Nuts & Bolts: Stanley Cup Final tied heading into Game 3

WEDNESDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and Stars are playing Game 3 of a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final tonight...Both franchises are in search of their second Stanley Cup...The Lightning defeated the Stars for the first time in 2019-20 (reg. season and playoffs) in Game 2, moving to 1-1-2 on the season...The Bolts have outshot the Stars in three of four meetings this season and own a cumulative 140-104 advantage in shots...Tampa Bay scored the opening goal in Game 2, ending a stretch of six-consecutive games allowing the first goal... The Bolts are 10-1 when scoring first and 5-5 when trailing first this postseason...Nikita Kucherov (0-5--5 pts.) leads the Lightning for scoring against Dallas in 2019-20 (reg. season and playoffs)...Steven Stamkos (2) and Ondrej Palat (2) pace the Bolts for goals versus Dallas in 2019-20...Andrei Vasilevskiy has started all four meetings against Dallas in 2019-20 and allowed 12 goals on 103 shots...Tampa Bay is 17-21-5 with 3 ties versus Dallas in 46 all-time matchups (reg. season and playoffs)...Under Jon Cooper, the Lightning are 9-4-3 against Dallas.

WEDNESDAY'S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay claimed the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference playoff champions and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history (also: 2015 and 2004)...The Lightning are aiming to win the second Stanley Cup in franchise history (also: 2004)...Tampa Bay is the first of the 10 NHL franchises to debut in the 90s or later to reach the Stanley Cup Final three times (Anaheim is the only other team to make multiple appearances, in 2003 and 2007)...The Bolts can become the first of the 10 franchises that debuted in the 90s or later to win multiple Stanley Cup Championships...The Lightning have yet to lose back-to-back games in the 2020 Playoffs, improving to 6-0 following the Game 2 win (only other postseason TBL didn't lose back-to-back games was 2004 when the franchise claimed its first-ever Stanley Cup, going 7-0 in games after loss)...Tampa Bay held a lead for the first time since Game 4 of the ECF at NYI following Brayden Point's power-play goal at 11:23 of the opening period of Monday's Game 2...The Lightning are 16-11 all-time in Game 3s in the postseason and 2-1 in the 2020 Playoffs...The Bolts are 10-6 in Game 3s all-time in the playoffs when the series is tied 1-1...Tampa Bay is 1-1 all-time in Stanley Cup Final Game 3s.
IN THE NIK OF TIME
Tampa Bay right wing Nikita Kucherov tallied a pair of power-play assists Game 2 vs. DAL for his first points of the Stanley Cup Final and 27th and 28th points of the 2020 Playoffs...Kucherov became Tampa Bay's all-time leader for scoring in a playoff season following his performance in Game 2, moving past Brad Richards' 26-point playoff season in 2004.
MOST POINTS IN A PLAYOFF SEASON IN TBL HISTORY
1. Nikita Kucherov (2020) - 6-22--28 pts. in 21 GP
T-2. Brayden Point (2020) - 10-16--26 pts. in 19 GP
T-2. Brad Richards (2004) - 12-14--26 pts. in 23 GP
4. Tyler Johnson (2015) - 13-10--23 pts. in 26 GP
Kucherov's 22 assists this postseason are tied for the 14th most in a playoff season in NHL history (most: Wayne Gretzky - 31 assists in 1988)...Kucherov's 22 assists are tied for the second most by a primary winger in a single postseason in NHL history and two away from matching the most in NHL history.
MOST ASSISTS BY A WINGER IN A PLAYOFF SEASON IN NHL HISTORY
1. Mark Recchi (PIT) - 24 assists in 1991 (24 GP)
T-2. Rick Middleton (BOS) - 22 assists in 1983 (17 GP)
T-2. Nikita Kucherov (TBL) - 22 assists in 2020 (21 GP)
4. Brian Bellows (MNS) - 19 assists in 1991 (23 GP)
Kucherov continues to pace the NHL for scoring during the 2020 Playoffs.
NHL 2020 PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS
1. Nikita Kucherov (TBL) - 6-22--28 pts. in 21 GP
2. Brayden Point (TBL) - 10-16--26 pts. in 19 GP
3. Nathan MacKinnon (COL) - 9-16--25 pts. in 15 GP
4. Miro Heiskanen (DAL) - 5-18--23 pts. in 23 GP
Kucherov recorded his seventh multi-point game of the 2020 Playoffs and 25th for his playoff career to pass Martin St. Louis for most multi-point games in Lightning playoff history.
MOST MULTI-PT. GAMES IN TBL PLAYOFF HISTORY
1. Nikita Kucherov - 25 multi-pt. games (86 GP)
2. Martin St. Louis - 24 multi-pt. games (63 GP)
3. Steven Stamkos - 15 multi-pt. games (70 GP)
HED OF THE CLASS
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman tallied two power-play assists Game 2 vs. DAL for his fourth multi-point game of the 2020 Playoffs and 14th for his career, fourth most in Lightning history...Hedman has recorded 49 career playoff assists (16-49--65 pts. in 105 GP), fourth most in the NHL among active defensemen behind Duncan Keith (18-68--86 pts. in 135 GP), Kris Letang (21-59--80 pts. in 136 GP) and Zdeno Chara (18-52--70 pts. in 195 GP)...Hedman has recorded 0-6--6 pts. in eight career Stanley Cup Final games, tied for second-most career points in the SCF in Lightning history.
TBL ALL-TIME SCF SCORING LEADERS
1. Brad Richards - 4-5--9 pts. in 7 GP
T-2. Martin St. Louis - 4-2--6 pts. in 7 GP
T-2. Victor Hedman - 0-6--6 pts. in 8 GP
4. Nikita Kucherov - 1-4--5 pts. in 8 GP
5. Ryan Callahan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Dave Andreychuk tied with 4 pts.
Hedman leads all NHL defensemen for goals and ranks fourth for scoring (9-8--17 pts.) in the 2020 Playoffs...Hedman's nine goals this postseason are tied for the third most by a defenseman in a playoff season in NHL history and the most since Brian Leetch notched 11 goals for the NY Rangers in 1994.
MOST GOALS BY A NHL D-MAN IN A PLAYOFF SEASON
1. Paul Coffey (EDM) - 12 goals (1985)
2. Brian Leetch (NYR) - 11 goals (1994)
T-3. Victor Hedman (TBL) - 9 goals (2020)
T-3. Brad Park (BOS) - 9 goals (1978)
T-3. Bobby Orr (BOS) - 9 goals (1970)
POINTING THE WAY
Bolts center Brayden Point scored a power-play goal in Game 2 vs. DAL for his 10th goal this postseason, tied with VAN's Bo Horvat and DAL's Joe Pavelski for most in the 2020 Playoffs...Point scored his second power-play goal of the 2020 Playoffs and fourth of his playoff career...Point recorded his 26th point this postseason, second most in the NHL in the 2020 Playoffs and tied for the second most all-time in a playoff season in Lightning history...Point's 10 goals this postseason are tied for the fifth most in a playoff season in Lightning history and three away from matching Tyler Johnson's franchise record 13 goals from the 2015 Playoffs.
ANDREI THE GIANT
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27-of-29 shots Game 2 vs. DAL for his NHL-leading 15th win this postseason...Vasilevskiy, who has started all 21 playoff games for the Lightning and has yet to be relieved, improved to 6-0 in the contest following a loss this postseason; only Nikolai Khabibulin, who went 7-0 in the game after a loss during Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup season in 2004, has won each of his first seven games following a loss in a playoff year in NHL history...Vasilevskiy improved to 30-21 in 54 playoff appearances for his career, becoming the fifth active NHL goaltender to reach 30 wins in 54 playoff appearances or fewer, following Marc-Andre Fleury (48 GP), Corey Crawford (50 GP), Tuukka Rask (52 GP) and Jonathan Quick (54 GP)...At 26 years and 58 days old, Vasilevskiy became the fifth-youngest NHL goalie in NHL history at the time of his 30th career playoff win.
YOUNGEST NHL GOALIES AT TIME OF 30TH PLAYOFF WIN
1. Grant Fuhr (EDM) - 23 years, 196 days
2. Patrick Roy (MTL) - 23 years, 210 days
3. Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) - 24 years, 193 days
4. Martin Brodeur (NJD) - 25 years, 253 days
5. Andrei Vasilevskiy (TBL) - 26 years, 58 days
PUTTING UP PALAT OF POINTS (AND GOALS)
Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat scored a power-play goal Game 2 vs. DAL for his ninth goal this postseason, tied for second most on the Bolts and tied for fourth most in the NHL...Palat has scored all nine of his goals in the last 12 games...Palat's nine goals are tied for the eighth most in a playoff season in Lightning history...Palat leads the Bolts for power-play goals (3) in the 2020 Playoffs and ranks tied for third in the NHL.
THE ROAD AHEAD
Game 4 - Friday September 25 - 8 p.m.
Game 5 - Saturday, September 26 - 8 p.m.
Game 6* - Monday, September 28 - 8 p.m.
Game 7* - Wednesday, September 30 - 8 p.m.
\If necessary
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