Anthony Cirelli completed a two-goal performance by scoring with 43.2 seconds left in regulation to boost the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon.
On a long shift in Tampa Bay’s offensive zone, defenseman Victor Hedman swept behind Scott Wedgewood and lured the Dallas goalie out of bounds. Hedman turned the puck back in the blue and Cirelli fought to score the game-winning goal.
In the final second of the game, Brandon Hagel fired home his 22nd goal of the season into an empty net.
Hedman’s assists gave him 500 for his career, becoming the second active Swedish defenseman to reach the milestone. Erik Karlsson of the San Jose Sharks has 560 assists.
Cirelli also assisted on Hagel’s field goal for a three-pointer, and Hagel had an assist for two points. Alex Killorn dished out two assists and goaltender 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 last 12 against Dallas. They also swept the season series by two games.
For Dallas, captain Jamie Benn produced an unassisted goal in the second period. Wedgewood made 28 saves in his first appearance since beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 on January 19.
Vasilevskiy and Wedgewood stood tall in the first 20 minutes. Dallas failed on the game’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 as he made 12 saves. Roope Hintz had a great chance in the final two minutes but hit the near post. Then defenseman Jani Hakanpaa one-timed the rebound, but the Lightning’s backstop slid over and made a strong save to keep it scoreless.
In the second, he stopped Hintz’s short-handed burst six minutes before Cirelli broke loose on a one-on-one attempt on Wedgewood. Hagel slipped a pass to Cirelli, who undercut the goalie and backhanded at 10:13 for just his fourth goal in his 29th game.
However, the Stars tied a turnover by the Lightning’s Ross Colton just over two minutes later. Benn then went the other way on a two-on-one to record his 21st goal. It was his 350th in his career for the Stars.
–Field Level Media