Vasilevskiy makes 35 saves, Lightning shut out Stars

DALLAS -- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-0 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

Ondrej Palat and Mikhail Sergachev scored for the Lightning (36-9-2), who avoided losing consecutive games for the second time this season. They are 19-2-1 in their past 22 games.
It was the third shutout this season for Vasilevskiy, who allowed four goals Sunday in a 5-1 loss at the New York Islanders, and his second in his past five games.
WATCH: [All Lightning vs. Stars highlights]
"You know he's going to bounce back after an effort that isn't acceptable, up to his standards and his mind," Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said of Vasilevskiy. "He always bounces back and finds a way. He was First Star (of the game) for a reason."
Anton Khudobin made 19 saves for the Stars (23-20-4), who have lost three straight games and have scored one goal or fewer in four of their past five.
"We played a good brand of hockey," said Dallas coach Jim Montgomery, who after a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues at home on Saturday said that the organization suffers from a culture of mediocrity. "We're just struggling to score goals right now. We've got to keep with it. And if we keep playing like that, the way we're skating and creating really good looks, we're going to end up on top of a lot of games."
Palat scored with a one-timer from the right face-off circle off a backhand pass on the rush from Stamkos to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 7:55 of the first period. Stamkos skated down the left side, drawing attention from the three Stars who were in the zone.

The 1-0 lead entering the second period was a welcome change for Tampa Bay after it was outscored 5-1 in the first in its previous two games.
"You get out of the period without a goal (against), so that was big for us," coach Jon Cooper said.

The Lightning went 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, three each in the second and third periods.
"It's exhausting for those PK guys to keep going over the boards, especially for our goalie as well," Stamkos said. "Just wasn't a good recipe in terms of taking so many penalties."
Defensemen Anton Stralman and Ryan McDonagh were tied for the Tampa Bay lead with 7:08 of ice time on the penalty kill.
"It's hard minutes to play," Stralman said. "It wears you down quite a bit. It's tough. Especially when you have that much time on the penalty kill. And then when you finally get 5-on-5, you're catching your breath a little bit still."
The Lightning had to kill four consecutive minutes beginning at 9:48 of the second period after defenseman Victor Hedman was called for holding Valeri Nichushkin and received an additional two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Dallas was about to go on a 5-on-3 when Tampa Bay's Anthony Cirelli was called for tripping on a delayed penalty with Hedman still in the box. But before play was stopped, Stars forward Jamie Benn was called for goalie interference at 12:38 after he flipped over Vasilevskiy into the net.
"Just backed up into the goalie," Benn said. "Probably a bad penalty to take when you're going on a 5-on-3."
Sergachev made it 2-0 at 9:15 of the third period with his second goal of the season, a wrist shot from the left point following a face-off win by Cirelli at 4-on-4.

A tripping penalty against Benn at 8:24 of the third period reduced the fifth Dallas power play to 13 seconds, and Sergachev scored 51 seconds later.
The Lightning went on their first power play at 17:59 of the third period when the Stars were penalized for too many men on the ice. It became a 5-on-3 when Radek Faksa was called for boarding Hedman at 18:44.

They said it

"I'll try to work on my skating before next game." -- Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, who fell after leaving the penalty box on what could have been a breakaway early in the third period and again on a 5-on-3 power play later in the period
"I made a couple good saves. Unfortunately, two of them went by me. But, luckily, it's not three, right?" -- Stars goalie Anton Khudobin

Need to know

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who leads the NHL with 75 points and 53 assists, was held without a point for the second straight game. It is the third time this season he's gone two games in a row without a point. … Palat has three goals and an assist in a four-game point streak. … Stamkos, also on a four-game point streak (one goal, five assists), has 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in his past 17 games. … Forward Andrew Cogliano made his Stars debut after being acquired in a trade from the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. He was minus-1 with no shots on goal in 12:11 playing on the second line.

What's next

Lightning: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, SUN, SNO, NHL.TV)
Stars: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, FS-W, NHL.TV)