Controversial penalty leads to heartbreaking OT loss for Stars in Game 4

It was the most painful way to lose a Stanley Cup Final game, and yet it fell in line with so much of what has transpired in this series.

Kevin Shattenkirk scored at 6:34 of overtime on a power play Friday to give Tampa Bay a 5-4 win in Game 4. Sitting in the box was a furious Jamie Benn, who didn't think he should have been called for tripping in overtime. On the bench, Tyler Seguin was breaking his stick, frustrated either by the penalty call of the fact Dallas didn't score on a 4-on-3 power play earlier in overtime.
This has been a special teams series, and the Lightning are winning hands down.
Dallas is 1-for-14 on the power play so far. Tampa Bay is 6-for-15. The Lightning scored three times with the man advantage on Friday, the Stars went 0-for-3. That's a big reason why the Lightning took a huge 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"Our power play had a chance to end the game and they didn't get it done, simple as that," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said of a 4-on-3 power play in overtime for Dallas.

Of course, the timing of the penalty on Benn is significant because of how it changed the series. Benn appears to never touch the skates of Tyler Johnson and just wrestled him to the ground, which would mean there was no tripping.
"I saw two guys going for a loose puck, their guy hooking our guy and our guy trying to fight through the hook," Bowness said. "There were two guys going for a loose puck. That's a hockey play. That's what I saw."
Joe Pavelski, who scored two goals in the game, said the penalty came at a frustrating time.
"Jamie breathes on him and the guy falls over," Pavelski said. "Whether that's the case or not, there's a little battle going on there. Playoffs, it's overtime, we expect 5 on 5. We expect to battle it out."
And yet, that's not how the series has gone.

Corey Perry was called for tripping with 31 seconds remaining in regulation, and Lightning forward Brayden Point was given an "embellishment" call that Tampa Bay didn't like. That meant overtime started 4-on-4. Dallas quickly earned a trip from Mikhail Sergachev and had a 4-on-3 power play. They didn't cash in, and that opened the door for the call on Benn.
The call was made by the trailing referee, Francis Charron, so that was a surprise. It also went against the history of the NHL, which is to call few penalties and "let the players decide that game."
"The players want to dictate the end of the game, and they're right," Bowness said. "They want to play 5-on-5, and let's see what happens. The players are right, let the players decide the game."
Part of the problem with the increased calls in the playoffs is that they make missed calls seem more important. Roope Hintz was tripped and run into the boards in the second period. He didn't return. There was no penalty called. Players have been blatantly high-sticked with no calls. Players have been tripped with no call.
Referees are going to miss things, but when calls are made on other penalties that might not be as egregious, then both fans and players get frustrated.

"The refs are trying, we're trying, the other team's trying," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "It's not a perfect science. When the stakes are so high and the emotions are so high, something you think doesn't go your way, you tend to get a little riled up."
Dallas continues to battle on the penalty kill. The Stars are missing two of their best defensive forwards with injuries to Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau, and that makes it harder to stop the talented Lightning. That said, one power play goal was knocked out of the air on a fluky play and the other was deflected right to an open Lightning player off the skate of Stars defenseman Esa Lindell.
They were truly bad bounces, the kind the Stars took advantage of in earlier series against Calgary, Colorado and Vegas. At the time, it was easy to say the Stars were earning those bounces.
Dallas definitely earned its goals on Friday. John Klingberg opened the scoring at 7:17 of the first period when he followed his own shot, which deflected back to him off a Tampa Bay defender, and potted his fourth goal of the playoffs. Pavelski then added to that at the 18:28 mark when he cashed in on a perfect passing play from Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov for a 2-0 lead.
However, Jason Dickinson got caught in a breakdown, and Brayden Point was able to get behind him to score at the 19:27 mark of the first period to take the Stars' momentum and cut the Lightning deficit to 2-1. Point then scored on the power play 2:08 into the second period and the game was tied 2-2.

Dallas could have taken control of the game with a 2-0 lead, but Tampa Bay forced mistakes. Both teams then exchanged goals and regulation ended at 4-4. The Stars juggled their lines and received great results. The Lightning bounced back from captain Steven Stamkos not being able to play after an emotional return in Game 3.
It was an entertaining and fierce game that included eight goals and 106 hits. Maybe that's why many didn't want to see it decided on a controversial penalty call.
That said, the Stars have to put the game in the past and concentrate on Game 5. Only one team has ever bounced back from a 3-1 deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals -- the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 -- so this is going to be difficult. But the quest starts Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back.
"There's another game tomorrow," defenseman John Klingberg said. "What happened today is history right now. The only thing we can focus on is tomorrow."
While Seguin said they have to embrace the moment.
"Move on from this pretty quickly," he said. "Get ready to play a game with our season on the line. It's going to be exciting."

Game 5: Stars vs. Lightning (Tampa Bay leads 3-1)

Saturday, 7 p.m. CT
Where:Rogers Place, Edmonton
TV:NBC, Ch. 5
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.