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The Tampa Bay Lightning show no signs of stopping after 6-0 shutout over Dallas Stars.
Unrelenting Offense
Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov led the charge on Tampa Bay’s offense. They led the team to score at least six points over Dallas. The Stars normally make their opponents work for their goals. Currently, the Stars defense is third in the league in goals conceded with 146.
In less than 10 minutes, Kucherov piled on three points with another goal thanks to an assist.
“We just came out hard and want to play our way and stick to our structure,” Kucherov said, who became the fastest Tampa Bay player to reach 90 points. “”Good things happen when we play the right way and it paid off.”
Tampa Bay put up four goals by the time the first period ended in just the span of 7:21. They reached 90 points faster than any other Tampa Bay in franchise history.
Going into their next game with a four-game win-streak is bound to be a confidence booster, especially against a Montreal team that is coming off a two-game losing streak.
Stars Fail to Capitalize on Opportunity
The Tampa Bay Lightning made the Dallas Stars work for every scoring chance. Andre Vasilevskiy stood in front of the goal like a brick wall. He did not allow a single puck to cross the goal line. He finished the match with 32 saves.
“Every time we made a mistake or a bounce went their way they made us pay,” Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said. “You’ve got to tip your hat, that’s a really good hockey team. Anytime we did break through they’ve got a brick wall back there.”
Montgomery attempted to stop the Lightning barrage by making a series of goalie changes. Montgomery swapped out starter Anton Khudobin for Landon Bow. It proved to be ineffective.
— SportsDay Stars (@dmn_stars) February 15, 2019
The lightning piled on two more goals to finish the night 6-0. This concluded to be the Stars worst loss of the season.
Playoff Preview
Saturday night will be a fairly good preview of what is to come for the Lightning in terms of playoff chances. With a stellar and efficient offense scoring an average of 3.88 goals per game in comparison to the Canadiens 3.00, as well as making 57 power play goals, Carey Price has his work cut out for him.
Montreal will need to get crafty in their passing game to get past Andrei Vasilevskiy. The goaltender had 32 saves against the Dallas Stars alone. Furthermore, the Canadiens’ goaltender, Carey Price, will have to stay frosty if they hope to hold off another onslaught. Stamkos and Kucherov come into this game with a combined 58 points, 93 assists and the momentum of a four-game winning streak.
