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The Wraparound: Stars try to force Game 7 vs. Lightning

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Two goals from Corey Perry, including the 2OT game winner, saved the Stars from elimination in the Stanley Cup Final and forced Game 6 against the Lightning.

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down Monday’s Stanley Cup Final game with the all-important television and live streaming information included.

• Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has been ruled out for the rest of the Cup Final.

Don’t expect a bubble situation for the 2020-21 NHL regular season.

MONDAY’S STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME

Game 6: Stars vs. Lightning (TB leads 3-2) - 8 p.m. ET, NBC (livestream): Facing elimination for the second time this postseason, the Stars overcame a third-period deficit and won the first Cup Final double-overtime game since 2014 to deny the Lightning the title and force Game 6. In what was the second set of a back-to-back, two aging offseason signees were the difference for Dallas as 36-year-old Joe Pavelski tied the game with 6:45 remaining in regulation and 35-year-old Corey Perry ended the second overtime game in as many days with his put back 9:23 into the second extra session.

This was the first game this series in which neither team led by more than one goal at any point. Game 5 was the second straight game in which there was a lead change after zero such occurrences in the first three games this series.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

The three oldest players on the ice in Game 5 were the difference makers as Perry and Pavelski scored all of Dallas’ goals and 34-year-old Anton Khudobin stopped 39 of 41 shots including all 11 faced in the overtime sessions. Perry and Pavelski, the two oldest players on the Stars, were long-time division rivals on their former clubs, and were signed the day free agency opened on July 1, 2019. Both were brought on to provide experience and although neither is the prolific goal-scorer they once were, the Stars got what they paid for with the timely scoring the two have provided in these playoffs. For Khudobin, a journeyman goalie starting in the postseason for the first time, he’s now two wins away from history and maybe a Conn Smythe Trophy.

Tampa became first team in NHL history to clinch all three series in overtime en route to reaching the Cup Final, but they were unable to win a fourth OT-series clincher, at least not yet. Head coach Jon Cooper compared his team’s situation now to the East Final, when they led the Islanders 3-1 and lost Game 5 in double overtime and then came back two days later and closed out the series in Game 6.

“We were in this spot before in the last series,” he said. “We had a 3-1 [series] lead, and coincidentally we lost in overtime in that one too. We’ve felt this feeling before, we’ve felt this sting, and then we’ve rebounded.”

The Lightning have yet to lose consecutive games this postseason – 5-0 following a loss since the First Round. They last lost consecutive games on March 8th and 10th – their final two games before the pause.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Dallas Stars (TB leads 3-2)

Stars 4, Lightning 1 (recap)
Lightning 3, Stars 2 (recap)
Lightning 5, Stars 2 (recap)
Lighting 5, Stars 4 [OT] (recap)
Stars 3, Lightning 2 [2OT] (recap)
Game 6: Monday, Sept. 28, 8 p.m. ET – NBC (livestream)
*Game 7: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 8 p.m. ET – NBC

*if necessary

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