A classic, low-scoring battle that highlighted the recent surge of both clubs culminated in overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars, 2-1. The hard-fought victory was sealed by Anthony Cirelli’s dramatic breakaway goal at 2:36 of the extra frame, extending the Lightning’s impressive winning streak to four games. For the Stars, the loss officially snapped their three-game winning run, but a critical point was secured thanks to a pivotal third-period tally: Adam Erne scored his first goal as a Star, which forced overtime and ensured Dallas left Florida with a valuable takeaway on a night that also celebrated Tyler Seguin’s 1,000th career NHL game.

Dallas Stars Lineup:

Steel – Seguin – Rantanen
Robertson – Johnston – Bourque
Hryckowian – Faksa – Bastian
Erne – Blackwell

Lindell – Heiskanen
Harley – Lyubushkin
Bichsel – Petrovic
Capobianco

Oettinger
DeSmith

Tampa Bay Lightning Lineup:

Guentzel – Point – Kucherov
Hagel – Cirelli
Bjorkstrand – James – Goncalves
Girgensons – Gourde – Holmberg

Hedman – Moser
McDonagh – Cernak
D’Astous – Lilleberg
Raddysh

Vasilevskiy
Johansson

After a scoreless opening frame, Brandon Hagel opened the scoring 1-0, finding the back of the net for the third straight game when he struck on the power play at 4:58 of the second period. Off a follow-up of a shot by Gage Goncalves, Hagel slid the puck over the goal line. The goal was waved off, but after a video review initiated by the NHL Situation Room, it was determined that the puck crossed the goal line.

Adam Erne fired early into the third frame for his first goal as a Dallas Star, as well as his first goal since December 21, 2023, for the 30-year-old forward. He didn’t play in the NHL last season. Erne knotted it up 1-1 at 17:57 when he redirected Alexander Petrovic’s shot from the net front position.

The Stars and Lightning had to go into overtime to finish the game, and with 2:24 on the clock, Anthony Cirelli put the puck home. He picked up a loose puck off a turnover by Mikko Rantanen, starting a breakaway, and beat Jake Oettinger with a backhand for the 2-1 final.

Game Notes:

– Jake Oettinger made a total of 30 saves for Dallas.

– Andrei Vasilevskiy made a total of 20 saves for Tampa Bay.

– In his 1,000th NHL game, Tyler Seguin was 6-of-12 on face-offs in 21:48. …Skating in his 1,000th NHL game, Seguin is the 410th player in league history to do so, and the second to reach this milestone this season (Adam Henrique, Edmonton Oilers).

– Nikita Kucherov was honored for scoring his 1,000th NHL point on Saturday. There was a pregame ceremony where he received a gold stick and a custom watch.

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