The Tampa Bay Lightning closed out the October slate of their schedule with a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Tonight’s star – Anthony Cirelli. After Brandon Hagel made a nice defensive play in his own zone to force a loose puck, Cirelli bumped the puck to open ice and outraced the Stars’ defenders for a semi-breakaway. He tucked the puck in on the near post to beat Jake Oettinger to earn the bonus point.
Anthony Cirelli (6) [Unassisted]
"A BACKHAND DEKE, CIRELLI!!! He wins it for the Lightning in overtime!" Grit personified by AC in OT!!! #DALvsTBL 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 10:11 PM
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For a Lightning team that struggled to find ways to win close games over the first couple of weeks of the season, the tides of fortune seem to be turning. Part of their success has come from different players stepping up on different nights. It was Cirelli on Thursday night, but Brandon Hagel in OT on one night, and Charle-Edouard D’Astous proving the game-winner on his first NHL goal on another night.
Good teams get contributions from everyone in the line-up and that’s what the Lightning are getting right now. It also helps that Andrei Vasilevskiy is back to being himself. He stopped 20-of-21 shots for his third win in a row. Over that stretch he’s faced 60 shots and only four have gotten past him.
Tonight it was old friend Adam Erne who had the honor as he deflected a point shot past him early in the third period to tie the game at one goal a piece.
Adam Erne (1) [Alex Petrovic, Radek Faska]
First as a Dallas Star for Adam Erne!!!!! 🚨
— Dallas Stars 💫 (@notdallasstars.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 9:37 PM
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The goal erased a 1-0 lead that was courtesy of Brandon Hagel, on the power play no less. It’s three games in a row with a goal for Hagel, who started off the season as the Bolt with the worst luck on the ice (granted he hit another post against the Stars). It’s Hagel’s first power play goal since March 9, 2024. Mikey Eyssimont assisted on that one while it Charle-Edouard D’Astous and Gage Goncalves picking up the helpers on this one.
Brandon Hagel (3) [Gage Goncalves, Charle-Edouard D’Astous] Power Play
Power play goal for Tampa Bay! Scored by Brandon Hagel with 04:58 remaining in the 2nd period. Assisted by Gage Goncalves and Charle-Edouard D'Astous. Tampa Bay: 1 Dallas: 0 #DALvsTBL #GoBolts #TexasHockey
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
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The goal snapped what had been a pretty good goaltending duel as Oettinger faced 21 shots over the first two periods and 32 on the night. Vasilevskiy wasn’t as busy, facing only 10 shots through 40 minutes, but the Stars turned up the heat in the third, launching 10 shots at him. A 5-on-3 power play helped them generate some offense, but the Lightning killed it off to preserve the tie.
With the win, the Lightning creep up to 5-4-2 on the season prior to heading out on a road trip that will put them up against some tough competition. They are still outside of a playoff spot for now, but have moved to just a point behind third-place Ottawa and four-points adrift of Montreal.
Things are looking better for the Lightning, but the grind continues.
