In their road trip finale, the Pittsburgh Penguins (20-16-6) visited the Tampa Bay Lightening (22-17-4) Friday evening with early playoff implications on the line. Pittsburgh’s defense looked shaky at best, in giving up two short-handed goals that made Tampa Bay look like a top tier team. The Penguins battled back and even took a brief lead, but gave up a late goal to go into overtime for the second game in a row and Pittsburgh dropped a critical game 5-4 to the Lightening.
The Penguins found themselves in two five-on-three situations in the second period that ended in two power play goals for the Lightening, the first coming from Valtteri Filppula, and the second from Vladislav Namestnikov. Pittsburgh came back just a few minutes later in their own power play with Patric Hornqvist scoring his tenth goal of the season, putting the puck through Andrei Vasilevskiy’s five-hole.
No Bonino, No Good
Pittsburgh killed itself in finding their way to the penalty box five times, with the Lightening capitalizing on two of its power plays. On only a handful shots on its power play, Tampa Bay still managed to find the back of the net two times and that proved to be the difference.
The absence of Nick Bonino’s presence was very evident, and will be felt for at least a month with a hand injury that will keep him out of the Penguins’ lineup. Further injury looked to plague the Penguins at the end of the second period as Kris Letang was seen wincing in pain from a right hand injury, but came back in the following period.
Letang’s return is great news for Pittsburgh, who cannot afford to suffer injuries from top contributors when chasing down other teams who are in a similar position.
Flower Power
Marc-Andre Fleury allowed five goals in the game, but did prevent an aggressive Tampa Bay attack from tacking more on to their multiple leads. The Flower continued his spectacular play in the third period, deflecting shot after shot, and protected his team’s net to the best of his abilities.
His defense did not offer much help, especially during short-handed sequences, but Fleury and keep his team within range to win the game. Tonight’s loss gives Fleury his 11tth loss of the season, but an extra point does help the Penguin’s cause in looking toward the playoffs.
Overtime Struggles
The Penguin’s once again could not finish a game in overtime, which has been a scary trend as of late. At this point in the season, considering where Pittsburgh is in the standings, every point matters, and are continuing to give up points that are going to be critical when looking back on the season. Fleury did everything he could, but the defense once again failed to help their goalie gain another win.
Pittsburgh gave up a late-game lead that deflated the team. The Penguins are looking better on the ice, but once again became their own worst enemy. In overtime Pittsburgh had chances to close the game, but an exhausted line gave up the final goal that sealed the deal.
What’s Next?
Pittsburgh will finally come back to Consol Energy Center against the Carolina Hurricanes this Sunday at 3 p.m.
