Stanley Cup Finals Game 4 Review

LIGHTNING MOVE WITHIN ONE WIN OF SECOND STANLEY CUP WITH 5-4 OT VICTORY

The Stanley Cup will be in the building tonight after Kevin Shattenkirk scored at 6:34 of overtime to give the Lightning a 3-1 series lead against the Stars. The game featured three tying goals and a multi-goal comeback by the Lightning, marking the 40th time that a team won a Stanley Cup Final game in which it trailed by at least two goals.

* Friday was the second time Tampa Bay won an overtime game in the Final. Martin St. Louis netted the winner 33 seconds into double-overtime of Game 6 in 2004, with the Lightning winning their first Cup two nights later.

* Shattenkirk, a veteran of 762 total NHL games who signed with the Lightning as a free agent on Aug. 5, 2019, scored his second career playoff overtime goal (also Game 3 of 2017 R2 w/ WSH). He is in search of his first Stanley Cup after watching two of his former teams – the Capitals (2018) and Blues (2019) – claim the trophy in each of the last two years.

* Tampa Bay improved to 7-1 in overtime this postseason, extending their franchise record for overtime wins in a single postseason and boosting their NHL-record all-time win percentage in playoff overtime games to .710 (22-9 in 31 GP). They have played more overtime minutes in the 2020 postseason than any team in playoff history (191:51).

HISTORY FAVORS LIGHTNING AS STANLEY CUP FINAL RESUMES TONIGHT

This is the 35th time that a team has led 3-1 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final. In the previous 34 instances, the team with the advantage has gone on to win the championship 33 times (97.1%) – the only comeback came in 1942 when the Maple Leafs won the Cup despite losing the first three games of the series.

* The Lightning lead 3-1 in a best-of-seven series for the 10th time in franchise history, winning each of the previous nine instances – closing out the series seven times in Game 5.

* The Stars/North Stars franchise trails 3-1 in a best-of-seven series for the 15th time in franchise history – losing each previous series (0-14) – and third in the Final. In the 2000 Final, Ed Belfour had a 48-save shutout and Mike Modano scored the only goal after 106:21 of playing time to help the Stars extend the series before ultimately losing in Game 6. In the 1981 Final, the North Stars lost Game 5 as Mike Bossy and the Islanders claimed their second of four straight Stanley Cups.

POINT, PAVELSKI BATTLE IT OUT FOR GOALS LEAD

The top goal scorers in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs stepped into the spotlight yet again Friday as Lightning forward Brayden Point scored twice to maintain his one-goal edge over Stars forward Joe Pavelski, who also had two goals in Game 4.

* Point became the fifth player since 2011 to score a goal in three straight games during the Stanley Cup Final, following Ryan O’Reilly in 2019 (4 GP w/ STL), Charlie Coyle in 2019 (3 GP w/ BOS), Devante Smith-Pelly in 2018 (3 GP w/ WSH) and Jake Guentzel in 2017 (3 GP w/ PIT).

* Pavelski ranks second in the League with 12 goals, the most in one playoff year by an NHL player age 36 or older. He recorded his 11th career multi-goal game in the postseason to surpass Patrick Marleau and Sidney Crosby for the most among active players. His 60 career playoff goals are tied for 32nd in League history and for the most ever by a U.S.-born player (Joe Mullen also has 60).

KUCHEROV JOINS GRETZKY, GILMOUR, LEMIEUX AND COFFEY WITH 25TH ASSIST

Nikita Kucherov notched two assists to boost his League-leading total to 25 this postseason, just the ninth time a player has hit that mark in a playoff year. Kucherov is the fifth different player to record 25 assists in a postseason, joining Wayne Gretzky (5x), Doug Gilmour, Mario Lemieux and Paul Coffey.

* Kucherov, who was joined in the 30-point club by teammate Brayden Point (13-17—30), also leads the League with 32 points – tied for the most by any player in the last 10 years.

EXCLUSIVE 20-POINT CLUB GAINS ANOTHER NEW MEMBER

Miro Heiskanen (6-19—25 in 25 GP) and Victor Hedman (10-11—21 in 23 GP) each had an assist Friday, while John Klingberg (4-16—20 in 24 GP) scored the game’s opening goal to join them in the 20-point club. This marks the first postseason in NHL history in which three or more defensemen have reached the benchmark – two defensemen have done so four times previously.

* Klingberg and Heiskanen became the second set of defensemen on the same team to each record 20 or more points in the same postseason, joining Paul Coffey (12-25—37 in 18 GP) and Charlie Huddy (3-17—20 in 18 GP) of the 1985 Oilers.

* Hedman has 1-5—6 through four games this round, tied with teammate Nikita Kucherov (1-5—6) for the series lead in assists and points. The last defenseman to record more than six points in the Stanley Cup Final was Duncan Keith in 2010 (1-6—7 in 6 GP).

STANLEY CUP SCHEDULE

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