In Dallas, Anthony Cirelli‘s second goal of the game came with 44 seconds left in regulation to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 lead over the Stars in their Saturday matinee. 
“That goal was a combination of what happened probably in the last seven minutes of the period,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I think our guys, they really dug in. That’s a really, really good hockey team over there. Our goalie kept us in it to that point, and then the big boys kind of took over after that. We just kind of leaned on them, leaned on them, leaned on them. We had so many close chances to score there.”
Tampa’s Brandon Hagel added an empty-net goal for a 3-1 final in the win.
Victor Hedman picked up his 500th career NHL point in the win.
“I am happy it came in a big game like this, late in the game. Those are the moments you live for, and it was a great feeling,” Hedman said. “To do it for this club over the last 14 years is great, and a lot of credit goes to the guys that put the pucks in the net.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in the win.
Tampa improved to 34-16-2.
Cirelli’s first of the game came after a scoreless first period, he put the Lightning up, 1-0, midway through the middle frame.
Dallas dropped to 30-14-10.
“They pushed in the third, that’s what a real good team like that does,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “I thought our execution the last five minutes was poor. It’s a good learning lesson for our group, against teams like that you can’t sit in a shell. You can’t stand around because they’ll expose you.”
The Stars tied it, 1-1, two minutes later on a strike from Jamie Benn off a 3-on-1 breakout.
Hagel’s empty-netter was hit with one second left on the game clock.
“It’s easy playing with [Hagel] and [Alex Killorn], or it’s [Steven Stamkos], or whatever it may be,” Cirelli said. “Everyone’s always in the right spot, they work so hard, they’re good skaters, and good at making plays. When you get guys like that, it’s easy to play. We’ve found a little chemistry the last couple games, so it’s been going well.”
Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves in the Stars loss.
“I think [Vasilevskiy]’s the best in the League, next to my boy Jakey (Oettinger),” said Wedgewood. “I’ve played with him, I’ve been on his team. I saw what he did for the Cup runs there to be a part of it. He’s a workhorse. He just takes up a lot of the net and knows what works for him. He’s a good dude, I like him a lot. It’s fun to battle, but obviously I want to be on the other side of it.”
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