Four straight goals propel Penguins to 6-2 win
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins shook off the rust from their bye week, scoring four goals in a row on Sunday en route to a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins (26-8-5) had not played since Dec. 31 but overcame a 1-0 deficit to win its fifth straight game.
Tampa Bay lost its fourth in a row and dropped to .500 (19-19-4).
After a scoreless first period, Jonathan Drouin opened the scoring for Tampa Bay before Conor Sheary and Eric Fehr scored as the Penguins came back to take a 2-1 lead going into the third period.
Pittsburgh, which improved to 14-0-0 when leading after two periods, poured it on with goals by Chris Kunitz from the slot at 2:33 of the third period and Scott Wilson on a backhander at 3:28.
Vladislav Namestnikov pulled the Lightning within 4-2 at 5:40, but Phil Kessel scored on a rebound at 7:50 for a 5-2 Penguins lead. Finally, Kris Letang's power-play goal made it 6-2 at 17:20.
It was the 16th time that Tampa Bay has allowed four or more goals after doing that just 11 times all of last season.
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, making his third start in four days, made 24 saves.
Marc-Andre Fleury had 38 saves for Pittsburgh to improve to 7-0-1 in his past eight starts.
Sidney Crosby had two assists to reach 44 points and supplant Evgeni Malkin for the Penguins' scoring lead and move into second place in the NHL.
Drouin gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 2:19 of the second period when he one-timed a rebound from the lower portion of the right circle.
Pittsburgh tied it 1-1 at 6:44 of the second period. A shot from the top of the slot by Bryan Rust squirted underneath Vasilevskiy, and Sheary poked it in.
Fehr gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 11:14 of the second period, just after a Lightning power play expired. Matt Cullen, on a two-on-one break with Fehr, fed a pass to Fehr, who converted with a shot inside the left post.
NOTES: Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury and LW Carl Hagelin, who were ill Friday but practiced Saturday, played. ... Pittsburgh G Matt Murray (lower-body injury) has skated on his own for three days in a row. ... RW Tom Kuhnhackl missed his eighth game in a row, although Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan indicated that Kuhnhackl is now healthy after having a lower-body injury. ... The Lightning played without RW J.T. Brown, who was shaken up Saturday on a hit from Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds. ... Tampa Bay D Braydon Coburn (upper body) missed his second straight game, and C Brian Boyle (lower body) missed his fourth straight game. ... Tampa Bay D Jason Garrison played in his 500th career game. ... Tampa Bay's healthy scratches were D Nikita Nesterov and RW Ryan Callahan. The Penguins did not dress D Chad Ruhwedel. ... Several members of Pittsburgh's 2009 Stanley Cup team took part in a celebration before the game. Five players -- C Sidney Crosby, C Evgeni Malkin, LW Chris Kunitz, D Kris Letang and Fleury -- remain on the team. D Sergei Gonchar is an assistant coach and RW Bill Guerin is assistant GM.