In the second match of the Stanley Cup Final, Tampa Bay took revenge on Dallas for a major defeat and equalized the score in the series.
John Cooper's wards started the meeting well and already in the first period secured a comfortable advantage, hitting Anton Khudobin's goal three times.
Nevertheless, the rivals did not surrender without a fight and in the remaining time they did everything possible to revive the intrigue.
At the same time, Russian legionaries shone in the attack of both teams, and the Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov was recognized as the second star of the match.
On the eve of the reporting meeting, the Tampa mentor not only seriously motivated his hockey players, but also intimidated strangers.
Cooper warned that athletes who do not draw conclusions from their game can very quickly fall out of the composition, and subsequently leave the NHL, and also talked about a possible return to the cage of Stephen Stamkos.
In preparation for the playoffs, the Canadian received a lower back injury and has not gone out on the ice since, but on the eve of the second match of the final series he took part in the morning rolling.
However, Stamkos did not appear on the court again.
Perhaps it turned out for the best.
After all, then the first special brigade of the majority would have undergone changes, the backbone of which were representatives of the leading three - Nikita Kucherov, Braden Point and Ondřej Chambers.
It was she who provided the team with the most important victory, having realized the majority for the first time since the third meeting of the series with the New York Islanders.
The Dallas hockey players expected that after a lackluster performance in the debut game of the series, Kucherov would be over-motivated and would try to rehabilitate himself as quickly as possible.
The Russian leader "Lightning" was given special attention, which was reflected in the abundance of power techniques from the opponents.
As a result, he was even forced to briefly go to the locker room.
“Actually, something happened to my visor.
When it was repaired, I returned.
Needless to say, the start of the match turned out to be difficult for me personally.
But this is the playoffs, you shouldn't expect anything else here, ”the NHL press service quotes Kucherov.
One could have feared that such an attitude on the part of the Stars would provoke a backlash.
Previously, Kucherov had already been marked by unreasonably tough moves that cost him a place on the ice.
Suffice it to recall last year's streak with the Columbus Blue Jackets, when he was sent off before the end of the match for pushing aboard Marcus Nutivaara.
But as Cooper later admitted, he had no doubt about his ward.
“If Kucherov were younger, I would probably be worried that his emotions would prevail and this would somehow affect his game.
But now no longer.
Great attention is constantly riveted to him, and he learned to live with it.
Knows not to show weakness and give in to feelings.
Cooch played as clearly and systematically as if nothing had happened, ”said the Lightning mentor.
Kucherov returned to the site and organized two successful attacks in less than three minutes.
He first helped Point score a tenth goal in the playoffs, and then assisted the Chamber.
Cech scored the ninth goal, setting a personal best.
Separately, it is worth noting the grace with which Kucherov designed the assistant double.
Both times, the Russian opened in the right throw-in circle, after which he left out of work the entire defense of the Stars in one movement.
In the first case, he found Point directly opposite the gate, and in the second, he cut out the thinnest transverse gear.
The only thing left to do was to process the chamber and transport the puck to an empty corner.
Nikita scored 28 points (6 goals, 22 assists) and set several Tampa Bay playoff records at once.
Firstly, he surpassed the achievement of Brad Richards (12 + 14) in the number of points in one Stanley Cup, and also left behind Martin St. Louis (25) in the number of meetings with two or more points.
“It's nice to go down in history, but we are not here for the sake of records.
Our goal is to win the Cup ... To be honest, we didn't think about Khudobin.
It is clear that he is a good goalkeeper, but we had to stick to the plan: create traffic in front of the goal, shoot, work on finishing moves.
Simplicity has become the key to success, "Kucherov admitted.
In addition, a successful game in the majority special brigade helped Kucherov to reach fourth place on points in one playoff draw among the Russians.
He repeated the result of Evgeni Malkin, who in the 2016/17 season recorded 10 goals and 18 assists.
Notably, the three-time Pittsburgh Penguins trophy winner also tops the list.
11 years ago, he broke out with 14 goals and 22 passes.
Lines lower in this ranking are Evgeny Kuznetsov (12 + 20) and Pavel Bure (16 + 15).
“What I admire about Kucherov is the passion with which he fights for the puck.
We all talk about his passes - and to the point, but look how often he enters and wins martial arts.
When skill and fighting qualities are combined in this way, one cannot help but admire it, ”Cooper said.
Kevin Shattenkirk came up with an impressive first period for Tampa.
54 seconds after the goal of the House, the nominal hosts made another prolonged attack, which ended with a throw from the defender from the blue line.
Khudobin's review was closed by both his own and other people's hockey players, because of which he could not react properly and was forced to capitulate for the third time.
After the break, the situation on the ice changed dramatically.
If in the first period Lightning had a huge advantage, then in the second period Dallas took the initiative.
Hockey players Rick Bowness significantly increased their activity and delivered three times more shots (18) than during the starting 20-minute.
Andrei Vasilevsky repeatedly saved his partners, but still missed in one of the episodes.
Alexander Radulov turned out to be the most agile of all on the throw-in and threw the puck to John Klingberg, who threw on a penny.
Joe Pavelski put his club up and scored.
This accurate shot put him on par with Mike Modano in the American sniper rating in the playoffs - 58 goals (only Joe Mullen (60) and Brett Hull (103) scored more goals.
However, Radulov did not stop there, and already in the third period helped Dallas to reduce the gap to a minimum.
Players "Tampa Bay" untimely started a change and allowed opponents to organize a three-on-two exit.
The Russian passed to the same Klingberg, and the Swede shot Matthias Janmark.
Tom could only substitute the club.
Radulov had 48 (21 + 27) points in the NHL playoffs in his career, which helped him to bypass Sergei Samsonov and reach 16th place among Russians in this indicator.
In addition, he surpassed the achievement of Vyacheslav Fetisov and caught up with Andrei Markov in the number of assists in the Stanley Cup.
In the remaining time, the teams continued to attack, but the score remained unchanged - 3: 2.
This is largely due to the excellent play of the goalkeepers.
Vasilevsky made 27 saves, helped Tampa level the score in the series and win all six playoff meetings, which were preceded by defeats.
This was the second result in the history of the NHL, and the first belongs to the ex-Lightning goalkeeper Nikolai Khabibulin (seven wins).
In this Stanley Cup, Hudobin has already made 624 saves and by this indicator came out on top in Dallas history, overtaking Ed Belfour.
Hockey players "Tampa" still managed to leave Khudobin out of work for the fourth time.
During one of the attacks, Mikhail Sergachev found himself naked on the blue line and with a powerful throw pierced the goal net.
However, Bowness asked the judges to reconsider the episode for an offside position and was right.
When entering the zone, Blake Coleman was a little hasty and ended up behind the blue line before the puck.
The goal was canceled, but the score remained the same.
The third match of the series will take place on the night of September 24.