Preview

The Stars overcame a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Lightning 4-3 in overtime on December 19th.  Radulov and Seguin tallied a goal and an assist each, while Klingberg had two assists.  Tampa led until just before the end of the second period, but then took their foot off of the gas.  Sergachev, Killorn, and Palat were the goal scorers.

Ben Bishop had the start in goal, against his successor, Andrei Vasilevskiy, as the two teams faced off for the second time of the season.

First Period

The first period resulted mostly in failed power plays for both sides.  Tampa took three minor penalties and Dallas took two.  The Bolts led in shots 11-9 at the the end of the period, with the game tied at zero.

Second Period

A boring first period was followed up by a pretty slow start to the second period.  Goaltending was tight on both ends, as Dallas had a few odd man breaks halfway through the period that resulted in nil.

After a strong penalty kill, Steven Stamkos opened up the scoring, almost 14 minutes into the period.  After tipping a laser by Nikita Kucherov, the puck went in past a screened Ben Bishop.

The Stars turned right back around and put the pressure on the Bolts, however, Corey Perry would end up with a goaltender interference penalty, as he tried to crash the net.

Jason Dickinson and Tyler Seguin had the best chance for either team on the penalty kill, when an errand pass sent them on a 2 on 1 chance, however Vasi stood strong.

The Stars would get their first goal of the game, when Denis Gurianov broke out of the zone with speed and received a little chip pass off the boards from Tyler Seguin, who received the breakout pass from Esa Lindell.

The period ended tied 1-1, with the Stars leading in shots 22-17.

Third Period

Jamie Benn had a silky breakaway goal, as he intercepted a pass in the defensive zone, blew past the Tampa defense, and froze Vasilevskiy with a fake shot to backhand move.

Janmark broke up a pass and went in on a breakaway about thirteen minutes into the period that would have put his team at a more comfortable two goal advantage.  The low side blocker shot was rejected by Bolts’ netminder Vasilevskiy.

With just under five minutes to play, Joe Pavelski took a tripping penalty, to give the second best power play in the league a chance to tie the game.  The Stars penalty kill stood strong and denied all of the chances thrown at them.

The Lightning pulled their goalie with just under two minutes remaining.  Ben Bishop received the puck and went for the empty net goal, but somewhat whiffed on the shot, as the Lightning defenseman kept the puck in.  Steven Stamkos would then tie the game, after the Stars failed to clear the puck, on a blistering one timer.  Hedman and Kucherov would get the assists on the goal.

Overtime

Overtime started with the Bolts in control of the puck, however, after regaining the puck in the D-zone, Benn sent two line pass to Seguin for a beautiful breakaway chance that was turned aside by Tampa’s goalie.

Jamie Benn would close out the game, with an incredible individual effort.  He broke up Tampa’s break out pass mid air, deked the goalie out of his pads, and won the game with his second goal of the night.

Three Stars

1. Ben Bishop
2. Jamie Benn
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy