An offensively impressive second period, with a defensively strong third, allowed the Dallas Stars to take a 1-0 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup final on Saturday. Tampa were unable to convert any of their many chances in the final two – including multiple power plays – leading to a 4-1 Stars win.
It was far from a very exciting start to the game as each team seemed to be shaking the nerves that came with playing in the championship series. The Stars were able to get the composers first, go strong to move forward and give Joel Henley a chance to score the first goal of the series to make the Tampa Bay turnover expensive. The Lightning opener was a little less confident, a shot ricochetting from the defender’s skate and making it to the back of the net to tie a knot of things rather than a goal.
Dallas dominated the second period, keeping the Lightning at bay behind him and giving Andrey Vasilevsky two goals to give them a 3-1 lead in the final period. That’s when Tampa Bay began to take things more seriously on the offensive end, but in the end the result of the effort was not something tangible. Anton Khudobin, who never started a playoff game before this season, served as an impenetrable force that Lightning had failed in the past to get a goal back on his opponents.
The story of Dallas Cinderella is now three games away from the end of its fairy tale, and the franchise’s first title since 1999. Lightning will need a strong response in Game 2 before any other postseason failures can be resolved.
CBS Sports covered you with all the live updates, highlights and goals of this Stanley Cup Final Opener. Check out the live feed below for all that coverage.
