Heading into Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday Night, the two biggest objectives for the Dallas Stars were to avoid getting in penalty trouble (as they did in Game 1, but survived) and to thwart the Tampa Bay Lightning from using their third period dominance (in a losing cause) as a blueprint for attacking Dallas from the get-go in Game 2.

It didn't work out for the Stars. They took three penalties in the first period -- two of which ended up in the back of their net, and all of which were avoidable -- and gave up three closely spaced goals to Brayden Point (power play), Ondrej Palat (power play) and Kevin Shattenkirk to fall into a 3-0 crater. Life was made tough on Stars goalie Anton Khudobin, who had to contend with a couple deflections off Dallas players, layered traffic and a turnover in a dangerous area of the ice.

Nikita Kucherov, who got banged around in a physical first period including a collision with Jamie Benn that some felt was a borderline elbow to the head, later collected assists on each of the first two goals.

The Stars had to spend the rest of the night chasing the game. Head coach Rick Bowness stuck with Khudobin in goal, and the netminder kept Tampa at bay (no pun intended) the rest of the night, including a dozen saves in the third period, but it was an uphill climb all the way.

Dallas' best period was the second. The Stars succeeded in getting under the Lightning's skin in the second period, and that played to the Stars' advantage. Finally, a nifty Joe Pavelski deflection tally in the final five minutes of the frame got them on the scoreboard with a goal that Andrei Vasilevski (17 second period saves and 27 stops on 29 shots overall for the game) had no chance at preventing.

Early in the third period, Mattias Janmark's first goal of the playoffs got the Stars back to within 3-2. John Klingberg and Alexander Radulov figured in both the Pavelski and Janmark goals, but the Lightning did a good job at retaking control after their lead was reduced from three goals to one. Tampa controlled the majority of the play in the final frame, posting a 12-5 shot edge, and Vasilievskiy took care of the rest.

Game 3 is on Wednesday night. It will air on NBCSN, starting at 7 p.m. CT.

Join the Discussion: » 1 Comments » Post New Comment

» NHL Statement on Stars' COVID Situation

» SCF: Tampa wins Stanley Cup with 2-0 Shutout

» SCF: Stars Extend Series to a Game 6 w/ Double OT win

» SCF: Stars Have No Time to Lament What Could Have Been

» SCF: Uphill Climb Falls Short Again in Game 3