Kris Letang tied Hall of Famer Paul Coffey’s franchise
record for career goals by a defenseman, Matt Murray stopped 33 shots and the
Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Letang’s shot from the right circle in the second period
beat Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 12th goal of the season and 108th of his career
to pull the five-time All-Star even with Coffey, who set the mark while playing
for the Penguins from 1987-92.
Riley Sheahan, Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby scored during a
first-period outburst by Pittsburgh, which responded from a lifeless loss to
Eastern Conference also-ran New Jersey on Monday by jumping on the NHL-leading
Lightning.
Evgeni Malkin picked up two assists to become the fifth
Russian-born player in league history to reach 600 career assists. He and
Steven Stamkos each drew 5-minute fighting majors after tussling early in the
third period.
Murray withstood an early barrage by Tampa Bay to hand the
Lighting — the highest-scoring team in the NHL — just the fourth regulation
loss in their last 25 games.
Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on five shots before
settling down to finish with 18 saves, but Tampa Bay couldn’t recover in its
return from a 10-day break. J.T. Miller and Stamkos scored late in the third
period to keep the Lighting from being shut out for the first time this season,
but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent Tampa Bay from falling to 2-12-2 in its
last 14 regular-season visits to Pittsburgh.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan expressed frustration at his
team’s sloppy performance against New Jersey, when turnovers and
disinterested play in front of Murray dropped Pittsburgh to 1-7-1 against
last-place teams.
Two days later against an opponent with the inside track to
claim the Presidents’ Trophy, the effort and the results were far
different.
Sheahan gave the Penguins the lead 3:25 into the game when
he pounced on a rebound of Garrett Wilson’s wraparound attempt and flipped it
past Vasilevskiy. Kessel’s 21st goal of the season less than five minutes later
came in much the same fashion. Kessel and Bryan Rust broke in 2-on-1 and Rust
attempted to skate across the crease and beat Vasilevskiy with a
backhand only to lose control of the puck. No matter. Kessel,
standing at the left post, tapped it in to make it 2-0.
Pittsburgh needed just 16 seconds to push the advantage to
3-0. Jake Guentzel forced a turnover behind the Tampa Bay net. Dominik Simon
jumped on the loose puck and fed Crosby all alone in front.
The Lightning opted to stick with Vasilevskiy and turned up
the pressure on the other end of the ice. Pittsburgh went more than 17 minutes
without a shot on net, but Tampa Bay couldn’t figure out a way to beat Murray.
When Letang took a pass from Kessel and beat Vasilevskiy over his blocker, the
Penguins were firmly in control.
GAME NOTES
Kendall Coyne Schofield, a forward on the Olympic gold
medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team who finished seventh in the fastest
skate competition at the All-Star Game last weekend, worked the game as an
analyst for NBC Sports Network. … Pittsburgh F Derick Brassard missed the game
with an upper-body injury. … Tampa Bay’s top-ranked power play went 1 for 2
with the man advantage. Pittsburgh’s went 0 for 3. … Malkin is the fourth
Penguin to reach 600 assists, joining Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr
and Crosby. … Pittsburgh forward Teddy Blueger played 6:22 in his NHL debut.
UP NEXT
LIGHTNING: Visit
the New York Islanders on Friday.
PENGUINS: Finish three-game
homestand on Friday against Ottawa.
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