The Backcheck: Lightning score early and often before defending to win over Penguins

The Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday celebrated the 12th anniversary of Jon Cooper being named head coach with a dynamic start, milestone showings and a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tuesday’s win halts a three-game skid for the Lightning, which improved to 41-25-5 this season.

Tampa Bay exploded for four goals in the first period of Tuesday’s game at AMALIE Arena and took a commanding 4-0 lead into the locker room.

"I think it was a big focus for us to come out strong at home here, just try and get that complete, full 60-minute game,” Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli said. “Obviously it started with the beginning of the game there. I thought we were doing the right things. We were playing fast, sticking to our structure."

Tuesday marked Cirelli’s 500th NHL game, one in which he scored the first goal when he snuck his spinning rebound try through the leg pads of Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry 12 minutes, 13 seconds into play.

It was the first of four goals in a span of 3:47.

Offense was a big key on Tuesday, but the other side of the game also showed well. After some defensive misgivings on the most recent road trip, Cooper said his team was better on Tuesday.

“That was a big focal point going into today, so I liked the way we defended. And in that first period the pucks had eyes for us. They did a lot of really good things to put themselves in position to score. Some nights those don't go in, and tonight they all went in, so we were fortunate in that regard,” Cooper said. “We got some good bounces, but I thought the guys worked their way into getting some of those bounces. You’re very fortunate to be in a position to have a little bit of a cushion there, and we kind of just defended our way the rest of the way.”

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh expanded the Lightning lead 1:17 after Cirelli’s opener. McDonagh’s centering pass from the left corner bounced off a Pittsburgh defenseman in front of the net and crossed the goal line to make it 2-0.

Cirelli celebrated game 500 further with his second goal of the night, this time beating Jarry low blocker with his shot from the bottom of the left circle with 4:48 left in the period.

“Tony’s been doing it all year. … Obviously just because he got two goals it’s obviously a special night for him, and good for him,” Brandon Hagel said. “But either way, score or not, he brings 100% every single night. He’s gonna be in this league for a lot longer, and I’m sure he’ll get 500 more. So hats off to him. It’s fun to play with him, that’s for sure.”

Brayden Point’s 35th goal of the year with four minutes left in the frame capped a flurried first period.

Nikita Kucherov’s assist on Point’s goal marked his 70th assist and 100th point of the season. Kucherov became the 21st player in NHL history to record at least five 100-point seasons and the 10th player in league history to post three consecutive seasons of 70+ assists.

Kucherov pushed Tampa Bay’s lead even further in the second period, burying his shot from the right circle to make it 5-0 on a Lightning power play.

“I thought everybody played well today,” Kucherov said. “I just think when we play our system and we’re consistent throughout the game, we’re a very good team and tough to beat. We did that tonight.”

Hagel tapped home a shot pass by defenseman Nick Perbix in the closing minute of the second period for a 6-0 lead before Pittsburgh scored their lone goal with 5:45 remaining in the game.

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 14 saves for his 34th win of the season.

Cirelli, Hagel and McDonagh each added two points for the Lightning on a night 13 different Bolts got on the scoresheet.

Tampa Bay next hosts Utah Hockey Club for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday. In that game the Lightning will look to replicate much of what they showed on Tuesday as they look to avenge last Saturday’s 6-4 loss in Utah.

“I'm sure we'll watch some video and stuff here,” Cirelli said of game one against Utah. “Obviously we didn't like the way we played that game, and they kind of took it to us over there. So we'll be ready to go.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

• Nikita Kucherov, TBL (Goal, two assists)

• Anthony Cirelli, TBL (2 goals)

• Brandon Hagel, TBL (Goal, assist)