Stamkos, Hedman among top performers for Lightning in Game 3 of Cup Final

Who played well in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final? Sometimes it's easy to tell, sometimes it isn't. NHL.com graded the players in the 5-2 win by the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday. The Lightning lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Here are the players and trends that stood out the most:

Honor roll

Steven Stamkos (Lightning) -- Stamkos didn't play much in Game 3 (2:47 on five shifts, all in the first period), but the Lightning forward made a big impact in his postseason debut. On his third shift of the game, Stamkos skated past Stars defenseman Esa Lindell near the blue line and scored far side past the blocker of Anton Khudobin to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead at 6:58. Although Stamkos wasn't on the bench when the second began, the Tampa Bay captain came back midway through the period and was with his teammates for the entirety of the third.
Brayden Point (Lightning) -- Point scored his NHL-leading 11th goal of the postseason to give the Lightning a 4-1 lead at 12:02 of the second period. Point, who also had the primary assist on Ondrej Palat's goal with 1:05 remaining in the second, has 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 20 postseason games.

Nikita Kucherov (Lightning) -- His outstanding postseason continued. Kucherov scored on a breakaway to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 5:33 of the first after Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen turned over the puck at his blue line. Kucherov, who also had the primary assist on Point's goal, leads the NHL with 30 points (seven goals, 23 assists) in 22 games, a Lightning record for a single postseason.
Victor Hedman (Lightning) --The defenseman stopped Stars forward Denis Gurianov from a potential scoring chance in the first period, then had a goal and two assists. Hedman's power-play goal early in the second period that gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead was his 10th goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, third among defensemen in NHL history behind Brian Leetch (11 in 1993-94 for the New York Rangers) and Paul Coffey (12 in 1984-85 for the Edmonton Oilers).
Jason Dickinson (Stars) -- The forward scored a shorthanded goal at 11:19 of the first period to get Dallas within 2-1. Dickinson didn't have a postseason goal entering the Stanley Cup Final but now has two in the three games.

Stock watch

Tampa Bay's overall game (up) -- Seriously, find a weakness right now with the Lightning. Their power play is clicking again (3-for-8 in the past two games), as is their penalty kill (10-for-11 in the series), and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed two goals or fewer for the 10th time in his past 12 games. It's all working pretty well.
Anton Khudobin (down) --Dallas' loss in Game 3 wasn't all on him, but Khudobin definitely hasn't been the same goalie who saved 35 of 36 shots in a 4-1 win in Game 1. Khudobin allowed five goals on 29 shots in Game 3 before being replaced at the start of the third period by Jake Oettinger, who made three saves.
Ondrej Palat (up) --The Lightning forward scored his second goal in as many games, had an assist, and has 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 22 postseason games.

Miro Heiskanen (down) --He's been outstanding throughout the postseason, but his turnover near the blue line early in Game 3 was costly. The defenseman's errant pass while falling down went right to Kucherov, who made him pay on the breakaway to give Tampa Bay the early lead.
Alexander Radulov (down) --The Stars forward took two hooking penalties less than five minutes apart -- the Lightning scored on the first power play -- and generated one shot on goal. Radulov left the game after going shoulder-first into the end boards following a failed check on Lightning forward Blake Coleman with 9:55 remaining in the third period.

What we learned

Lightning's top players showing up
There's a reason Kucherov, Point and Hedman have been consistent names in the Honor Roll in this series. They have been Tampa Bay's best players all season and are proving why in the Cup Final.
Big lull hurts Stars
Dallas played a good first period despite trailing 2-1 when it ended (outshot Tampa Bay 16-8). However, the Stars came out flat in the second, ruining any momentum they may have gained late in the first. Tampa Bay had the first 11 shots of the second, including Hedman's power-play goal at 54 seconds, before Gurianov put one on Vasilevskiy 10:01 into the period. Dallas was outshot 21-4 and outscored 3-0 in the second.