Ross Colton scored the tiebreaking goal on a breakaway in the third period as the host Tampa Bay Lightning topped the short-handed Dallas Stars 3-1 on Saturday night.
Just after the Stars’ first power play ended in the third period, Nikita Kucherov threaded the needle on a perfect stretch pass, springing Colton on a breakaway. Colton used a forehander for the game-winner — his fifth goal — to put the Lightning ahead 2-1 at 10:37.
Alex Killorn notched his 12th tally, an empty-netter, with 41 seconds left for the final margin with Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin on the bench for an extra skater.
Brayden Point tallied on the power play, and Kucherov produced two assists for Tampa Bay, which won its third straight overall and for the 10th time in its past 12 home games (10-1-1).
Andrei Vasilevskiy denied 19 of 20 shots to record his NHL-leading 22nd victory, and Mathieu Joseph skated in his 200th NHL game.
After missing three games, defenseman Ryan McDonagh returned to the lineup, but fellow blueliner Erik Cernak and left wing Ondrej Palat were scratched.
Esa Lindell found the net for the Stars, who lost their seventh straight road game and fell to 4-12-1 away from Dallas. Khudobin allowed two goals on 28 shots.
Dallas played without 32-point producer Jason Robertson, who was listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Andrej Sekera (COVID protocol) missed his second game.
Playing on the second night of back-to-back contests, the Stars put forth an impressive first 20 minutes of play after a rough Friday night, a 7-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
One game shy of playing in 400 career games, Lindell wristed a shot from deep on the left side that flew by a Roope Hintz screen and beat Vasilevskiy at 13:48 for his second goal. Joe Pavelski drew the only assist.
But Point answered on the Lightning’s second power play with a short one-timer for his 15th goal — third on the man advantage — with 13 seconds remaining.
In the second period, the Lightning’s defense and perhaps playing for the third time in four nights seemed to wear on Dallas.
While the Stars were able to keep the game tied at 1, they only generated two shots on goal and presented very little offense to challenge Vasilevskiy in the frame.
–Field Level Media