When Kevin Shattenkirk scored more than six minutes into overtime, heartbreak set in for the Stars.
It could have been jubilation or euphoria had the result gone the other way. Instead, Shattenkirk’s goal gave Tampa Bay a 5-4 win in overtime of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, giving Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead entering Saturday’s Game 5.
With the loss, the Stars must win the next three games in order to stave off elimination and win the Stanley Cup.
Shattenkirk scored on the power play after Jamie Benn was called for tripping Tyler Johnson, and his shot from the right circle beat Anton Khudobin, who was screened by Jamie Oleksiak on the play.
The goal capped a wild back-and-forth affair fit for the stage that the Stanley Cup Final provides, a see-saw of disappointment and exuberance.
The Stars didn’t generate a ton of offense in the first period, but when they did, it often found the back of the net. Dallas mustered just three shots on goal in the opening frame, but scored twice on Andrei Vasilevskiy.
John Klingberg followed his own rebound after an artsy entrance into the offensive zone, and then beat a vulnerable Vasilevskiy. Later in the period, Joe Pavelski finished an odd-man rush with his 11th goal of the postseason, giving the Stars a 2-0 lead. It was the first time since Game 1 that the Stars led the Lightning by two goals.
But Tampa Bay made sure it didn’t last.
Brayden Point scored in the final minute of the first period by zooming past Jason Dickinson in the neutral zone and finishing beautifully around Anton Khudobin. The goal stemmed any momentum the Stars could have carried into the intermission and cut their lead in half.
Point scored again in the second period by battling a puck out of midair past Khudobin on the power play to tie the game.
Every time the Stars appeared ready to squeeze tighter onto the lead, the Lightning pried open Dallas’ grip. Ten minutes after Corey Perry scored — following up a sweet setup by Tyler Seguin on the rush — to give the Stars a 3-2 lead, Yanni Gourde pounced on a power-play ricochet to tie the game at 3.
Dallas returned the favor in the third period.
Five minutes after Alex Killorn gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the game with a turnaround far side wrist shot, Pavelski answered with his second goal of the night, this one a bouncing puck that went off Shattenkirk and into the net.
It was that kind of night in Edmonton — when both teams believed no lead was safe and each side played their part in an entertaining, heart-pounding and eventually, gut-wrenching loss for Dallas.
The chances were there for the Stars to end the game in regulation. Nick Caamano’s backhand was robbed by Vasilevskiy’s left pad in the second period. Joel Kiviranta’s shot snuck through Vasilevskiy but died in the crease before it was cleared. Alexander Radulov tried to stuff a rebound home with 3:30 left in the third period, but was denied by Vasilevskiy.
It was in direct contrast to the Stars’ performance in Game 3, when the Lightning’s best players throttled Dallas.
“We’ve got to get our structure back,” Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said before Game 4. “We’ve got to get our mentality back of how we play. Still trying to get our defense a little bit more involved in their zone. The details of our game have to be there for 60 minutes. That’s been lacking. We’re certainly not denying that and it’s up to our players now. We know what we have to do. We need to get prepared to go it.”
It’s been that kind of postseason for the Stars, when the game never feels out of reach.
They erased a three-goal deficit to close out the Flames in the first round. They responded in the closing minutes of an elimination game against Colorado to tie the game, and then win in overtime. When it looked like Vegas would force a Game 6 with a strong first 50 minutes, the Stars instead sent the Golden Knights packing.
Before the game, Bowness was asked whether he thought people were already dismissing the Stars, trailing the series to the favored Lightning.
“Are people counting us out now?” Bowness said. “Probably. We don’t, that’s all that matters.”
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