Lightning 4, Penguins 2
PITTSBURGH -- Tampa Bay defenseman Matthew Carle had a goal and an assist after going without a point all season and the Lightning finished off a season sweep of Pittsburgh, beating the Penguins 4-2 on Saturday.
Defenseman Anton Stralman and centers Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson also scored and goalie Ben Wilson made 37 saves as the Lightning went 3-0 against the Penguins, outscoring them 15-9 during their first such sweep since the 2006-07 season.
Tampa Bay won for the first time in Consol Energy Center, which opened in 2010, and ended a nine-game losing streak in Pittsburgh that dated to March 31, 2010.
The Lightning overcame the first career goal by Penguins left winger Tom Kuhnhackl and the second by Scott Wilson to win for only the third time in seven games. The Penguins, who fell two points behind the Lightning for the Eastern Conference's first wild-card playoff spot, lost for only the second time in nine home games (7-1-1).
The Penguins made an unexpected last-minute move by starting backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff, who had been expected to start Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, because Marc-Andre Fleury apparently was unable to go.
But Stralman scored his ninth goal, and fourth against Pittsburgh, and Stamkos scored his 300th career goal -- the goals coming just 2:12 apart -- as Tampa Bay took a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.
Stralman beat Zatkoff with a wrist shot from above the right circle, one that the goalie did not appear to see. Stamkos scored his 24th goal of the season and first in his last six games against Pittsburgh by knocking in center Alex Killorn's deflected shot. Carle got the second assist on the Stamkos goal.
Carle, who went scoreless in his first 41 games, made it 3-0 early unassisted early in the second period with a wrist shot from the blue line created by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang's giveaway.
Carle, who played in his 700th career NHL game on Tuesday, did not have a goal in 61 games since Dec. 31, 2014, or an assist in 41 games since April 11. He also did not have a multiple-point game since Dec. 13, 2014.
Kuhnhackl, playing in his 17th game, matched Carle's unassisted goal by scoring on a short-handed breakaway against Bishop at 5:35 of the second. But Johnson restored Tampa Bay's three-goal lead slightly more than six minutes later by tapping in left winger Ondrej Palat's pass from the blue line into a wide-open net abandoned when Zatkoff shifted to guard against a possible Palat shot.
Later in the second, Wilson, who scored his first NHL goal Thursday against Detroit, got his second in as many games with the teams skating 4-on-4.
The Penguins, playing their eighth consecutive game without star center Evgeni Malkin (undisclosed injury) also played the third period with defenseman Ben Lovejoy (undisclosed injury).
Pittsburgh could not score during a two-man advantage lasting 1:08 late in the second period, then lost any chance of getting back into the game with about eight minutes remaining when Letang drew illegal stick and unsportsmanlike penalties after grabbing Lightning center Cedric Paquette's stick and playing with it briefly. Seconds before, Paquette had knocked Letang's stick away from him.
NOTES: Tampa Bay Lightning G Ben Bishop started in Pittsburgh and could start again Sunday at Carolina. ... Tampa Bay is playing six of seven on the road, including Saturday, after playing 11 of 14 at home. ... Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan kept RW Phil Kessel on C Sidney Crosby's No. 1 line, a move he made Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. The top star forwards had not played regular shifts on the same line since October. ... Sullivan made one unexpected move, starting backup Jeff Zatkoff in goal. Previously, G Marc-Andre Fleury had been expected to start -- he is 8-1-1 in his last 10 starts at Consol Energy Center -- with Zatkoff going Sunday afternoon at the Buffalo Sabres. ... Lightning C Vladislav Namestnikov returned after sitting out two games with an upper body injury. ... The Lightning played for the first time since blowing a three-goal lead in the third period of a 6-5 victory Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, prompting the players to hold a team meeting. ... Tampa Bay scratched RW Erik Condra and D Nikita Nesterov. ... Pittsburgh held out D Ian Cole and LW Sergei Plotnikov.