Tyler Seguin scored two goals and assisted on one other as the Dallas Stars won their first preseason game of 2015, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3, at American Airlines Center Saturday night.

Patrick Sharp, Esa Lindell and Brendan Ranford each had one goal and one assist. Cole Ully also scored for the Stars, who turned a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 lead with three goals in a 2:19 span of the third period.

“I thought there was a lot of speed in the game from both teams. I thought as the game went on we took it over,” said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. “Tyler’s shot is just incredible. I liked the work ethic of the team. I didn’t think we spent much time in our own end. But we took a few too many penalties.”

Antti Niemi made his first preseason start in goal for the Stars and stopped 16 of 19 shots.

“I thought we got three or four real good saves out of him,” Ruff said. “I don’t think there was anything he could have done on the first goal. He made three saves on the third one. He probably wants the second one back. I liked him. I liked him. A small detail, he played the puck well. He got out and made some real good decisions to our defensemen, and we were out of the zone right away. That’s a big deal.”



Seguin, Sharp click

Tyler Seguin and Patrick Sharp played together on a line Saturday and clicked on a couple of goals. Sharp helped set up Seguin’s first goal, and Seguin set up a Sharp tally on an odd-man rush. The two have been skating together since early in camp.

“From day one we’ve been a pair,” said Seguin. “I said it before, that righty-to-righty passing you saw on the one goal, it’s good. I enjoy that. He can bury the puck.”

Added Sharp: “[Seguin is] a dynamic player, doesn’t miss too many shots. When he has the opportunity to bury one, he does it. He’s a fun guy to play with, and it was good for the first preseason game for myself.”



Ully’s knack for scoring

Stars coach Lindy Ruff has mentioned a couple of times that forward Cole Ully has a knack for scoring. And Ully found a way to score in his first NHL preseason game, snapping a 3-3 tie with a backhand shot 4:59 into the third period. So, was Ruff surprised to see Ully score?

“Nope, not surprised at all,” Ruff said. “He just finds a way to get it in the back of the net. Somehow that one went in. He’s one of those guys that is sneaky fast. He was right between the hash marks in a tough area, and he got rewarded for it.”

“It was awesome,” Ully said. “I just threw it at the net and was kind of surprised it went in. I’ll take it. It was probably one of the better feelings I’ve had in my career.”



Notes

*The Stars are 1-2-0 in preseason play.

*The Stars outshot Tampa Bay 26-19.

*Stephen Johns led the Stars with four shots on goal.

*The Stars were 1-4 on the power play and 4-6 on the penalty kill in the game.

*Dallas won 41 of 64 faceoffs (64 percent).

*Devin Shore won 13 of 19 draws (68 percent). Tyler Seguin won 10 of 14 (71 percent). Radek Faksa won 7 of 11 (64 percent).

*Alex Goligoski led the Stars with 22:04 of ice time. Esa Lindell was next with 21:18.

*Patrik Nemeth led the Stars with four hits.



What’s next

The Stars play their fourth preseason game, hosting Florida at American Airlines Center Sunday night. Game time is 7:00 p.m.



Stars lineup

Cody Eakin – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Sharp

Antoine Roussel – Devin Shore – Brendan Ranford

Gemel Smith – Justin Dowling – Cole Ully

Derek Hulak – Radek Faksa – Matej Stransky



Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg

Patrik Nemeth – Stephen Johns

Esa Lindell – Julius Honka



Antti Niemi

Jack Campbell



This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.