EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – The Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars are going to double overtime in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night tied at 2.
Tampa Bay is one goal away from winning the series and the second championship in franchise history. Dallas is one away from prolonging the series and forcing a Game 6 Monday night.
The Lightning outshot the Stars 7-1 in the first overtime period, forcing Anton Khudobin to again be sharp. A night after a questionable penalty call against Dallas paved the way for Tampa Bay’s overtime winner, officials appeared to miss an obvious tripping call on Lightning forward Pat Maroon and an icing call that shouldn’t have been because the puck hit Andrei Vasilevskiy’s right pad.
After all that, these teams are going to a fifth period of hockey in a grueling series that has seen the bumps, bruises and worst build up. Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh became the latest victim as he was slow to get up after a big hit by Joel Kiviranta, but he continued playing as weary players played deep into the night in the first back-to-back set of Cup Final games since 2009.
The game got to overtime thanks to Joe Pavelski’s heroics, tying it for Dallas with 6:45 left in regulation.
Pavelski, in the final for the second time in his career after losing in 2016 with San Jose, tied Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point for the most goals this postseason. He also moved into sole possession of first among Americans with 61 career playoff goals.
He wasn’t alone in keeping Dallas in it. Khudobin was up to 35 saves in the game.
There wasn’t much he could do on Ondrej Palat’s 11th of the postseason 4:37 into the second. The top-line winger got the puck from Nikita Kucherov, skated around usually dependable Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell and Khudobin before depositing it into a mostly empty net.
Stars winger Alexander Radulov had a big hand in Corey Perry’s goal that opened the scoring by shaking up defenseman Mikhail Sergachev with a check. With Sergachev in pain, Tyler Seguin carried the puck toward the net, Perry ended up with it on his stick and he lifted it past Andrei Vasilevskiy for his second goal in as many games.
The Stars played with five defensemen for half of regulation after veteran Andrej Sekera limped off after blocking a shot from Sergachev midway through the first period. Sekera missed the entire second before returning for the third and OT.
Dallas can ill afford another injury after adding forward Roope Hintz to their growing list of unavailable players. Hintz was injured in Game 4 Friday night when he crashed into the boards. Forwards Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau, defenseman Stephen Johns and goaltender Ben Bishop are also out.
For Tampa Bay, captain Steven Stamkos was the only notable absence after he tweaked something in his triumphant Game 3 return that included him scoring on his only shot.
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