Third-period comeback boosts Stars to 'great point' against Tampa Bay

DALLAS --There are "good points" and "bad points" in an NHL season.
Too often this year, the Stars have been stuck with "bad points," when they either squander a lead or don't take a solid performance across the finish line for a full two points in a game.
On Tuesday, they got a "good point."

WATCH: [All highlights from Stars' shootout loss to Lightning]
Down 3-1 to Tampa Bay with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Dallas was able to get goals from Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov to tie things up and force overtime. While the Lightning won the game in the shootout, 4-3, the Stars were happy with both the comeback effort and the fact they took a point against one of the best teams in the NHL.
"Great point," said Stars coach Rick Bowness. "We needed it."
Dallas has been meandering a bit this year and sits at 9-9-7 in the standings. That's a points percentage of .500. They are chasing Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Central Division, and the Blackhawks are 14-11-5 or .550. Because the Stars have played five fewer games, the potential to make up ground is real. But they have to find a way to get points, and they now have collected four standings points in their past three games.

"Any points you can get when you are chasing a playoff position is important, especially when you are down 3-1 with three minutes to go, and especially after that first period we had, which was probably our worst first period of the year," Bowness said. "So, it was a great point because we battled back. We responded in the second and we didn't quit. There is a lot of fight in this hockey club, so it's a great point."
The Lightning are soaring, along with the top three teams in the Central. Tampa Bay is now 20-6-2 (42 points), Florida is 19-5-4 (42 points) and Carolina is 20-7-1 (41 points) -- and they are putting a good deal of separation between themselves and the rest of the division. However, there is one more playoff spot available, and Dallas has to focus on catching Chicago.
Tuesday's game could play a role in that chase.

"Well, we will always take a point if we can," said rookie forward Jason Robertson, who had two assists and scored again in the shootout. "It's another game where we came back in the third period and tied it up. A lot of resiliency shown by this team. Like Bones said, we will always take a point, especially in these games where we kind of put ourselves in a hole."
The Stars played one of their worst periods of the season to open the game. Tampa Bay had an 18-6 advantage in shots on goal, a 25-10 advantage in shot attempts and an 11-6 edge in faceoffs. The Lightning were only up 1-0 because of the strong play of Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, and that would later keep the door open for the comeback.
"Unreal, he's a stud," Benn said of Oettinger's 33 saves. "We don't even get to where we got to without him. He played a great game. We are asking a lot of him and he is definitely stepping up. You just can't say enough good things about him."

Oettinger, 22, was starting his third consecutive game for the first time in his career. He was solid against the top scoring team in the NHL and even held it together after Steven Stamkos scored on a power play to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead with 8:11 remaining in the third period.
That allowed Dallas to load up and get two goals in a span of 41 seconds with Oettinger on the bench. The first came on a pretty pass from Miro Heiskanen to Benn in the slot at the 17:54 mark. Benn broke a nine-game goal drought when he scored his fifth goal of the season.
Then, Dallas went best-on-best once again on the next shift and Benn was the one who fed a puck out to the front of the net, where Radulov knocked it in.

It was the kind of comeback the team experienced in the playoffs, and it sparked a few feelings of resiliency that were just waiting to come out.
"I think it is just belief in that locker room," Benn said. "We are never out of the game and it's a group of guys that don't quit. I think it kind of started last year and it builds confidence. You can come back in games. Obviously, we don't want to be coming back too much here coming down the stretch, but it's nice to see that we still have some fight."
Fight that's going to be needed in the final 31 games.

Dallas, ironically, could have won this game in overtime. The Stars got the better chances and missed a few open nets in the five-minute stretch of 3-on-3 play. The hope is they continue to learn from the good lessons as well as the bad.
"You can't ask for better chances than we had in overtime," Bowness said. "I mean, we were walking right downtown, right down the slot, and we were all alone in front of their net. There's been four or five of these shootout games that we clearly could've won in overtime with the chances that we are creating, and we just can't put the puck in the net at that particular point. But we battled back and, again, you get a point and you take the point."
Because, on this night it was a very good point.

Up next

at Red Wings; Thursday 6:30 p.m. CT
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
TV: FOX Sports Southwest
Radio:The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM
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.