Tampa Bay 4, Dallas 2
When: 3:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 1, 2014
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees:
Frederic L'Ecuyer, Don VanMassenhoven
Linesmen:
Andy McElman, Bryan Pancich
Attendance:
15897
By SportsDirect Inc.
Lightning 4, Stars 2: Captain Martin St. Louis scored two goals for the second straight game and visiting Tampa Bay held off a rally to defeat Dallas.
Ben Bishop made 31 of his 39 saves over the final two periods en route to his 29th victory of the season. Nate Thompson and defenseman Sami Salo also scored while Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn and blue-liner Victor Hedman contributed two assists apiece for the Lightning, who led 3-0 late in the middle period.
Vernon Fiddler and Antoine Roussel each recorded a goal and an assist for the Stars, who came up empty despite 5:38 of power-play time in the third period. Kari Lehtonen, who came into the game 6-1-2 in his previous nine decisions, stopped 17 shots.
Defenseman Eric Brewer’s pass from the slot went in off St. Louis at the right side of the net 85 seconds into the contest to open the scoring. Thompson doubled the lead with a deflection at 12:09 of the first period and Palat sprung St. Louis for a breakaway 14:31 into the second for a 3-0 advantage.
Roussel’s deflection went in off a Lightning player’s skate 79 seconds later and Fiddler’s wraparound goal with 1:49 left in the second pulled the Stars within 3-2. Salo hammered a knuckling shot from the high slot over Lehtonen’s right shoulder 7:12 into the third period to give Tampa Bay the cushion it needed.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Hedman registered his 100th career assist on Thompson’s goal and added another on Salo’s tally. … Lightning C Valtteri Filppula was held out of the lineup for the third straight game due to an ankle injury while D Mike Kostka made his debut for the team after being claimed off waivers from Chicago on Monday. … Dallas D Brenden Dillon, who scored a short-handed goal in the 4-1 victory over Carolina on Thursday, was scratched due to a lower-body injury.
Top Game Performances
Tampa Bay |
|
Dallas |
Martin St. Louis 2 |
Points |
Vernon Fiddler 2 |
Martin St. Louis 2 |
Goals |
Vernon Fiddler 1 |
Victor Hedman 2 |
Assists |
Vernon Fiddler 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Ben Bishop .951 |
Save Percentage |
Kari Lehtonen .810 |
Ben Bishop 39 |
Saves |
Kari Lehtonen 17 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Tampa Bay
|
21 |
4 |
0-2 |
3-3 |
8 |
33 |
Dallas
|
41 |
2 |
0-3 |
2-2 |
6 |
36 |
Upcoming Games
-
Dallas will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Stars have a W/L % of .379 after a win and .548 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Colorado. The Lightning have a W/L % of .515 after a win and .630 after a loss.