San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
‘Hit ’em!’ Dallas rolls with punishing play
EDMONTON, Alberta — Dallas Stars players on the bench yelled at their teammates, “Hit ‘em!” They did, over and over, the body checks and the shouts easily heard throughout an arena left empty because of the pandemic for this most unusual Stanley Cup Final.
The wellrested Stars came out and hammered the bangedup Tampa Bay Lightning, taking it to them for two periods and relying on goaltender Anton Khudobin to close the door in the third to win 41 Saturday night for a 10 lead. By the time the talented Lightning got rolling, it was too late.
“I don’t even know if you need to take a shower after the first two periods,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “They came out, they were skating and I think we probably dipped our toes in the water a little bit and watched them skate around for a bit.”
Game 1 started looking every bit like Dallas had four days off since winning the Western Conference final and Tampa Bay just one after clinching the East. The Stars, who grinded their way through the playoffs with tightchecking toughness, came out hitting, knowing the Lightning are not fully healthy.
“They were right on top of us,” said Yanni Gourde, who scored Tampa Bay’s only goal. “They were on top of us right from the get go, so we’ve got to adjust and do a better job.”
Blake Comeau hit 6foot6 Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman on one of the first shifts, and Joel Kiviranta crushed top center Brayden Point into the boards to set up Joel Hanley’s first NHL goal of any kind. Defenseman Esa Lindell also got into the action early with Point, crosschecking him and leveling him in open ice.
“That’s just the makeup and identity of our team,” Comeau said. “I think we’re playing our best hockey when we’re engaged emotionally, physically, and getting in on the forecheck, pressuring their D, and everyone on our team has done a good job. When there’s a chance to finish the hit, you finish the hit.”