Malkin has 3 points, Penguins hold off Lightning

TAMPA -- Evgeni Malkin scored two goals, including the game-winner late in the third period, and had an assist to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Thursday.

Malkin broke the 3-3 tie at 17:17 of the third with a one-timer from the low slot off a feed from Tommy Novak.

"I'm just happy we took two against Tampa, because they've played unbelievable and we beat a great team," Malkin said. "It was a tough game. Tampa played good. Our PK was unbelievable tonight, the power play was good and [Tristan] Jarry played unbelievable."

It appeared Nikita Kucherov had tied the game 4-4 with 55 seconds remaining on a one-timer from the right circle, but a video review initiated by the NHL Situation Room determined that Brandon Hagel made a hand pass to start the scoring sequence.

“That was a bang-bang play,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “There were tons of guys around it, we got it first, a lot of the game developed after that, and the puck went in the net. So, is that a frustrating one for me? It is."

Ville Koivunen and Ben Kindel scored for the Penguins (14-7-5), who are 4-1-1 in their past six games. Jarry made 37 saves.

"I think we battled right until the end, obviously we got a call there at the end, and I think the guys … we just never gave up from there," Jarry said. "They really held it down for the last 50 seconds. They were doing everything in their power throughout the game. There was a lot of back and forth and we're happy to come out on the right side."

Hagel scored twice, and Kucherov had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (16-9-2), who came back from 3-0 deficit but lost their second straight. Jonas Johansson made 27 saves.

"It's a little frustrating, but that's the way hockey is sometimes. You're not going to get the breaks, you're not going to get the bounces," Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh said. "We got away from our game in the second period, and they took advantage."

Kucherov scored for Tampa Bay to make it 3-1 at 18:46 of the second period. He beat Jarry on a chip from the low slot with Raddysh providing the set-up pass.

Hagel cut it to 3-2 on the power play at 1:17 of the third period. He scored on a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Jarry high on the stick side.

Hagel then tied it 3-3 at 11:44 with a snap shot from the low slot after the puck deflected off of Nick Paul's skate to his stick in front of the net. The forward has 10 goals in his past seven games.

"I take full responsibility for the turnover that leads to a goal in the second period," Hagel said. "Give credit to the guys for fighting back, but if you're going to turn the puck over and give up easy goals ... obviously that's not the recipe to win. I may be up here for the good things, but at the end of the day, I probably cost our team a win."

Koivunen scored his first NHL goal to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 6:12 of the first period. He took a pass from Kris Letang and scored on the power play with a wrist shot from the high slot.

"Relief and happiness both, I've been waiting for that goal a long time, so that felt good," said Koivunen, who was playing in his 24th NHL game. "I just tried to shoot the puck high. I can score now and I can just go and finish when I have the chances to score."

Malkin extended the Penguins' lead to 2-0 at 7:53 of the second period when he got control of a loose puck on an errant pass by Hagel and beat Johansson on a breakaway.

"Jarry saved us," Malkin said. "I know I scored two goals, but Jarry was the best player tonight."

Kindel made it 3-0 at 9:49 with a power-play goal off a redirection of a shot from Erik Karlsson.

"Points are hard to come by, so you take the points," Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. "But I think you also have to be honest about the things we need to clean up. We can't be giving up that many chances."

NOTES: Malkin scored his seventh career go-ahead goal in the final five minutes of regulation, tying Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby for the most in Penguins history. … Malkin tied Bryan Trottier for the 10th-most assists with a single franchise (853). … Crosby was 16-for-24 on face-offs.