Lightning gut out OT victory over Penguins
Tampa Bay completes a sweep of the back-to-back with Yanni Gourde scoring the game-winning goal in Tuesday's 2-1 win
by Jacob Lynn @TBLightning / TampaBayLightning.com
This was a grinding back-to-back set for the Lightning.
Tampa Bay came into Tuesday's game against the Penguins having played 24 hours ago in Columbus and were shorthanded for most of the game due to injuries to Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli.
Despite those odds, the Lightning gutted out a 2-1 overtime win over Pittsburgh with Yanni Gourde scoring the game-winner less than three minutes into the extra session to extend the winning streak to eight games.
The Penguins opened the scoring with a power play goal midway through the first period. The rebound of a Sidney Crosby shot went directly to Evgeni Malkin at the left circle and he one-timed the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy before the goaltender could recover.
Tampa Bay broke out of a nine-game power play slump early in the second period to tie the game. Mikhail Sergachev took a shot from the point that beat Matt Murray with Pat Maroon and Ondrej Palat providing screens in front.
Video: TBL@PIT: Gourde scores game-winning goal in overtime
After a scoreless third period, the Penguins dominated play in the early going of the overtime session. Once the Lightning finally gathered the puck and got fresh legs on the ice, Brayden Point fed Gourde who walked down the slot and roofed a shot over Murray's shoulder to score the game-winner. Not only did the goal win the game for Tampa Bay, but it also snapped Gourde's 35-game scoring drought.
Vasilevskiy was sharp in goal for Tampa Bay once again, making 35 saves, with 17 of those stops coming in the third period and overtime.
It wasn't all good news for the Lightning who played the second half of the game without Kucherov and Cirelli who both suffered lower-body injuries. This new rash of injuries hits at a tough time for the Bolts who have been without Steven Stamkos, Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta in recent games.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
PIT | 11:31 Evgeni Malkin (18) - Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang - PPG
2nd Period
TBL | 3:59 Mikhail Sergachev (9) - Nikita Kucherov, Pat Maroon - PPG
3rd Period
No Scoring
Overtime
TBL | 2:45 Yanni Gourde (7) - Brayden Point, Victor Hedman