Sidney Crosby scored three times for Pittsburgh as they rebounded from a disappointing loss to the Florida Panthers the previous night.
Crosby scored his third of the night mid way through the third period which set up Matt Niskanen’s last minute power play goal to give the Penguins a 5-4 edge over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Valtteri Filpulla opened the scoring 13:25 into the first period for his fourth of the season. Filpulla won the offensive zone faceoff then went to the net and deflected a shot from Alex Kilhorn to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
The Penguins responded with a goal early in the second period. Sidney Crosby pounced on a loose puck in front of the net and beat Anders Lindback five-hole.
Steven Stamkos answered with a perfectly placed wrist shot that beat Marc-Andre Fleury short side as the goaltender was deep in his net.
Brooks Orpik, of all players, tied the score by redirecting a slap shot form the left point by Pascal Dupuis. The play was kept alive in the offensive zone by Oprik who pinched down to draw the puck back to Dupuis before heading to the high slot.
A redirection from Teddy Purcell to the left of Fleury handed the Lightning their third lead of the night. But the lead was short-lived as Sidney Crosby scored 25 seconds into the third frame to knot the score at three.
Crosby scored again, beating Lindback with a half-slapper from between the face-off dots. With the lead, and holding the Lightning without a shot for the first 14:35 of the period, the Penguins looked like they would cruise to victory. But a redirected pass in front by Killhorn tied the game at four a piece with only 3:02 remaining in the game.
A costly tripping penalty away from the puck by Richard Panik setup Matt Niskanen with the game winning goal. Niskanen received a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin and wired the puck past Lindback from the left point.
- Sidney Crosby went from 28th in scoring to first (tied with Henrik Zetterberg) after the four point night.
- The Penguins were the only team in the Metropolitan Division to win Saturday night. The Capitals, Blue Jackets, Devils, Flyers, Rangers and Islanders all lost.
- Anders Lindback has allowed ten goals in two career starts versus the Penguins.
Three Stars
- Sidney Crosby
- Chris Kunitz
- Brooks Orpik
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
