As with Game 2, the Dallas Stars fell behind early to the Tampa Bay Lightning. And just like in Game 2, the Stars fired back and proceeded to dominate the puck possession battle, pulling within one goal by the end of the first period.
That’s where the similarities end, thanks to a disastrous second period that saw the Lightning outshoot Dallas 21-4, scoring as many goals in the process as the Stars had shots. Dallas managed to score one more goal in the third, and ultimately lost 5-2.
Tampa Bay jumped out to an early lead thanks to a pair of goals from Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, the latter of whom was making his first appearance this postseason (and his first NHL appearance since February 25th).