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Dallas Stars stay alive in Stanley Cup final, beat Tampa Bay 3-2 in double OT

Sep 26, 2020 | 10:14 PM

EDMONTON — Corey Perry scored on a goalmouth scramble in double overtime and the Dallas Stars beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Saturday to stay alive in the Stanley Cup final.

Perry jammed the puck past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at the 9:23 mark for his second goal of the game.

Tampa Bay still leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. Game 6 goes Monday night at Rogers Place.

Joe Pavelski also scored for Dallas. Goalie Anton Khudobin made 39 saves for his 14th win of the playoffs, just 20 hours after he faced 35 shots in a Game 4 loss to the Lightning.

Ondrej Palat, with his 11th goal of the post-season, and Mikhail Sergachev replied for Tampa Bay.

Vasilevskiy, also coming off a quick turnaround after Tampa’s Game 4 overtime win, stopped 30 shots but took the loss and is now 17-7 in the post-season.

Dallas opened and finished the scoring.

Perry made it 1-0 late in the first period, taking advantage when Sergachev was winded in a collision with Alexander Radulov.

Sergachev was doubled over and couldn’t get off the ice, and Perry scooped up a loose puck in the slot and wristed it over Vasilevskiy’s blocker-side shoulder.

Palat tied it less than five minutes into the second period, taking a dish pass from Nikita Kucherov, swooping around Dallas defender Esa Lindell, cutting across the front of the net and slipping the puck past Khudobin.

The Lightning took the lead early in the third when Sergachev fired a slapshot through traffic past Khudobin. Pavelski replied, scoring his 13th playoff goal with less than seven minutes to go, burying the rebound off a Miro Heiskanen point shot.

The Stars won despite mounting injury woes.

Justin Dowling played in his first playoff game for Roope Hintz, who fell awkwardly into the boards in Game 4. The Stars were also without Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau, making it three of their key two-way forwards and penalty killers.

The Lightning were again without captain Steven Stamkos. Stamkos, dealing with a lower-body injury, has played just five shifts in the entire playoffs: a 2:47 stretch of Game 3, although he scored in his one shot on net.

All games are being played in front of no spectators at Rogers Place. Players are also isolated between games to prevent contracting the coronavirus.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2020.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press