TAMPA, Fla. — With the regular season winding down and their spot in the playoffs already clinched, the Lightning still have something to play for.
While the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes get closer to clinching first place in the Central Division, the Lightning can still earn first-round home-ice advantage against their likely opponent, the Florida Panthers.
Against a Dallas Stars team with much more at stake Wednesday night, the Lightning’s 6-2 win at Amalie Arena gave them 75 points, allowing them to control their own destiny.
Fifth-place Dallas remains in contention for a playoff spot, as Columbus beat fourth-place Nashville.
Defenseman Erik Cernak’s goal with 8:26 remaining gave the Lightning a 4-2 cushion, a quick response after Andrej Sekera’s goal 50 seconds earlier cut the Tampa Bay lead to one.
A Yanni Gourde screen in front of the net prevented Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger from seeing Cernak’s shot from the right point.
Ross Colton scored an empty-net goal with 3:13 remaining. Mikhail Sergachev added a goal in the final minute.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, making his first start since receiving back-to-back games off this past weekend in Detroit, had 20 saves en route to his league-leading 31th win of the season.
The Lightning scored two goals in the final four minutes of the second period to break open a tie game, including Brayden Point’s team-leading 23rd goal of the season with 14 seconds remaining in the period.
Point’s goal was huge, giving the Lightning a two-goal cushion heading to the third. The Lightning have proven to be perfect so far this season when leading after two periods, going 26-0-0.
Point stole the puck from Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell deep in the Stars’ zone and juked Oettinger, pulling the puck back to avoid his stick check and tucking the puck behind him on the backdoor side.
After the Lightning started 0-for-3 on the power play, Alex Killorn scored on the man advantage with 3:21 left in the second.
Moments earlier, Killorn had been turned away by Oettinger in front of the net, but Gourde found him for a redirection that Killorn tucked inside the near post. Tyler Johnson snapped a 21-game goal drought, scoring the night’s first goal 2:14 into the game.
The Lightning took advantage of a Dallas turnover in the neutral zone and also got a lucky bounce. Killorn’s pass intended for Anthony Cirelli went off a Dallas player’s skate and toward Johnson, who was trailing the play above the slot.
The deflection gifted a great look for Johnson, who took a wrister from the high slot that beat Oettinger glove side inside the near post.
The Lightning allowed a game-tying goal in the first period’s final minute on Tyler Seguin’s score with 27 seconds remaining.
Jason Robertson flipped a pass off the boards, finding Joe Pavelski along the near side on a rush. Pavelski made a cross-crease pass past a diving Victor Hedman to Seguin, who beat Cernak to the far post with a tip in past Vasilevskiy.
