The Lightning lost the first game of their home stretch in a hard-fought 4-3 loss to the Penguins at Benchmark International Arena Thursday night.
The Bolts looked to be in a groove early with a multitude of good looks, all of which were stopped by Pens netminder Tristan Jarry, who stoned a chance by Brandon Hagel off two picturesque passes a minute into the game. Pittsburgh then managed to squander two Lightning power play chances before getting a power play goal of their own to go up 1-0.
The Bolts opened the second with another power play to no avail, and the offensive momentum tilted toward the Penguins for much of the second frame. Evgeni Malkin led the way with a goal and an assist to carry Pittsburgh up 3-0, but a late Nikita Kucherov goal left a window open for the Bolts.
The Lightning staged an impressive comeback in the third period powered by two Brandon Hagel goals. And even seemed to tie things up with just under a minute left in regulation, but a Kucherov goal was reversed after the NHL’s situation room ruled an illegal hand pass earlier in the play.
The Lightning rally ultimately fell short, giving Pittsburgh a 4-3 win on the road.
The Bolts will now look to turn their fortunes around in a Saturday night matchup with the Islanders at Benchmark International Arena.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
PIT 1, TBL 0
6:12 – Ville Koivunen (1) - Kris Letang (10), Tommy Novak (8) - PP
The Penguins’ top-rated power play unit got it going early, punching one in and halting early Tampa Bay momentum. The goal came on a snapshot from Ville Koivunen from the left circle giving the Pens the first lead of the night.
Shots on goal: TBL 15, PIT 8
2nd Period
PIT 2, TBL 0
7:53 – Evgeni Malkin (7) – Unassisted
Evgeni Malkin took a loose puck all the way to the back of the net midway through the second. The four-time All-Star beat Charle-Edouard D’Astous down the ice before putting one through the five hole of Jonas Johansson.
PIT 3, TBL 0
9:49 – Ben Kindel (7) - Erik Karlsson (17), Malkin (21) – PP
The Penguins power play capitalized once again on its second chance of the night, as Kindel redirected one past Johansson for a tip-in goal.
PIT 3, TBL 1
18:46 – Nikita Kucherov (12) - Darren Raddysh (14), Jake Guentzel (14)
The Lightning finally put one past Jarry on a Nikita Kucherov tip-in—this time a wide open look off a beautiful cross-ice feed from Darren Raddysh.
Shots on goal: TBL 24, PIT 19
3rd Period
PIT 3, TBL 2
1:17 – Brandon Hagel (16) – Kucherov (22), Raddysh (15) – PP
A Kris Letang tripping on Jake Guentzel gave the Lightning the power play early in the third. And it didn’t take long for Brandon Hagel to snipe a laser past Jarry to cut the lead to one.
PIT 3, TBL 3
11:42 – Hagel (17) – Nick Paul (4), Gage Goncalves (5)
Hagel continued his tear through the third period with a snapshot that sent the home crowd into a frenzy and tied things up midway through the final frame.
PIT 4, TBL 3
17:17 – Malkin (8) – Novak (9), Anthony Mantha (8)
The Penguins capitalized on a stretch of quick passes to lead Malkin home with the goal and put the Pens up one.
