Shattenkirk OT goal 'good karma,' lifts Lightning in Game 4 of Final

Kevin Shattenkirk said he was hoping for redemption when the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars went to overtime in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday.

There wasn't a whole lot the Lightning defenseman could have done differently when Stars forward Joe Pavelski tied it with 8:25 remaining in the third period, on a turnaround shot in the right circle that went off Andrei Vasilevskiy's blocker and then off Shattenkirk's left knee.
But Shattenkirk responded after Dallas forward Jamie Benn took a tripping penalty in overtime. He scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot at 6:34 for a 5-4 win that has Tampa Bay one victory from a championship.
"In my head, I was thinking I deserve some sort of good karma after that," Shattenkirk said. "I felt bad for doing that to Vasilevskiy]*
Shattenkirk has been the recipient of good karma all season after he had the final two seasons of his four-year contract bought out by the New York Rangers on Aug. 1, 2019. The 31-year-old signed with the Rangers as a free agent three seasons ago, getting a contract worth $6.65 million annually. He scored 23 points and 28 points in those seasons with New York after scoring at least 40 points in four consecutive seasons with the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals.
Shattenkirk signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the Lightning four days after his contract was bought out. He has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 23 games this postseason.
Game 5 is in Edmonton, the hub city for the best-of-7 Final, on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"I've said it before, I never kind of forget what happened last summer," Shattenkirk said. "I've used that to fuel me and just not get comfortable. I think we've got a job to do here; it's still not finished. Obviously, any way I can contribute, whether it's scoring goals or playing solid defensively, whatever it might be, whatever the team asks, that's what I aim to do every night.
"It's been a great team effort so far, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow night, because then it can all come really full circle."

Shattenkirk's goal was one of three Tampa Bay scored on the power play. The Lightning are 6-for-12 in the past three games after going 0-for-14 in their previous four.
Brayden Point tied it 2-2 on the man-advantage, his second of the game and NHL-leading 13th goal, at 2:08 of the second period when he batted a puck out of the air. Point tied forward Tyler Johnson for the Lightning record for most goals in a postseason, set in 2015.
Yanni Gourde tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 18:54 of the second on a shot from between the circles. The Stars led 3-2 when Corey Perry scored at 8:26, but Vasilevskiy prevented them from doubling the lead when he stretched out his left pad to deny Nick Caamano's backhand at 10:25.
"I think we stayed persistent on a couple of them," Tampa Bay forward Alex Killorn said of the power play. "It seems like the first minute wasn't great, but the next unit comes on [and] they're ready. [Shattenkirk] scores a big goal at the end, [Gourde] scores a goal, and then [Point] scores on a broken play.
"All of the goals are kind of, I don't want to say greasy, but we're working for these goals; they're not real backdoor passes or anything like that. I like the way we scored our power-play goals."
Shattenkirk handed the Stars their first overtime loss this postseason (4-1); the Lightning are 6-1. Neither team has much time to think about what happened in Game 4 because it's a back-to-back, but Shattenkirk was happy to score a goal to remember.
"Kind of every sort of emotion you can think of," Shattenkirk said. "I think more than anything, just how happy if makes you feel to help your team win a game. I think there are lot of guys who had some big plays tonight, and a lot of times you just look at the guy who scores the game-winning goal. But it took a lot for us to get there. Obviously, we kept it simple on the power play and good things happen. It was a big moment, big goal and looking forward to tomorrow night."