The Tampa Bay Lightning weren’t particularly good on Thursday night in Dallas, but they still managed to squeak by the Stars and secure a 5-3 victory. Led by a strong third period performance from the ‘Triplets’, the Bolts battled and were able to maintain their grasp on the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Despite the fact that they didn’t play overly well, the Lightning were able to get past the Stars thanks in large part to a quick start.
Steven Stamkos scored his 28th goal of the season just 3:11 into the contest after a great stint on the forecheck by him and his linemates. That sustained pressure created the opportunity for Stamkos, who was able to bang the puck past Kari Lehtonen for the score. Stamkos’s shot was the team’s first of the hockey game.
As if allowing a goal on the first shot against wasn’t bad enough for the Stars, Victor Hedman scored his sixth of the season only minutes later on the Lightning’s second shot of the evening. Assisted by Stamkos, Hedman simply fired a bomb from the point that eluded Lehtonen.
Just like that the Stars found themselves in a 2-0 hole against one of the better teams in hockey. The challenge in front of them was a daunting one. But they didn’t give up.
Instead of rolling over, the Stars fought back in the second period. Adding to the 11 shots they fired on net in the first period, Dallas peppered rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy with another 17 (!) in the second. John Klingberg and Alex Goligoski were able to beat the Lightning’s backup goaltender late in the second to tie things up at two, but it could have been a lot worse had it not been for Vasilevskiy. He was incredibly steady in his return to NHL action.
The Lightning broke the tie 12:27 into the third period when Tyler Johnson scored a power play goal, his 18th marker of the season, off a great feed from Nikita Kucherov. The lead was short-lived, however, as Trevor Daley scored just over a minute later for Dallas to tie things up again.
Johnson put an end to the back and forth with his second of the night and 19th of the season at 16:23 of the third. He tipped home a Brian Boyle shot for the score, which turned out to be the game winner. Nikita Kucherov capped off the third with an empty netter to seal the deal on a six point third period for the ‘Triplets’ and a 5-3 victory for the Lightning.
Also of note is the fact that Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison left the game with an injury and did not return. If he misses time, the Bolts will be without three of their top six defenders. That situation could force Steve Yzerman’s hand as the trade deadline approaches, seeing as the team was likely going to need defensive help even with a healthy roster. As funny as it was to see Brian Boyle take some surprisingly effective shifts on defense in Garrison’s absence, that probably isn’t a long-term solution.
In closing, and overall, Tampa head coach Jon Cooper likely won’t be too happy with his team’s performance against the Stars. His Bolts were outplayed and out-chanced, and seemed to lack the mojo they had in the overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues earlier in the week. The key for Cooper & Co. will be to recapture that magic before the team takes to the ice at Amalie Arena for a back-to-back set with the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks this weekend.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.