He had not played a match in seven months.

But once Steven Stamko's was on the ice again, he only needed seven minutes to put the puck in the net for his Tampa Bay.

Victor Hedman found his team captain with a diagonal pass, Stamkos fumbled past Dallas' Esa Lindell at the right edge, ran towards goal and shot with his only shot in the match into the puck in Anton Chudobin's left cross.

- It was amazing.

It is great fun to be part of such an important victory.

I am most happy that I was able to contribute even though I played so little, says Stamkos himself at the press conference after the match where he was on the ice for less than three minutes.

Praise by fellow players

His teammates were lyrical after the goal and give their captain the credit for the important victory.

- It is so important to have him back on the ice and it is fantastic that he has already been able to contribute with goals, says Hedman.

- It's really cool.

He comes in, shoots a shot and scores.

Fantastic, says Alex Killorn.

Stamko's goal meant 2-0 and was just the beginning of Tampa Bay's big game during the first two periods of the match.

New goal by Hedman

Not even a minute passed in the second period before Hedman with a shot from the castle increased to 3-1, the Swede's tenth goal in this year's playoffs.

- It is always fun to contribute, but we are not here to improve our own statistics, we are here to win the Stanley Cup, says Hedman.

Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat extended the lead in the second period and thus the team's three best goal scorers in the playoffs had made it into the goal record in this match as well.

Steven Stamkos was able to cheer from the replacement booth and as the team pulled away it became increasingly obvious that after his first period he could rest the match out.

- You want to help your team win.

I always wanted (during the injury period) to find a way to be able to be part of, be a team, because it is so hard to sit in the stands, it is much more nervous, says Stamkos, who last played on February 25 this year.

Two more victories

After 66 points in 57 games last winter, a muscle injury in the torso put a stop to further play.

He underwent surgery at the beginning of March and the rehabilitation was then expected to take between six and eight weeks.

But despite being with the team in the playoff bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton, he has not been ready for the match until now.

- So it was fantastic to be able to play, but now it is important that we win two more matches, he says and floats a bit on the goal if he is in the team also in match four.

With 5-1 in the back, Tampa Bay was able to release some of its pressure in the third, and instead Dallas tried a super turn.

But it never came - it was nothing more than a new reduction - and in the end Tampa Bay won 5-2 and leads the final series 2-1.

The next match will be played on the night before Saturday Swedish time.