Stars 4, Lightning 3
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On a night when Brenden Morrow was feted for his retirement announcement at American Airlines Center, the Stars put together a Morrow-like performance.
Stars captain Jamie Benn tallied two goals, added an assist, and played one of his more physical games of the season, leading the Stars to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Thursday.
"I thought he tried to honor our former captain with his performance, which was great to see," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "He scored a couple of big goals for us."
The win was huge for Dallas, which moves to 42-21-9 (93 points), and creates a bit of a cushion in a Central Division battle for supremacy that was starting to look like a sloth race. Dallas moves two points ahead of St. Louis and five points ahead of Chicago.
Just as important, the Stars regained some of their swagger, courtesy of the captain.
Benn watched in the afternoon while Morrow said goodbye in a press conference and then witnessed a sold out AAC give Morrow a standing ovation after he dropped the puck. Benn then went out and played a fantastic game.
"Coming in here as a young guy, he kind of took me under his wing and taught me a lot," Benn said. "I definitely still try to play like him a bit, throwing the body around. He was a player that led by example and didn't talk too much, kind of like myself. And when he did talk, everyone listened. So it was pretty special for him to be here tonight."
Benn had help. Cody Eakin finished with three assists, despite being benched in the first period. Eakin had a giveaway that helped contribute to the Lightning's first goal at 12:15 of the first period, and Ruff didn't play him the remainder of the period. The coach said he thought the benching worked.
"We have to clean up our game and that's part of our game that we have to clean up," Ruff said. "The only thing I can do is take some ice time away. I thought he responded with one heck of a game after that."
However, it was from an easy night for the Stars, just as it was far from easy for Morrow in his career. Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos had two goals and played a great game, with his second tally at 17:19 of the second period putting the Lightning up 3-2.
Tampa Bay was 31-1-0 when leading after two periods, while the Stars were 4-17-4 while trailing.
But a Dallas team that was coming off a disappointing loss to Los Angeles Tuesday came out heavy in the third period. Dallas outshot the Lighting 17-4 and scored twice. The first goal came on a big shot from rookie Stephen Johns, who cranked one from the right point that sailed through a Tyler Seguin screen and under Bishop's pad.
It was the first goal of Johns' NHL career and electrified the arena.
"If it would have been one of our other defensemen, it would have been a lift," Ruff said. "But for a young guy like that to get his first, and for it to be that big a goal, I thought the building had a little extra in it for us."
That set the stage for Benn, and he didn't disappoint. The man who was named captain after Morrow's departure in 2013 charged the net and was in the right place when Eakin made a nice backhand feed from below the goal line. Benn flipped in his 36th goal of the season for the game-winner.
The only downside was the fact Seguin was cut on the back of the leg in the final minute of the game. He will be re-evaluated on Friday, Ruff said.
"We were due for one of those comeback character wins," Benn said. "We had a strong third period and found a way to win a hockey game."