National Hockey League
Dallas 4, Tampa Bay 3
When: 8:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 25, 2021
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees: Jean Hebert, Dean Morton
Linesmen: Brandon Gawryletz, Bevan Mills
Attendance: 4187

Roope Hintz had a goal and two assists, scoring the winner on a breakaway with 1:21 remaining as the Dallas Stars defeated the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 Thursday night to earn a split of their two-game series in a rematch of last season's Stanley Cup Final.

Joe Pavelski also had a goal and two assists for the Stars, Jason Robertson contributed a goal and an assist and Miro Heiskanen also scored. Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 24 saves.

Yanni Gourde, Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat scored for Tampa Bay, which had beaten the Stars in each of their first four meetings this season, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37 of 41 shots. Gourde and Palat also had an assist apiece.

Vasilevskiy saw his franchise-record streak of consecutive victories snapped at 12 games, two shy of the NHL record.

On the tiebreaking goal, Hintz took a pass at the Tampa Bay blue line from Robertson, split two defenders to get free and put a forehander just inside the left post.

The Lightning tied the score at 3-3 with 4:50 left as Palat found the puck after a mad scramble in front of the net and wristed it in.

Trailing 2-1, the Stars scored twice in the final two minutes of the second period.

Pavelski tied it at 18:40 on the power play and fed Robertson for the go-ahead goal on a two-on-one break with 15.6 seconds left in the period.

After a scoreless first period, the Lightning took a 2-0 lead on a pair of rebound goals in the opening six minutes of the second by Gourde and Killorn.

The Stars' comeback started at 10:54 of the middle period, as Blake Comeau's lead pass sent Heiskanen on a breakaway down the left wing. Heiskanen drove to the net, went to his backhand and put a shot into the upper right corner of the net.

Oettinger made a highlight-reel save to keep the Stars within a goal with about 7:30 remaining in the second, after Tampa Bay's Palat found himself alone with the puck just outside the top of the crease. Palat drew the puck to his forehand and shot it over Oettinger's right pad, but the rookie was able to get the paddle of his stick on the shot and fell on the rebound.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Tampa Bay   Dallas
Yanni Gourde 2 Points Roope Hintz 3
Yanni Gourde 1 Goals Roope Hintz 1
Yanni Gourde 1 Assists Roope Hintz 2
N/A Power Play Goals Joe Pavelski 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Andrei Vasilevskiy .902 Save Percentage Jake Oettinger .889
Andrei Vasilevskiy 37 Saves Jake Oettinger 24
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Tampa Bay 27 3 0-0 2-3 11 31
Dallas 41 4 1-3 0-0 5 36
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game at home against Florida. The Stars have a W/L % of .300 after a win and .368 after a loss.
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Carolina. The Lightning have a W/L % of .708 after a win and .750 after a loss.