Anthony Cirelli completed a two-goal performance by scoring with 43.2 seconds remaining in regulation to boost the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon.
In a long shift in the Tampa Bay offensive zone, defenseman Victor Hedman swooped behind Scott Wedgewood, luring the Dallas goaltender out of the crease. Hedman flipped the puck back into the blue paint, and Cirelli battled to chip in the game-winning goal.
Inside the match’s last second, Brandon Hagel fired home his 22nd goal of the season into an empty net.
Hedman’s assist gave him 500 for his career, becoming the second active Swedish defenseman to hit the milestone. Erik Karlsson of the San Jose Sharks has 560 assists.
Cirelli also assisted on Hagel’s goal for a three-point outing, and Hagel had an assist for two points. Alex Killorn handed out two assists and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots.
The Lightning won for the fifth time in seven games (5-1-1) and are 9-3-0 in their past 12 against Dallas. They also swept the two-game season series.
For Dallas, captain Jamie Benn produced an unassisted goal in the second period. Wedgewood made 28 saves in his first appearance since blanking the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 on Jan. 19.
Vasilevskiy and Wedgewood stood tall over the first 20 minutes. Dallas failed on the match’s first two power plays, with the best chance belonging to Hagel, who was denied on a breakaway attempt by Wedgewood.
Vasilevskiy was even better in posting 12 saves. Roope Hintz had a great chance inside the last two minutes but hit the near post. Then defenseman Jani Hakanpaa one-timed the rebound, but the Lightning backstop slid over and made a strong pad save to keep it scoreless.
In the second, he stuffed Hintz’s short-handed breakaway six minutes in before Cirelli got loose on a one-on-one attempt on Wedgewood. Hagel slipped a pass to Cirelli, who deked the netminder and went backhand at 10:13 for just his fourth goal in his 29th game.
However, the Stars tied it off a turnover by the Lightning’s Ross Colton just over two minutes later. Benn then skated the other way on a two-on-one and notched his 21st goal. It was his 350th in his career for the Stars.
–Field Level Media