The Stars needed Thursday night.
Thanks to a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay, they got it.
In a season dominated by close losses and missed opportunities, the Stars haven’t had much to be happy about. They’ve gone through injuries and postponements and prolonged droughts and untimely underperforming. Thursday was a chance to sidestep the storylines by earning two points against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
For the first time this season, the Stars beat the Lightning. It was the first win over Tampa Bay since Game 5 of the Cup Final and the first regular-season regulation win over the Lightning in more than five years.
Roope Hintz scored the game-winning goal for Dallas with 1:21 left in the third period, capping a three-point night for the dynamic Finn. He took a pass from Jason Robertson, split the Tampa defense and beat Vasilevskiy to give the Stars a much-needed victory.
Miro Heiskanen, Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson all scored for the Stars, who picked up points for the ninth time in 12 games. Heiskanen broke the seal on Andrei Vasilevskiy with a slick breakaway tuck, Pavelski scored quickly on a second-period power play and Robertson followed shortly after by roofing the puck.
Jake Oettinger made 23 saves, including a pair of game-changing ones in the second period on Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde. He also made a key glove save on Mathieu Joseph in the third. All three goals Oettinger gave up (by Gourde, Alex Killorn and Palat) came off rebounds at the net-front.
When the Stars entered the third period with a one-goal lead, it became apparent how badly they needed a win on Thursday night. They were riding a massive wave of momentum on home ice. They’d finally figured out Vasilevskiy. They’d played better and generated more offense than the Lightning. And, oh yeah, Tampa Bay was playing down a player.
Due to the salary cap, the Lightning were limited to 17 skaters on Thursday instead of the usual 18. When defenseman Erik Cernak was ruled out, Tampa Bay didn’t have space to recall a player, and NHL rules require a team to play at least one game with less than 18 skaters in order to use the roster emergency exemption to add another player to the roster.
So with the lead, the energy, the home ice, it had to be a Stars win. Of course, there’s also the history with the Lighting and the Central Division standings, where the Stars are out of a playoff spot with less than half the season remaining.
This season, games that should be a Stars victory have not always resulted in Stars victories. That’s why overtime and shootout losses populate the Stars’ schedule through the first two months of the season, and why Chicago and Columbus entered the day above Dallas in the standings.
It’s why frustration has bubbled within players and coaches and fans, and why any pleasant feelings in Dallas are welcomed. The moral victories grew stale in February and the consolation points are becoming tiresome in March.
No need for either on Thursday night, and that’s a relief for the Stars.
In the bigger picture, a win against Tampa Bay would help clear the mental shrapnel potentially still present from and since September. If the Stars do make the playoffs at the No. 4 team in the Central, they would likely face these Lightning, who entered Thursday with the best record in the NHL.
Radulov injury short-term: Forward Alexander Radulov did not participate in morning skate Thursday, and Bowness said his lower-body injury would be a short-term issue. The team is hopeful Radulov can play this weekend, but Bowness said “there’s no guarantee of that.”
“We’re hoping and we’ll see when we get there tomorrow that he skates with the team tomorrow,” Bowness said of Friday’s practice.
Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay was the fourth straight absence for Radulov and the 19th time in the last 22 games that he’s been out of the Dallas lineup. Radulov missed 15 games with the same lower-body injury earlier in the season.
When he has been in the lineup, Radulov has been productive with 12 points in 11 games.
No Sekera: Defenseman Andrej Sekera missed Thursday night’s game. When asked in the morning about Sekera missing skate, Bowness said it was for “maintenance.”
