Gurianov and the Stars take on Tampa Bay to start Stanley Cup Final
Dallas Stars (37-24-8, third in the Central Division during the regular season) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, second in the Atlantic Division during the regular season)
Edmonton, Alberta; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
STANLEY CUP FINAL: Tampa Bay and Dallas begin series
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning face the Dallas Stars to open the Stanley Cup Final. The teams meet Saturday for the third time this season. Tampa Bay went 2-0 against Tampa Bay during the regular season.
The Lightning are 15-9-3 in non-conference action. Tampa Bay leads the league shooting 11.2% and averaging 3.5 goals on 31.1 shots per game.
The Stars are 15-12-2 in non-conference play. Dallas has given up 44 power-play goals, killing 79.7% of opponent chances.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 85 points, scoring 33 goals and registering 52 assists. Ondrej Palat has eight goals and two assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Denis Gurianov leads the Stars with 20 goals and has 29 points. Jamie Benn has six goals and four assists over the last 10 games for Dallas.
DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Lightning: Averaging 3.1 goals, 5.7 assists, 4.8 penalties and 12.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game with a .930 save percentage.
Stars: Averaging 3.0 goals, 5.1 assists, 4.6 penalties and 10.7 penalty minutes while giving up 3.0 goals per game with a .908 save percentage.
INJURIES: Lightning: Steven Stamkos: out (lower body).
Stars: Radek Faksa: out (undisclosed), Stephen Johns: out (undisclosed), Ben Bishop: out (undisclosed).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by , and data from ,.
