NHL Match Report: Dallas Stars 5 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2

NHL Match Report: Dallas Stars 5 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2

Dallas Stars maintained their playoff hopes alive as they skated away with a 5-2 win against Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL Central Division.

Stars’ Jamie Oleksiak collected his own rebound in the sixth minute of the first period to slot home the first goal of the game.

Joe Pavelski, Dallas, brought the scoreline up to two after he slotted the ball into the net in the second period.

Blake Coleman broke the scoreline for Tampa as the Texan managed to slip the puck past Stars’ goalie, Anton Khudobin, on the fast break on the 13th minute, in the second period.

Dallas were desperate to secure the win against Tampa as a place within the 2021 NHL playoffs was still a viable possibility.

First Period

Dallas won the face off as the puck was dropped onto the ice and looked to push into Lightning’s third immediately, by the end of the first minute and a half, Dallas left-side defenceman, Esa Lindell crossed Tampa’s blue line and was called offside.

Tampa, Ross Colton, snuck around the back of Dallas’ net and attempted to peek a shot between Khudobin and the net. However, it was held successfully by the Stars goalie.

Stars opened the scoreline six minutes into the first period as Dallas center forward, Tanner Kero, found a pass through the Lightning’s defence to Stars’, left defenseman, Jamie Oleksiak who regained the puck as it rebounded into his path and easily slotted it home to give the Stars the lead.

Coleman was given a two minute penalty for ‘high sticking,’ half way through the first period, on Dallas Jason Robertson as the Tampa Texan caught the Dallas left winger underneath the chin and provided a two-minute power play for Dallas.

Dallas looked to be the stronger team in the first period. By the end of the first 10 minutes, Dallas were knocking on the door for their second goal to take a step closer in their attempt to secure a playoff position with eight shots over Tampa’s three.

Stars got their first, two-minute, penalty with Jason Dickinson after he tripped Tampa’s Brayden Point as the first period drew closer to its conclusion.

"From the penalty box, to the score sheet!"@7eleven | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/Alj8ly6RAJ

— Dallas Stars (#1 Canes Stans) (@DallasStars) May 8, 2021

Second Period

Tampa’s attitude clearly changed in the start of the second period as they went on the offensive immediately and started to rack up attempts on goal.

Point made a solo-run around the edge of Dallas’ final third but was tripped by Pavelski on his charge towards the Stars’ net and this provided the Bay with a delayed penalty against the Texas-based team. Which resulted, in the end, with Pavelski sat in the penalty box.

Pavelski collected the puck from after he left the sin bin as the Stars returned to full strength and put Tampa’s netminder, Curtis McElhinney, into a difficult one-on-one position. With ease, Pavelski was able to slip the puck past Lightning’s goalie to give Dallas a two-goal lead in the sixth minute of the second period.

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Coleman brought Tampa down to a single goal deficit as he charged towards the Stars goalie, on a fast break, as two Dallas defence-men charged in behind. But, it was too late as the Bay center forward slotted it past the Kazakhstan goalie on the 13th minute.

However, it wasn’t long before Dallas retaliated as Roope Hintz was able to maintain puck possession after being hounded by Tampa players. The Finnish left winger was able to find Pavelski, unmarked ahead of McElhinney, which provided a simple tap-in for the Dallas center forward on the 14th minute.

In the final minute of the second period, Hintz put the Stars goal-advantage up to three after the Finnish forward broke free in the center of the offensive end to smash it past McElhinney.

“Sooo you’re telling me there’s a chance” ?@trulyseltzer | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/PajtSiV6r4

— Dallas Stars (#1 Canes Stans) (@DallasStars) May 8, 2021

Third Period

It only took four minutes before the scoreline changed once again, in favour toward Dallas as the puck was delivered into the goalie area. But confusion commenced between Pavelski and Tampa’s defence until Stars’ Joel Kiviranta came in to tap the puck into the net. 5-1 to Dallas.

Bay’s Ondrej Palat was bodychecked into the boards by Lindell and the Finnish Dallas player was given a two-minute penalty for the infringement to give Tampa a five-on-four power play.

Tampa brought the score line back down to three as Alex Barre-Bouret scored a power play goal in the eighth minute. The Bay were successful in puck possession, after they fought for it in the Dallas third, and a switch of play was made towards Barre-Boulet, who slotted the puck into Khudobin’s exposed side. 5-2 to Dallas.

Temperatures started to rise as altercations began against Jamie Benn, Dallas, and Erik Cernak as the period reached its halfway point. The duo started to scuffle until a brave official slipped in between the two opposing players before the gloves were thrown off.

We hope you enjoyed the article: ‘NHL Matchalla Report: Dallas Stars 5 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2.’ What did you think of the game? Let us know in the comments!

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