Lightning takes 2-1 Cup lead on Stars
EDMONTON, Alberta — Steven Stamkos scored on his first shot since February, left with injury and the Tampa Bay Lightning kept dominating without him, blowing the Dallas Stars out of an empty arena with a 5-2 rout in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night to take the lead in the series.
Even though he only skated five shifts for 2:47, the Lightning captain making his 2020 playoff debut 211 days after he last played in an NHL game gave the Lightning a jolt. He made the most of that time with a vintage Stamkos goal going around Esa Lindell and sniping a shot past Anton Khudobin.
“We were really excited,” forward Alex Killorn said. “He told us he was ready, he comes out, gets a shot on net and scores a goal. It really elevated our team. So happy for him to be back and be a part of this.”
Stamkos skated off gingerly at the end of his final shift in the first period and was not on the bench for the start of the second. He returned to the bench and took a few twirls to test out the injury but did not return.
The Lightning were just fine with Stamkos offering moral support sitting in the middle of the bench.
They got goals from all three of their first-line forwards, their top defenseman and their captain and big saves from their Vezina Trophy finalist goaltender, while the Stars' best players were quiet once again or made big mistakes to contribute to the loss. Nikita Kucherov, Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat all scored for Tampa Bay, which was the better team from the start of the second period on.
Khudobin was under pressure most of the night and allowed five goals on 29 shots before coach Rick Bowness replaced him at the start of the third with rookie Jake Oettinger.
MIAMI TAKES 3-1 LEAD OVER BOSTON
Tyler Herro — still just 20 years old — scored a Heat rookie-record 37 points, Jimmy Butler scored 24 and Miami beat the Boston Celtics, 112-109, on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Goran Dragic added 22 and Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Heat take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. They can close it out Friday night in Game 5.
Jayson Tatum scored all 28 of his points in the second half for the Celtics. They erased a doubledigit deficit to take a one-point lead in the fourth — then saw the Heat run away again. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Kemba Walker added 20, Gordon Hayward had 14 and Marcus Smart finished with 10 points and 11 assists.
TORONTO STOPS NYCFC
Alejandro Pozuelo scored on a penalty kick in the 90th minute and Toronto FC beat NYCFC, 1-0.
Toronto FC (7-2-4) ran its unbeaten streak to four and ended New York City's at six.
Pozuelo scored his fifth of the season, beating goalkeeper Sean Johnson with a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner. Alex Bono made eight saves for Toronto.
RED BULLS ROLL
Brian White scored the first of New York's three second-half goals and the Red Bulls beat Inter Miami, 4-0.
After a turnover by Inter Miami, Omir Fernandez played a one-touch pass to White for a first-timer from the center of the area that made it 2-1 in the 49th minute.
New York (5-6-2) has won two of its last three games after a fourgame winless streak that included three losses.
Mandela Egbo, Benjamin Mines and Daniel Royer added goals for New York.
Juan Agudelo scored for Miami (3-8-2).