Penguins at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning have shown the form that led to an NHL record-tying 62 victories last season only sporadically in the first eight games of 2019-20 but look to begin changing that trend when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. The Lightning went 3-2-1 on a six-game road trip that ended with two wins but gave up three unanswered goals in Saturday's 6-2 home loss to Colorado.
“There’s no doubt we have it in us,” Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh told reporters. “We’ve got to get it consistent and find that motivation and find that competitiveness from the first puck drop. We’ve got to look each other in the eye the start of each game and make sure we’re all there and ready to battle for one another. It’s something we need to do here and grow here as a team.” The Lightning have won two of three in each of the last two season series against the Penguins, who dropped a 4-2 decision at Florida on Tuesday for its second straight setback after winning their previous five contests. Patric Hornqvist tied Jake Guentzel for the team lead with his fifth goal in the loss and Teddy Blueger scored his first as Pittsburgh finished with a 25-22 edge in shots after giving up a late empty-net tally. “I love how our team is competing,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We’re in a one-goal hockey game. That game could have gone either way. It didn’t go our way (Tuesday). But we’re playing hard.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (6-4-0): Pittsburgh scored 23 goals during its five-game winning streak and recorded two in the last two contests while it awaits the return of key forwards Evgeni Malkin, Alex Galchenyuk and Nick Bjugstad (all lower body) along with Bryan Rust (hand). Captain Sidney Crosby (four goals) notched an assist on Tuesday to snap a two-game drought and leads the team with 13 points - three more than Guentzel and defenseman Kris Letang. Matt Murray turned aside 18-of-21 shots against Florida as his four-game winning streak ended, which could mean Tristan Jarry (1-1-0, .941 save percentage) will get the start on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (4-3-1): Despite his team registering 46 shots against the Avalanche on Saturday, coach Jon Cooper shuffled the lines for Tuesday’s practice, placing captain Steven Stamkos, reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov and All-Star Brayden Point on separate units. Stamkos leads the team with nine points, one better than Kucherov and two more than defensemen Victor Hedman and Kevin Shattenkirk (four goals). Cooper has gone with the same 18 skaters in all eight games, but that may change Wednesday as center Cedric Paquette (upper body) is expected to return to the lineup.
OVERTIME
1. Penguins D Brian Dumoulin (lower body), who owns a team-best plus-7 rating, is expected to miss his third game on Wednesday.
2. Tampa Bay entered Tuesday 28th in the league on the penalty kill, giving up nine goals in 30 short-handed situations.
3. Pittsburgh has come up empty on 10 power-play opportunities over its last four games and is 6-for-33 overall this season.