WASHINGTON (AP) James Neal has become a source of leadership and inspiration for the Vegas Golden Knights during their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final.So http://www.officialblues.com/authentic-adidas-dmitrij-jaskin-jersey , it came as no surprise that the 11-year veteran made a point of seeking out teammate Alex Tuch, a 22-year-old rookie who missed a chance to score the potential tying goal late in Game 2 against the Washington Capitals”I talked with him a little bit today,” Neal said Friday. ”It’s all good. He’ll get a bigger one for us later in the series. He’s been great for us so far, so no reason to think about that anymore. At the end of the day, it’s a great save and you move forward.”Braden Holby snuffed the shot with his goalie stick in a 3-2 victory that evened the series heading in Game 3 on Saturday night.Vegas snagged a winner when they selected Neal from Nashville last June in the expansion draft. They got a skilled forward who scored 20 goals in 10 straight seasons (now 11) and a player who turned out to be perfect for a team that had to mesh immediately to be successful.”He’s a natural leader,” Golden Knights right wing Ryan Reaves said. ”He likes leading the boys into battle. When he has something to say he’s going to say it, and people are going to listen.”Neal reached the Stanley Cup Final last year with the Predators, who lost to Pittsburgh. Now here he is again, with another crack at winning it all.”It’s a special team and a special group of guys,” Neal said. ”I’ve been to the finals before, so just try to give them little tips. I try to lead by example, do the right things on the ice. We’ve got a group that responds well.”Neal seriously wants to win, but he isn’t always serious. And that’s the way his teammates like it.”I’m not going to pump his tires too much because I don’t want to hear about it, but he’s definitely one of those guys that keeps it loose,” Reaves said. ”You need guys like that around the team. You can’t be 100 percent business-like all the time. You’ve got to have fun.”Vegas goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury is the only other player on the club who’s played in the Stanley Cup Final, so he and Neal have been taking turns doling out advice.”In the locker room he’s a big voice,” Fleury said of Neal. ”He’s been to the finals Youth Jaden Schwartz Jersey , so it’s good to have someone else who can share that experience.”Although Neal is a rarity in that he’s been to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with two different teams, his most emphatic message is: Don’t take this ride for granted.”You see how badly he wants to win,” left wing David Perron said. ”To go through that last year and not come out on top, he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder and really wants to get it this time. He’s talking to guys, telling them you never know if you’re going to get another opportunity, so you’ve got to find a way to bring your best.”Toward that end, the 30-year-old Neal has helped carry the team with his stick. He has five goals and five assists in 17 games during the playoffs, including Vegas’ first goal in Game 2 on Wednesday.Asked whether Neal is more valuable as a player or a leader, Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant replied, ”On the ice is the major thing for me. When he scores goals like he did the last game, he makes our job a lot easier as coaches. James has been outstanding for us. He definitely helps our room with the young players, for sure.”Most notably, Tuch.”He’s been a mentor to me. He brought me aside today and told me what I could have done better on that shot but also that I have to move on,” Tuch said. ”Everyone knows how good a hockey player he is. I don’t know if people knew he was that much of a leader. Maybe it was a different vibe in Nashville. But this year he’s been a huge leader for us, one of our (six alternate) captains, and it’s been great.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals DALLAS (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy’s second shutout in a week came with a little help from his friends on the penalty kill.The goaltender stopped 35 shots while helping to stifle six Dallas Stars power plays, and Ondrej Palat and Mikhail Sergachev scored for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-0 victory Tuesday night.Vasilevskiy improved to 10-2-1 since his return from injury Jake Allen Jersey , posting his third shutout this season and the 15th of his career for the Lightning, who have an NHL-best 74 points.Four of the Dallas power-play chances came in the second period with Vasilevskiy protecting a 1-0 lead.“It’s frustration first, and then you get energy after that,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Guys were frustrated a little bit with the amount of calls that were going against us, but they’re penalties. You’ve got to kill them off, and that’s what we did.”Palat gave Tampa Bay a first-period lead with his seventh goal, sending a shot over the glove of Anton Khudobin on a pass from Steven Stamkos, who got his 29th assist. Khudobin had 19 saves.Sergachev scored a 4-on-4 goal midway through the third period after Dallas captain Jamie Benn canceled out a Tampa Bay penalty for the second time. Benn was called for tripping just 13 seconds after the same penalty against the Lightning’s Mathieu Joseph.The Stars had one more chance with the man advantage when Vasilevskiy was called for tripping with less than five minutes remaining. But Dallas could only get three shots from the perimeter in its third straight loss.“Guys felt good about their games during the game, and that’s why they’re so frustrated afterward because they know they had good looks and good chances,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. “When you have a lot of good chances, it frustrates you more.”The Lightning protected a 1-0 lead despite playing down a man most of the last half of the second period, when the Stars outshot Tampa Bay 13-2.The first penalty of the game was a double-minor on Victor Hedman for holding and unsportsmanlike conduct about midway through the second.The Stars had a chance for a 5-on-3 when Anthony Cerelli got a tripping penalty, but Benn was called for goalie interference during the delayed penalty, with Dallas skating 6 on 4.“Just backed up into the goalie,” Benn said. “Probably a bad penalty to take when you’re going on a 5 on 3.”The best chance for the Stars on the long power play came with 13 seconds left when Alexander Radulov fed Radek Faksa just above the crease for a one-timer that Vasilevskiy corralled.“I think the main difference was for every penalty we kill off, you get a little more confidence and you feel good being out there,” said defenseman Anton Stralman Joel Edmundson Jersey , who was on the ice on the penalty kill for a game-high 7:08 along with Ryan McDonagh. “I don’t know if they got frustrated. We take pride in what we do out there, and tonight it paid off.”Dallas didn’t do much with Tampa Bay’s fourth penalty of the second period, an interference call on Nikita Kucherov when he cut in front of Faksa as the Stars forward chased a loose puck into his offensive zone.NOTES: Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant attended, wearing a Stars jersey with his familiar No. 88 for the franchise’s career leader in touchdown catches. Bryant called out the starting lineup in the locker room before the game. … Andrew Cogliano made his Dallas debut a day after a trade that sent Devin Shore to Anaheim. Cogliano, who took Shore’s No. 17, had no shots in 12 minutes. … Kucherov, the NHL points leader with 75 (22 goals, 53 assists), was held scoreless in consecutive games for the third time this season. … The Lightning, who were coming off a 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders, have dropped consecutive games just once this season.UP NEXTLightning: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.Stars: Play the third game of a six-game homestand, their longest of the season, Thursday against the LA Kings.
