Nikita Kucherov scored the game-winner in the shootout, and the Tampa Bay Lightning earned their franchise-record 11th straight victory by edging the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Tuesday night.
After Tampa Bay’s Gage Goncalves and Pittsburgh’s Egor Chinakhov scored in the session, Kucherov, whose 10-game point streak ended, knocked down the game-winner to tie the franchise record of 11 wins set in 2020.
The Lightning’s JJ Moser scored in the third period and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy won his eighth straight start with 26 saves.
Evgeni Malkin scored late in the third period for the Penguins, while goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 30 shots as Pittsburgh lost its third straight game following a six-game winning streak.
Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson missed the game after being placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a lower-body injury, but forward Bryan Rust returned from a two-game absence and returned to the top line.
With each team playing their third game in four nights, the offense looked difficult to generate early on. Tampa Bay’s penalty kill unit was the star after Kucherov was ejected for two tripping penalties.
Vasilevskiy denied Tommy Novak’s slapper on a strange-man run near the buzzer, which represented Pittsburgh’s best scoring chance, but wouldn’t count in the offense-starved first period as Tampa Bay led 10-8 on shots.
After another botched power play from the Penguins in the second period, the Lightning took their first turn with the man advantage and almost scored when Darren Raddysh’s shot from the point echoed off the crossbar.
Following a second unsuccessful power play by the visitors, Pittsburgh’s Brett Kulak found himself wide open in the top zone at 15:11. However, his outburst was muffled by Vasilevskiy.
In the first three minutes of the third, Vasilevskiy put Novak on the court, then Silovs prevented Goncalves’ chip a minute later. Vasilevskiy made a spectacular save with a wrist save from Rickard Rakell from 27 feet at 9:24.
Locked late in the scoreless match, Yanni Gourde fired a shot on goal that Silovs appeared to possess, but it fell below him. Pittsburgh players gave up and skated during the play, and a lagging Moser stabbed the loose puck under Silovs for his fifth goal at 14:13.
The home team pulled Silovs with more than three minutes left, and Malkin scored the tying goal with 2:16 left to force overtime.
–Field level media
