Lightning at Stars
Ben Bishop looks to match his performance from last game when the Dallas Stars try to string two wins together for the first time in almost three weeks Thursday night against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. Bishop turned aside all 38 shots for a critical 2-0 victory over Calgary on Tuesday to maintain one of the two wild-card spots in the Western Conference, despite a 3-4 record over the last seven games.
“We’re not going to play perfect hockey every night and we’re going to need him to make some saves,” Dallas defenseman Dan Hamhuis told reporters of Bishop, who won 131 games in parts of five seasons with Tampa Bay. “And that’s what he did for us. We also don’t want to rely on him like we did (Tuesday).” The Lightning saw their four-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday night with a lackluster showing in a 2-1 overtime loss to Eastern Conference-worst Buffalo, after a spirited performance in a shootout triumph against Toronto two days earlier. “We need the same effort we had against Toronto,” Tampa Bay defenseman Daniel Girardi said. “A lot of emotion, a lot of desperation, and that wasn’t there (Wednesday).” Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov, who leads the league with 82 points, missed the game against Buffalo and is questionable for Thursday with an upper-body injury.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (43-17-4): Captain Steven Stamkos was held off the scoresheet Wednesday and has gone five games without a goal, but is second on the team with 71 points. Center J.T. Miller, who was acquired from the New York Rangers on Monday, had four hits, two takeaways, two blocks and was 5-3 in the faceoff circle in 17:40 of ice time during his Tampa Bay debut Wednesday while playing primarily with Tyler Johnson and Adam Erne. “I think it was a tough assignment tonight,” coach Jon Cooper said. “He was playing against their top line, and I thought they did really well. … He won puck battles. He was heavy. I was really pleased with him.”
ABOUT THE STARS (36-23-4): All-Star center Tyler Seguin has scored in three consecutive games to increase his team-leading total to 32 goals, and boasts 55 points - one behind forward Alexander Radulov for the top spot with Dallas. Captain Jamie Benn is tied with Seguin in points, but has been held without a goal for 10 straight games, and John Klingberg leads all NHL defensemen with 54 points despite being held off the scoresheet in the last four contests. Bishop allowed two or fewer goals in six of his eight appearances in February and has reached 25 wins for the fourth time in his career after totaling 18 with Tampa Bay and Los Angeles in 2016-17.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning have scored six times in each of their last two meetings with the Stars, including 6-1 triumph Nov. 16.
2. Dallas C Martin Hanzal has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and is questionable for Thursday’s contest.
3. Tampa Bay D Ryan McDonagh, also acquired in the deal with New York on Monday, will likely miss a few more games with an upper-body injury.