Stars 4, Lightning 3
DALLAS --- Jamie Benn had two goals, Cody Eakin three assists and Kari Lehtonen stopped 17 of 20 shots for the Dallas Stars in a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at American Airlines Center.
Jason Spezza and Stephen Johns also scored for Dallas (42-21-9), who swept the two-game season series with the Lightning.
Steven Stamkos had two goals for Tampa Bay (40-26-5), who got a goal and an assist from Nikita Kucherov and two assists from Alex Killorn. The Lightning lost for just the second time all season when leading after two periods.
Johns tied it at 3-3 with his first NHL goal 9:42 into the third period. Johns blasted a slap shot from the right point that hit Ben Bishop’s right pad and went in through his five-hole.
Benn added a second goal to put Dallas ahead 4-3 with 8:10 remaining, beating Bishop far post with a backhand. Eakin picked up his third assist with a backhand pass from behind the visiting goal.
Bishop stopped 29 of 33 shots in a losing effort for the Lightning before leaving the ice with 1:25 remaining.
Tampa Bay struck first when the puck deflected in off the right skate of Kucherov 12:15 into the first period. Andrej Sustr's wrist shot from the right circle deflected off Killorn's stick and then hit Kucherov's skate before landing inside the far post.
Dallas answered at 14:09 of the first when Spezza tied it with his 29th goal of the season. Bishop knocked the puck away from Spezza with his stick, but the puck got behind him and Bishop inadvertently knocked it in with his blocker while trying to swat at it in the air.
Stamkos pulled the Lightning ahead at 2-1 with a power-play goal off a rebound 3:15 into the second period. Lehtonen turned away the initial shot by Kucherov, but the rebound deflected over to Stamkos, who finished from the left circle.
Tampa Bay scored on the power play for the first time in 20 opportunities, since Feb. 28. Dallas had killed off 21 straight opposing power plays prior to the goal.
Benn tied it at 2-2 with his 35th goal of the season at 5:42 of the second off a Lightning turnover. An attempted pass by Sustr inside the Tampa Bay zone deflected off Cody Eakin's stick and fell to Benn, who beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the slot to the far post.
Stamkos added a second goal, his 33rd of the season, with 2:41 remaining in the second period on a tap-in at the far post to make it 3-2. Killorn set Stamkos up beautifully with a cross-ice pass.
NOTES: Lightning D Matthew Carle, C Valtteri Filppula (upper body) and C Jonathan Marchessault were scratched. ... Stars D Jordie Benn (lower body), D Jason Demers (shoulder), C Mattias Janmark (upper body), D John Klingberg (lower body), LW Travis Moen and RW Brett Ritchie were scratched. ... Former Stars C Brenden Morrow, Dallas' captain from 2006-13, signed a one-day contract with the Stars on Thursday and announced his retirement in a morning press conference at American Airlines Center. Morrow, who played 15 seasons in the NHL and skated in two Stanley Cup Finals, was honored in a pregame ceremony. ... Lightning C Cedric Paquette returned to the ice after missing the past two games with a lower-body injury. ... Stars LW Patrick Sharp returned to the ice after missing the past six games with a lower-body injury.