Stanley Cup Final Game 3 Live Blog: Lightning vs. Stars

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars is in the books, and
the Lightning win 5-2 to take a 2-1 series lead
.
NHL.com
's Tim Campbell will be back in Rogers Place on Friday to provide all the sights, sounds and insight for Game 4.

RELATED: [Complete Stanley Cup Final coverage]

10:44 p.m. ET

A lot of finished checks over the final five minutes of the game, maybe a bit of message-sending each way, but all it serves to illustrate is that Game 4 on Friday will be an intense one.
Dallas, now trailing 2-1 in the series, will be trying to do everything in its power to not fall behind 3-1 in this Final. It will be a tall order. Tampa Bay clearly appears to have momentum.
During a minor skirmish with less than two minutes to play tonight, "Why Can't We Be Friends" blared over the Rogers Place sound system.
Not likely the rest of this series.
We'll be back here Friday for a compelling Game 4.

10:32 p.m. ET

Another Dallas power play goes by without much and it's beginning to look like Game 4 on Friday will be crunch time for the Stars.
The Lightning dominated much of this game and now appear to be in control of this series. We shall see if anything dramatic happens in the final five minutes of Game 3, but it would be a shocker based on the play of the first 55 minutes. I know, never count the Stars out, but other games in which they have come back, there have at least been signs.

10:25 p.m. ET

Not that there's anything to be happy about, but Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin has been sitting on the end of the bench with a major frown on his face for most of this third period.
Khudobin was replaced by Jake Oettinger to start the period after allowing five goals on 29 shots tonight.
Dallas's fourth power play of the game just finished with no real good scoring chances. It has drawn a blank tonight against the Lightning and this one was one they really needed if they were thinking about making this a game.

10:16 p.m. ET

That's a terrible trade-off for the Stars. Captain Jamie Benn gets tangled up with Lightning defenseman Jan Rutta, they won't let go of each other, and each is assessed a roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct. I'd guess some things were said in that confrontation because a mutual headlock usually doesn't rise to the misconduct level.
That 12-minute sentence is not going to help any potential Dallas comeback.
So that's each team's captain out of the game for now. Steven Stamkos continues to sit on the Lightning bench, having not played since the first period. And now Benn is out until the latter half of the period.

10:10 p.m. ET

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos was the first skater (behind goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy) out of the dressing room and onto the ice prior to the start of the third period.
But it wasn't to start the game action for the period. Stamkos skated over to engage referee Dan O'Rourke in a 20-second conversation, then skated back and took his place on the Tampa Bay bench, where he was for all of the second period, once he appeared from the dressing room about five minutes into the period.
You'd have to think it's unlikely Stamkos will play again in this game, likely having injured or re-injured something.

10:05 p.m. ET

Goaltender Jake Oettinger is in the Dallas net for the mop-up assignment. This will be his second Stanley Cup Playoff appearance and second appearance in the NHL.
Oetttinger, who is blogging for
NHL.com
on the off days during the Final, played in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, taking over for Anton Khudobin in the third period of that game.
I'm pretty sure coach Rick Bowness is going to say it was time to give Khudobin a rest tonight. I would not be pinning any blame on his goaltending if was looking for reasons the Stars trail 5-1 after two periods tonight.

9:51 p.m. ET

More movement from Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos. But it was only to jump up from his seat on the bench to celebrate the Lightning's' 5-1 goal by Ondrej Palat, then to give that line some glove bumps when they came past.
Otherwise, Stamkos didn't play at all in the second period, returning to the bench from the intermission about five minutes into the second period. He played 2:47 in the first period and scored in his first game of these Stanley Cup Playoffs, but appears to have some kind of injury or re-injury that is preventing him from continuing on the ice.
This was a strong Tampa Bay period, aggressive and closing down all the space the Stars tried to make when they had the puck. Shots are 29-20 for Tampa Bay, 21-4 in that period.

9:45 p.m. ET

We might call this the Stamkos Slide. Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has returned to the Tampa Bay bench from the first intermission, albeit about five minutes late, but he has not been on the ice and and has again slid all the way down the bench and has wound up sitting next to the defensemen.
During this last TV timeout, he didn't even jump on the ice to test out his skates or whatever is bothering him, so you'd have to think he has decided to be on the bench for moral support only for the rest of the game.
I've tried to keep an eye on him on the bench during this period and apart from taking a twirl on the ice during the second TV timeout, he just sits there, watching the game, and only jumped up to stand once with his teammates, when the Lightning had a potential scoring chance.

9:35 p.m. ET

A Dallas turnover at the Tampa Bay blueline, coinciding with a poor decision by Stars forwards to change at that very moment, saw the puck turn quickly the other way, and now the Lightning are ahead 4-1.
Brayden Point finished off a 3-on-1 rush with a quick one-timer. We haven't seen many 3-on-1's in this series, but that one was deadly. Another Dallas mistake tonight has proven costly.
Now the Stars have a chance to make up some ground with a power play, and they need something desperately.
Steven Stamkos is still on the bench, but has yet to play this period.

9:33 p.m. ET

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos returned to the bench a few minutes into the second period but made no move to get back on the ice during play. During the play and the changes on the fly, he merely slid down the bench, ending up beside the defensemen by the time the next timeout came.
Then during this latest TV timeout, he hopped gingerly over the boards and skated around the ice. It seemed that he was testing his edges and maybe his legs in some manner, making slow, sharp turns. But he returned to the bench when the timeout was over and sits there again.

9:25 p.m. ET

Steven Stamkos is back on the bench. He missed the first seven minutes of this period, after not playing the final 6:18 of the first period.
It has to be a big boost for the Lightning, who lead 3-1.

9:15 p.m. ET

We start the second period and Steven Stamkos is not on the Tampa Bay bench.
Though he scored in the first period, he played only 2:47 of the first period and did not play the final 6:18.
Though it's not good news for Tampa Bay, they get out of the gate in the second with a goal by Victor Hedman just 54 seconds into the period. They now lead 3-1.

8:55 p.m. ET

What a first period. We hear so often about how intensity ramps up during a series, and that's certainly the case tonight. The Lightning are clearly jacked up, particularly about having their captain Steven Stamkos back in the lineup . Stamkos scored the 2-0 goal, putting Tampa Bay ahead, eliciting a loud roar from the bench.
But the Dallas bench was also alive in this first period and Jason Dickinson's shorthanded goal that cut the lead to 2-1 brought some major noise from the "home" team.
The period ended with the shots 16-8 and but for a rebound that jumped the stick of Dallas's Tyler Seguin at the very last second, with an open side staring at him, this game could well be tied.
The Lightning, though, will begin the second period with 1:38 of power play time with Dallas's Alexander Radulov in the box for hooking.

8:38 p.m. ET

Well, how about if you can roar, we can roar, too?
The Dallas bench explodes when Jason Dickinson wires a shot short side past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to cut Tampa Bay's lead to 2-1. Roope Hintz sent Dickinson the pass and now Dallas looks more engaged in the game.
It's been a wild start here in Edmonton.

8:31 p.m. ET

Now it's 2-0 and Steve Stamkos has announced his arrival to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Tampa Bay captain took a pass on the right wing and eluded a body check from Dallas's Esa Lindell, cruised in from the right wing and fired it top corner past goalie Anton Khudobin for the two-goal lead.
Stamkos jumped in the air to celebrate and the Lightning bench let out a roar that I 'm quite sure was heard back in Florida.

8:27 p.m. ET

We have our first goal of the game.
Nikita Kucherov has an in-alone chance for the Lightning, he scores stick side on Stars goalie Anton Khudobin to make it 1-0. Kucherov took advantage of a giveaway by Miro Heiskanen, who was falling down when he tried to pass the puck into the middle.
Just earlier, Denis Gurianov of the Stars looked like he had an in-alone chance but was checked from behind at the last second by Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman. The Dallas bench erupted loudly, looking for a penalty call. It was coach Rick Bowness who was then waving his arms, trying to get his players to calm down and lower the noise.
Also keeping an eye on the Tampa Bay bench early and it looks to me like coach Jon Cooper is coaching on his toes tonight. He's been leaning over and forward, trying very intensely to get a look at the action.

8:10 p.m. ET

The song list for Game 3 has been posted, and one of them is The Distance by Cake.
Well, we are not reluctantly crouched at the starting line, we are ready to go.
The Stars are the home team for Game 3, so they'll be in their predominantly green home jerseys and coach Rick Bowness will have the last change. The changes, the music and the jersey colors are about the only things different aesthetically. The Stars and Lightning are using the same benches at Rogers Place that they did in Games 1 and 2, and presumably the same dressing rooms.
Stars forward Nick Caamano will make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut tonight, replacing an injured Blake Comeau. The 22-year-old has played in 12 regular season NHL games. Not a bad way to make your playoff debut - Game 3 of the Cup Final.

8:00 p.m. ET

Tampa Bay's playing roster on
NHL.com
for Game 3 has been trimmed to 20 players and it includes Steven Stamkos.
This will be his first appearance of the postseason
. He has not played since Feb. 25 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a game in which he extended a point streak to 15 games (12 goals, 10 assists).
And for those keeping score at home, Tampa Bay's Mikhail Sergachev again conceded the last-man-off distinction to Dallas's Tyler Seguin ahead of Game 3. After some Game 1 antics that saw Seguin fake his departure then come back quickly to the ice to be the last man off, Sergachev didn't delay and left the ice quickly again tonight at the end of warmups.

7:40 p.m. ET

Steven Stamkos is on the ice. He came out for warmups, second behind Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. If he plays, it has to be a big boost for Tampa Bay, which has gotten this far without their captain playing a game this postseason.
There is no sign of Blake Comeau for the Stars, but Nick Caamano is on the ice.
Stay tuned.

7 p.m. ET

Warmups for Game 3 are a few minutes away and once again eyes will be on the Lightning to see if captain Steven Stamkos
will be in the lineup tonight
.
Stamkos has not yet played in the postseason but has been skating with his teammates. Coach Jon Cooper said again this morning that Stamkos is "inching closer" to the lineup.
For the Dallas Stars, coach Rick Bowness said this morning that forward Blake Comeau will be a game-time decision. Comeau did not participate in the morning skate at Rogers Place today. It appeared from the morning skate that forward Nick Caamano, who played 12 games for the Stars in the regular season, could be the choice from the scratches to come into the lineup if Comeau can't play.