Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy added his name to a list with multiple Hockey Hall of Famers on Sunday while helping his team extend its point streak to 13 straight games in a 4-1 win over one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

Vasilevskiy was a key cog in Tampa Bay’s victory over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Sunday afternoon, making 19 saves in a win that improves the Lightning record to 30-13-4 this season.

“This is game five of a five-game trip. Basically we played nine games in nine different cities,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of his team’s stretch of play after the win. “For the guys to take all but an overtime loss in one, I’ve got to tip my cap to them. It’s been a pretty good effort by them.”

Dallas got off to the better start on Sunday, grabbing a 1-0 lead four minutes after the opening faceoff—Stars forward Oskar Bäck deposited the goal from the crease after a point shot dropped the loose puck behind Vasilevskiy.

One of the youngest Bolts had the answer on Sunday, as Dominic James tied the game on a rush chance for the Lightning with 11:56 left in the first period.

James completed a give-and-go with Jake Guentzel to enter the offensive zone, and the rookie forward then ripped his shot from below the left faceoff dot to beat Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger under the blocker and tie the score at 1-1.

Cooper called the goal “huge”.

“That was a huge goal by James,” he said. “We’re on the road and they score first. To score within four minutes was probably a little bit of a momentum shift for us, but they compete hard, that’s what they do. When you get into those rough areas, the corners, the front of the net, our guys can be hard. And it’s paying off right now.”

Vasilevskiy had to stay strong over the final minutes of the opening period, denying Dallas’ leading goalscorer in Jason Robertson on a breakaway during 4-on-4 and keeping the Stars to a single goal despite the home team outshooting the Lightning nine to five.

Vasilevskiy’s win was his 20th of the season, giving him 10 consecutive seasons of at least 20 wins. He became the sixth goalie in NHL history to record 10 straight 20-win seasons, joining Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Brodeur, Tony Esposito, Chris Osgood and Jacques Plante.

Tampa Bay earned its first lead just past the midway point of the second period off the stick of forward Brandon Hagel. A shot from the point was blocked by Dallas, allowing the puck to find Nikita Kucherov in the high slot. That’s when Kucherov threaded a pass to Hagel at the right post.

Hagel won the puck battle, tucking home the 2-1 tally with 8:56 remaining in the middle frame.

“I liked our response,” Darren Raddysh said postgame after getting the secondary assist on the goal. “We went down one but we stuck to our gameplan and wanted to make them defend. I thought we did pretty well in the first period there and continued in the second and third.”

The James and Guentzel combination then cushioned Tampa Bay’s lead late in the second period, this time with Guentzel burying the puck.

James’ initial shot on another rush look was stopped by Oettinger, but Guentzel potted the rebound on his backhand with just over a minute left in the period to make it 3-1.

“I just think we had the whole team going,” James said of the win. “We had four lines going, so that’s usually the recipe for success for us these past couple of games and throughout that 12-game stretch so I think if we just stick together we’ll be alright.”

The day was capped by an empty-net goal from Pontus Holmberg in the third period. The goal was his eighth of the season, marking a new career high.

James and Guentzel both finished with a goal and an assist to pace all players on offense, while Kucherov joined Charle-Edourd D’Astous, Raddysh and Yanni Gourde with one assist apiece for the Bolts.

Tampa Bay can extend its point streak to 14 games on Tuesday, when they return home to face the San Jose Sharks. The franchise’s last 14-game point streak came during the 2018-19 season.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

Brandon Hagel, TBL (Game-winning goal)
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (19-save win)
Dominic James, TBL (Goal, assist)