Sidney Crosby picked a really good time to end his eight-game goal drought.
The Pittsburgh Penguins captain scored 40 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Consol Energy Center on Monday, tying the best-of-7 series 1-1.
Bryan Rust carried the puck into the Tampa Bay zone before dropping a pass to Crosby. While going down on one knee, Crosby shot by goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy's blocker for the first Stanley Cup Playoff goal of his career. Crosby said he shouted at Rust to draw his attention because he didn’t think Rust saw him. Game 3 is at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh rookie goalie Matt Murray made 19 saves. Vasilevskiy, a rookie who started in place of injured Ben Bishop (lower body), had 38. The Penguins controlled the first period but let a two-goal lead slip away late. Pittsburgh forward Matt Cullen opened the scoring at 4:32 with his fourth goal of the playoffs. He collected a rebound off of Eric Fehr’s shot and put the puck over Tampa Bay forward Ondrej Palat and past Vasilevskiy’s blocker.
Phil Kessel scored to make it 2-0 at 9:37 after Carl Hagelin shot the puck into the crease, where Nick Bonino was battling Tampa Bay forward Cedric Paquette. Bonino gained possession and spun off Paquette before passing off Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr’s skate to Kessel, who shot inside the left post.
Kessel leads the Penguins with 14 playoff points, two more than Crosby. His six goals are tied with forward Patric Hornqvist for the Pittsburgh lead.
In his first game back from a fractured left fibula, defenseman Anton Stralman scored with 3:23 remaining in the first to cut the Penguins lead in half. After Crosby and Pittsburgh forward Conor Sheary collided between the faceoff circles in the Tampa Bay zone, forward Jonathan Marchessault passed through Hornqvist, Crosby and Sheary to Stralman, who shot over Murray’s glove.
Stralman had not played since March 25, when he was injured against the New York Islanders. He scored four goals in three games against the Penguins in the regular season.
Jonathan Drouin tied it 2-2 with 49.2 seconds remaining in the first after a pass from J.T. Brown sent him streaking into the Pittsburgh zone. Drouin shot under Murray’s blocker for his third goal of the playoffs.
Vasilevskiy robbed Crosby to preserve the tie midway through the second period. Evgeni Malkin tipped a pass to Crosby to the right of the slot, where he backhanded a shot toward a seemingly open net. Vasilevskiy twisted back to make a glove save just before the puck crossed the goal line with 9:28 remaining in the second. Murray made an impressive save of his own with less than 10 seconds remaining in the second. After forward Alex Killorn tipped the puck into the Pittsburgh zone, he went on a partial breakaway before Murray made a blocker save.
Pittsburgh tweaked its lines in the third period; Chris Kunitz replaced Sheary at left wing on Crosby’s line, and Hagelin and Kessel took turns on Malkin’s line.
Killorn nearly gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead midway through the third, but his shot on a 2-on-1 hit off the crossbar at 9:38. Pittsburgh outshot Tampa Bay 19-6 in the third period and overtime. Crosby has played 113 postseason games since the Penguins selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft.
Pens Quotes
Sidney Crosby: “[I] was just happy. Whether I’ve scored in the last seven games or haven’t scored in the last whatever, it feels good to get rewarded. I think we deserved that one tonight.”“I just tried to let [Rust] know I was there. I didn’t know exactly what he was going to do. … He made a perfect pass and put in an area where I could get a good shot away.”
Patric Hornqvist: “It felt like we were the better team the whole third period. We were all over them. … I think our third period and overtime was great.”
Bolts Quotes
Tyler Johnson: “I don’t think we necessarily played our best game, obviously. They created some turnovers and they capitalized on them. They were able to use their speed. They’re a fast team, and I thought we turned the puck over too many times. … We’re going to have to do better.”Jon Cooper: “I think it took him a couple shifts just, you know, you've got to get hit. You've got to feel the puck. You've got to feel the pace. But other than that, Stralman is Stralman. … And I just thought he got stronger as he went on."
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