The Backcheck: Bolts open road trip with physical shootout win over Stars

Before the Tampa Bay Lightning left for their Western Conference road trip on Wednesday, head coach Jon Cooper said tests would abound despite Tampa Bay preparing to face three teams outside of their Eastern Conference playoff picture.

That challenge began on Thursday at American Airlines Center against the Dallas Stars, the second-best team in the Western Conference entering the game. Thursday displayed shades of playoff hockey, featuring slick passing and an abundance of physicality.

Tampa Bay didn’t back down in Thursday’s battle between two top-10 teams in the NHL, extending their win streak to three games with a 3-2 shootout win. Tampa Bay improved to 40-23-5 with the win.

“It’s a funny game,” Cooper said postgame. “I think what I’m proud of the guys is we just kind of—here’s my cliche of the night—stuck with it, and they (Lightning players) got rewarded in the end...They stayed the course and I thought deserved the two points they got tonight.”

The Lightning took a 2-0 lead before the Stars pushed back to force overtime with two goals in period two. After neither side scored in the third period or overtime, Lightning rookie Gage Goncalves’ first career NHL shootout goal won the game.

A 3-on-2 rush for Tampa Bay ended with the game-opening goal from Brandon Hagel less than five minutes into the game.

Hagel passed to Kucherov in the neutral zone, and the latter entered the zone before dishing to Anthony Cirelli on the left side. Cirelli found Hagel at the right post for a tap-in and the 1-0 advantage 4:35 after the opening puck drop.

“It was intense,” Cirelli said of the game. “Two really good teams going at it, tight checking. Felt like no one really wanted to make that mistake that cost them a goal, so it just felt like a playoff atmosphere out there.”

Cirelli and Hagel—who co-led the team with two points—also combined for the second goal of the game.

Cirelli chipped the puck to Hagel, who won a race for a short breakaway. Hagel’s initial try was blocked, but Cirelli found the loose puck near the right post and buried his backhand shot to make it 2-0 with 12:39 left in the second period.

Dallas fought back to tie the game, a push which began with Oscar Bäck’s redirection goal in front of the Lightning net only 28 seconds after Cirelli’s marker.

The Stars tied the game 2-2 when forward Mason Marchment deposited a loose puck near the Tampa Bay net in the final moments of a Dallas power play with 6:12 left in the second period.

The Lightning came out flying in the third period and held an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal to start the final frame of regulation. Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith kept Tampa Bay off the scoresheet the rest of the way, finishing with 36 saves on 38 Lightning shots.

“Really good team over there, and they pushed and crawled their way back,” Cirelli said, “but I thought a great job from us down the stretch of just sticking to our game and not giving one up and ended up taking it in the shootout.”

Neither team scored in overtime, and the Lightning earned their 40th win of the season in the shootout.

Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 24 Dallas shots, while Goncalves’ first career NHL shootout goal secured the win.

Goncalves skated down the right side of the zone, faked a shot in the slot and shook DeSmith, winning the game with a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

“He (Cooper) just tapped me on the back and said, ‘Go end it,’” Goncalves said of his shootout attempt. “So I’m really happy it went in, and it’s nice to start off this road trip with a win.”

Dallas’ Jason Robertson and Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel traded goals in round one of the shootout, but Matt Duchene gave the home team the advantage in round two. Kucherov matched the goal in round three with help from back-to-back saves by Vasilevskiy before Goncalves won the game in round four.

Goncalves said the Lightning stayed calm despite Dallas coming back to tie the game.

“Everybody in the room was kind of talking about a playoff atmosphere. They’re a really good team. They’re big, they’re fast, physical. So we brought our best tonight, and it worked out for us.”

Tampa Bay will look to push their win streak to four games when they visit Utah Hockey Club (30-27-11) on Saturday for a 5 p.m. ET game.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Brandon Hagel, TBL (Goal, Assist)

2. Casey DeSmith, DAL (36 saves)

3. Anthony Cirelli, TBL (Goal, Assist)