'Redemption' game? Stars meet Lightning for first time since Cup defeat

Stars (6-5-4, 16 points) at Lightning (13-4-1, 27 points)

The Tampa Bay Lightning do present an intriguing opponent for the Stars.
Dallas lost to this team in six games in the Stanley Cup Final last season and now has been placed in a division in which it will meet the Lightning eight times this year. There have been a couple of postponements and delays in meeting up against Tampa Bay, but that ends tonight when the Stars go to Amalie Arena for their first rematch.
That should stoke some memories.
"It's hard not to when you see that banner up there," Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said after morning skate Saturday. "Obviously, whenever you see those guys, it brings back memories. ... I think it's a chance for us to prove that what we did last year isn't a fluke."
Dallas went to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2000 and strung together a ton of good games in the process. While they have said they want to build on that this season, they are off to a 6-5-4 start and have one win in their past eight games.

"We lost the Stanley Cup Final to them, but you know what's more important right now? That we win a game and get the road record better and climb back into the playoff race," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "It's the Lightning, and yeah there's some animosity there, but not to the point where it's a distraction."
Winger Blake Comeau said he believes now is a good time to face Tampa Bay. The Stars are coming off a 3-2 loss in Florida Thursday where they blew a 2-0 lead late in the game, so intensity should not be a concern tonight.
"I think we had a hard-fought battle with them in the Finals and, obviously, there's a rivalry there," Comeau said. "They have something that we ultimately wanted. This is our chance to play against a team that we can try to get some redemption on."
The Lightning are 13-4-1, including 8-1-0 at home. They rank second in goals per game at 3.56, second in goals against at 2.17, fifth in penalty kill success and sixth in fewest shots on goal against.
"They're the Stanley Cup champions for a reason," Bowness said. "They're a great team over there -- lots of skill, lots of speed, they defend well, it's an experienced hockey club. They know how to win, so it's a good test for us."

Bowness: Stars need veterans to 'step up'

The Stars blew a 2-0 lead in the final seven minutes Thursday and lost to Florida 3-2. It was the second game in the past three where Bowness called out the veterans in his postgame Zoom press conference. The Stars head coach said he needs more from his leadership group.
"When you can sense the tide turning a little bit, you need your veterans to go on the ice and settle things down, and not be on the ice for those goals," Bowness said. "It was the veterans on the ice in those situations and we need them to step up there, just to calm things down. You're playing an excellent hockey club and you're not going to dominate them for 60 minutes. Near the end of the game, the intensity picks up and you need your veterans to step up and bend don't break. It's leadership on the ice there."
Comeau said the leadership group and the coaching staff have talked about the problems.

"We've addressed it as a team. We've looked over video and we've had some meetings," Comeau said. "That's part of the responsibility of being on the ice late in the game when you have the lead. You have to find ways to keep the puck out of the net and lock everything down. It was disappointing we didn't do that last game, but today is a new game."
Comeau said the team has to be able to handle the pressure of the strange season. Dallas has had eight games postponed because of winter weather and the COVID pandemic, so now they have to make those games up in a condensed schedule. He said they will deal with both physical and mental challenges.
"You have no choice," he said. "If you look at our schedule and how condensed it is, if you let things like that affect you, then things can snowball out of control pretty quickly. It's been a bit of weird season, but there's no excuses in our locker room."

Hintz a game-time decision

Anton Khudobin goes back in net. He is 3-3-0 in his career against the Lightning with a 3.02 GAA and .899 save percentage.
Roope Hintz, who has missed the past two games with a lower body injury, is a game-time decision.

By the numbers

30.9

The Stars rank fifth in the NHL in power-play success at 30.9 percent and went 1-for-2 on Thursday. Joe Pavelski leads the NHL with eight power-play goals.

58.3

Radek Faksa now leads the Stars in faceoff winning percentage at 58.3 percent. Among NHL players who have taken more than 150 faceoffs, he ranks sixth.

24

In 15 career games against the Stars, Steven Stamkos has 24 points (16 goals, 8 assists). Stamkos leads the Lightning with nine goals this season among 17 points in 16 games.

He said it

"It is kind of weird that this is game one of our series. We've got to play them eight times, and now it's all condensed. Feels like we only have a little more than half our season left, and it's going to be a lot against this team. It's just a team you have to beat if you want to be playing deep into the season. One thing about Dallas, they're just hanging around. I think they're probably playing a little bit better than some of the results they've been getting. We've just got to make sure we're on top of things tonight." -- Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper on meeting the Stars for the first time this year
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.