1
0
Sleepy start for the Lightning after clinching a playoff berth.
TB-4
PIT-5
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed five goals on 28 shots for the loss.
First Period
4:20 PIT Crosby (40), (Rust, Karlsson)
Second Period
6:06 PIT Malkin (24), (Karlsson, Bunting)
12:15 TB Stamkos (35), (Hedman, Kucherov)(PP)
14:39 PIT Letang (9), (unassisted)
16:57 PIT Malkin (25), (Bunting)
Third Period
0:25 TB Paul (23), (Eyssimont, Chaffee)
7:23 TB Duclair (22), (Kucherov, Hedman)
10:45 TB Stamkos (36), (Hedman, Kucherov)(PP)
14:32 PIT Bunting (18), (Malkin, Karlsson)
Steven Stamkos was the game’s third star.
The combination of not having Anthony Cirelli in the lineup and having clinched a playoff the night before led the Lightning to a very disjointed and uninspired opening 40 minutes. To their credit, they battled back hard and even got what I call the “real hope goal” to tie it at 5-4. However, man, in pro hockey if you fall down three goals in the Third Period it’s usually a death sentence even if you do manage to get the “real hope goal,” and this game was no different.
Mitchell Chaffee had a helper and was +1 with 1 shot and 2 hits in 12:23.
Emil Lilleberg was -1 with 1 shot, 3 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 17:45.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
