TAMPA, Fla. — Blake Coleman converted a short-handed penalty shot and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots for his 26th career shutout to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-0 victory against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, which has won four consecutive games.
Vasilevskiy’s shutout, his third this season against Dallas, is his fifth on the season, tying for the league lead. Vasilevskiy also reached 30 victories for a franchise-record fourth consecutive season.
Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots for Dallas, which has lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since April 4-6.
The Stars remain two points behind the Nashville Predators for fourth place in the Central Division with one fewer game played. Dallas plays in Nashville on Saturday for the final meeting of the season between the teams.
Palat put Tampa Bay in front with his 15th goal of the season. It extended his scoring streak to seven games..
After Alex Barre-Boulet put pressure on Dallas defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, forcing him back behind the Stars’ net, Oleskiak reversed the puck along to boards to Blake Comeau. But Palat came down the boards to put pressure on Comeau, who tried to give it back to Oleksiak. The pass was disrupted by Palat, who then picked the puck off the blade of Oleksiak and beat Oettinger with a wrist shot at 14:41.
Coleman, who was tripped up after stealing the puck on a Dallas power play, skated in and snapped off a wrist shot over Oettinger’s glove at 8:27 of the third period for his 10th career short-handed goal.
Point added an empty net goal with 1:21 left in the game.
SEGUIN NEARING A RETURN
Dallas C Tyler Seguin, who has yet to play this regular season after undergoing hip surgery in the offseason, continues to skate with the team with a possible eye on getting back in the lineup before the end of the regular season, which is scheduled to end for Dallas on May 10
“He skated with us this morning, he’ll skate with us (Friday), then again on Saturday,’’ Dallas head coach Rick Bowness said. “We’re hoping to see him next week, but he’ll tell us when he’s ready to go.’’
UP NEXT
Dallas: At Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Tampa Bay: At Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
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