Lightning 4, Penguins 3
Tyler Johnson recorded his second career hat trick as host Tampa Bay seized a four-goal lead and held off a rally to end its 10-game losing streak against Pittsburgh.
Nikita Kucherov contributed his 14th goal and set up two others while Ondrej Palat notched three assists for the Lightning, who won for only third time in nine games. Rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 26 shots for his second win in his third career game over an eight-day period.
Patric Hornqvist registered a goal and an assist, Chris Kunitz also tallied and defenseman Kris Letang scored with 1:31 remaining for Pittsburgh, which saw its eight-game point streak come to an end. Evgeni Malkin notched two assists and Marc-Andre Fleury yielded three goals on 10 shots before being replaced by Jeff Zatkoff, who made 16 saves.
Kucherov tracked down a loose puck and slid a pass into the slot to Johnson, who beat Fleury to the stick side 6:54 into the contest to open the scoring. Johnson doubled the lead with 3.4 seconds left in the first period, whipping a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle through a screen and past Fleury.
Defenseman Matt Carle sprung Kucherov for a breakaway 52 seconds into the middle session and Johnson completed his hat trick at 2:37 during a 2-on-1 rush for a 4-0 lead. Hornqvist answered from the right circle midway through the second and Kunitz went in alone after exiting the penalty box with 10:05 left in the third to trim the deficit to two.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Johnson, who has collected eight points during a five-game streak, registered his other hat trick on Jan. 25 against Colorado. … Pittsburgh placed LW Blake Comeau on injured reserve with an apparent wrist injury and recalled C Dominik Uher to make his NHL debut. Penguins C Brandon Sutter, RW Steve Downie and G Thomas Greiss also missed the game while being tested for the mumps. … Lightning D Jason Garrison sat out his first game of the season with an undisclosed injury.