Despite Comeback, Penguins Drop Overtime Decision To Lightning
By Nate Temple
After crawling back from a two-goal deficit, the Penguins succumbed to defeat at the expense of Vladislav Namestnikov‘s game-winning, hat-trick goal.
Pittsburgh started off on the wrong foot just under two minutes into the first period when Namestnikov received a blind pass from Stamkos, blew past rookie Conor Sheary along the right wing, and shot a dart high, glove side past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
The Penguins would even the score thanks to a Kris Letang writer that sneaked past the blocker and body of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist teamed up to retrieve the puck off of a face-off that led to the goal.
After a series of penalties to Pittsburgh’s two best penalty killers in Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr, Tampa bay would cash in on the two-man advantage.
Steven Stamkos spotted Tyler Johnson setting up shop inside the left face-off circle, and just moments later, Valtteri Filppula tapped home a cross crease pass from Johnson at 8:12 of the second period. The goal granted the Lightning an additional 1:34 of five-on-four.
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While the Penguins were in the process of killing off Fehr’s hooking penalty, Cullen took an undisciplined cross-checking penalty when he committed the infraction around the neck region of defenseman Anton Stralman.
With 11 seconds left on Cullen’s second penalty, Namestnikov redirected defenseman Victor Hedman‘s shot by Fleury for his second goal of the game to increase the lead by two.
The Penguins over the course of the game dominated the Lightning in five-on-five play, and the domination led to a hooking penalty by Tampa blue liner Nikita Nesterov to put Pittsburgh on their fourth man advantage of the evening.
Letang shoveled the puck along the boards and below the goal line to Evgeni Malkin. As soon as he touched the puck, he threaded the needle between his legs and onto Patric Hornqvist’s stick where the latter cut the lead in half after he beat Vasilevskiy five-hole.
The power play goal served as temporary momentum for the Penguins. Defenseman Trevor Daley scored his second goal of the year to draw even. Chris Kunitz blasted a slap shot from the top of the left circle past Vasilevskiy to give the Penguins their first lead of the game just a shade over three and a half minutes after Daley’s tying tally.
The Lightning responded well after the goal, and they were rewarded for their efforts when Stralman’s spin-o-rama back hand shot tagged the top left corner of the net to even the score at four less than two minutes after they fell behind. Two failed clearing attempts led to the tying goal.
In the extra session, Nikita Kucherov kept the play alive and fired a shot on goal. After Fleury left a juicy rebound outside of the blue paint, Namestnikov banked a shot off of No. 29 and into the net to complete the hat trick and wrap-up a 5-4 victory.
Fleury stopped 20 out of the 25 shots he faced. Vasilevskiy turned aside 36 of 40 shots faced.
Takeaways from the game
Penalty trouble
Even though the Penguins dominated the play at even strength, they took penalties at the worst times in the game. They surrendered two power-play goals, and that proved to be the difference when they lost in over time. In addition, Fehr and Cullen took those penalties and put them in a real disadvantage since they are the two best penalty killers on the team.
Resilience
When they were down by two goals, they responded with three unanswered before they eventually fell in over time. The comeback showed resilience that they possess, but now they just need that killer instinct to finish off teams.
Next: Evgeni Malkin Penalty Causes Overtime Loss To Penguins
Top six contributes in large ways
The Penguins’ top six forwards combined for seven total points, and the top three defensemen added an additional four points. It was a nice sight to see for Penguins fans as the top guns continue to pace the way for the team.