK; Brian Leetch - 4 in 1994 w/ NYR; Al MacInnis - 4 in 1989 w/ CGY; and Paul Coffey - 4 in 1985 w/ EDM).
ANDREI THE GIANT
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30-of-33 shots in a loss Game 5 vs. DAL, his most saves and shots faced so far in the Stanley Cup Final...Vasilevskiy saw his three-game win streak come to an end...Vasilevskiy has 17 wins this postseason, the most ever in a playoff season by a NHL goalie... Vasilevskiy has made all 24 starts for Tampa Bay and has played every minute of every game in the 2020 Playoffs...Vasilevskiy has faced the most shots against (718) and made the most saves (664) in a single postseason in Lightning history this playoffs.
SERG-ING AHEAD
Bolts defenseman Mikhail Sergachev scored a goal Game 5 vs. DAL for his first-ever goal in a Stanley Cup Final and third goal of the 2020 Playoffs...Sergachev's three goals are the fourth most in a single postseason in Lightning history by a defenseman...Sergachev has posted the seventh instance of a defenseman notching 10 or more points in a single playoff season in Lightning history and is the fourth different defenseman to do so, joining Victor Hedman (4 times), Kevin Shattenkirk and Dan Boyle.
THE ROAD AHEAD
Game 7* - Wednesday, September 30 - 8 p.m.
\If necessary
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