Lightning 2, Stars 1
Teddy Purcell's third-period game winner capped his first two-goal game of the season as the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Friday.
Just over two minutes after Dallas had tied the game 1-1, Purcell swooped into the slot and buried a backhand shot to give the Lightning the lead for good at 3:36.
Marty St. Louis added two assists for the Lightning to give him 16 in the last 13 games. Mathieu Garon made 27 saves for Tampa Bay, which snapped a six-game road losing streak.
Loui Eriksson’s pass went off Tom Wandell’s skate and trickled through Garon for the lone Dallas goal 1:22 into the third. The Stars have lost four straight and five of six.
The Lightning controlled much of the first period and finally took the lead with 1:12 left, when St. Louis whipped a pass to a wide-open Purcell in front. Purcell had six shots in the opening 20 minutes and seven overall.
Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen kept his team in it with 12 saves in the first period, including a huge stop on the league’s leading scorer Steven Stamkos on the power play.
Tampa Bay is 4-0-2 against the Stars in the last six meetings.