from the CP at TSN,

After seven months sitting on the shelf, Tampa Bay Lightning captain came back for the Stanley Cup final Wednesday — albeit very briefly — and scored on his first shot on net.

Stamkos, out since Feb. 25 to recover from core muscle surgery and a lower-body injury, made the score 2-0 less than seven minutes in as the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 in Game 3 at Rogers Place.

The Lightning lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.

Game 4 is set for Friday and Game 5 just 24 hours after that on Saturday night.

"It was just an amazing experience to share with my teammates ... just to be able to get out into a game and have an impact on a game which a month ago may have never been possible," said Stamkos, from Markham, Ont.

"I was just really happy to obviously contribute in a game in which I didn't play too much."

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Game highlights are below.