Los Angeles, United State—Corey Perry scored at 9:23 of the second overtime Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) and the Dallas Stars stayed alive in the NHL Stanley Cup final with a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Lightning had a chance to seize the Cup in the NHL’s quarantine bubble in Edmonton, Alberta, after an overtime win in game four on Friday.
Instead the Stars narrowed the gap in the best-of-seven series to 3-2, with game six on Monday.
“We talked about it all day, we get one we keep going,” Perry said. “We start building here, and I think we’re starting to do something special.”
Perry’s second goal of the contest came after John Klingberg fired a shot from the blue line.
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy left the puck waiting in the crease and Perry slotted it home, the officials reviewing to make sure the play was onside.
Joe Pavelski scored at 13:15 of the third period to knot the score at 2-2.
With his 61st NHL post-season goal Pavelski passed Joe Mullen for most by a United States-born player.
“We hang in there, we really do,” Pavelski said. “We stick with it, stick with the plan.
“We’re in a hole,” Pavelski acknowledged. “This gets us a step closer, but we’ve got a ways to go.”
Mikhail Sergachev had put the Lighting up 2-1 3:38 into the third period on a one-timer from the blue line.
Perry had given the Stars a 1-0 lead at 17:52 of the first period, scoring off a loose puck in the slot and Ondrej Palat tied it at 1-1 at 4:37 of the second, cutting across the crease and firing the puck past Stars goalie Anton Khudobin.
Khudobin made 39 saves for Dallas, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 for Tampa Bay.
“Yesterday and tonight, we had so much fun,” Stars center Tyler Seguin said.
“It’s such a great time to be playing hockey and these games have been so good, and we’ve been told we’re the underdogs non-stop, which we are, so we’re relishing that and we’re having a good time.”
Both teams are chasing a second Stanley Cup crown.
The Lightning’s run to the title series in the pandemic disrupted season was a vindication after they were swept in the Eastern Conference first round last season after earning the Presidents Trophy for best regular-season record.
“It’s obviously not the outcome you want,” Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. “But at the same time we knew it was going to be a hard series and, you know, we had some good looks in overtime and throughout the game.
“It wasn’t our night, and they scored. So at the end of the day, we look forward to next game.”
