Behind Their Power Play, Lightning Even the Series

“Everybody’s going to look at the wonderful skill plays he makes, but you look at his battle level,” Cooper said about Kucherov. “You look at when he goes in for 50-50, or 40-60, and he still comes out with the puck. It’s impressive.”

Less than a minute after Palat’s goal, Tampa Bay extended its lead to 3-0 when Shattenkirk connected for his second goal of the playoffs with a blast from the right point.

The three tallies came within a span of less than four minutes, and during a stretch of 14 minutes and 35 seconds when the Stars failed to record a shot on goal.

In the second period, it was the Lightning’s turn to start taking penalties. On the fourth power-play opportunity of the night for Dallas, while Palat was serving a slashing minor in the second period, the Stars took just five seconds to tally their first goal — a net-front tip by Pavelski.

Near the end of the second, tempers flared. A scrum involving all 10 skaters ensued after Tampa Bay’s Patrick Maroon ventured a little too close to Khudobin. Maroon was assessed a goaltender interference penalty and four other players took roughing minors — the final penalties of the night.

In the third, the Stars continued to press. Janmark brought his team within a goal with 15:33 left to play in regulation, when he deflected a sneaky net-front pass from John Klingberg past Vasilevskiy.

With 10:46 left, the Lightning appeared to score a fourth goal when a Mikhail Sergachev shot beat Khudobin. After a coach’s challenge, the goal was disallowed because the play was ruled offside.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/sports/hockey/lightning-stars-game-2.html