Chasing the game is never an ideal way to play hockey, especially against a club the caliber of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Two nights after falling into a 3-0 crater in the first period of Game 2 the Stanley Cup Final and ultimately losing by a 3-2 score, the Dallas Stars found themselves in another early multi-goal deficit in Game 3.

First, Stars defenseman John Klingberg fell down at his blueline and attempted an ill-advised backhanded pass that the deadly Nikita Kucherov intercepted for a blueline-in breakaway that he he snapped low to the stick side past Anton Khudobin at the 5:33 mark. Then, making his return to the Lightning lineup for the first time in the postseason (and playing just 2:47 before he had to exit the game later in the first period), Steven Stamkos made it 2-0 at 6:58. The sequence started with a failed entry attempt by the Stars and turned dangerous when Esa Lindell missed an attempted hip check on Stamkos. The veteran star proceeded to skate into the right circle and beat Khudobin with a shot.

Jason Dickinson's mid first period shorthanded goal from the top of the left circle -- set up by Roope Hintz winning a board battle where he was outnumbered and four Tampa players getting caught below the left dot on the same side -- got the Stars back to within 2-1 and gave them a good shot at turning the game around entering the second period. Unfortunately for Dallas, Victor Hedman's deep center slot snap shot goal in the opening minute of the 2nd period (the defenseman's 10th of the playoffs) restored Tampa's two-goal margin.

The Stars wound up getting steamrolled in the second period, as Brayden Point's 11th goal of the playoffs and Ondrej Palat's 10th put the game out of reach at 5-1 before intermission. Tampa racked up a 21-4 shot edge in this frame.

All of the air had been let out of the Dallas balloon. Jake Oettenger (three saves) got mop-up duty to rest Khudobin (24 saves on 29 shots) in the third period. The final frame third was academic in terms of altering the outcome of Game 3, but the Stars hoped to at least give themselves some building blocks for Game 4.

That really was not the case, despite Miro Heiskanen getting Dallas back to within 5-2 with 13:11 remaining in regulation. Tampa simply slammed the door, holding the Stars to just four shots in final period to three of their own. The period was mainly marked by a lot of boiled over frustrations and a parade of penalties. Stars captain Jamie Benn spent 12 of the final 16 minutes in the box along with Tampa's Jan Rutta, and there was a multi-player dust-up in the final two minutes. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 22 saves on 24 shots.

Game 4, a virtual must-win for the Stars, is on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT. The game will air on NBC.

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