National Hockey League
Pittsburgh 5, Tampa Bay 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 3, 2022
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Wes McCauley, Brad Meier
Linesmen: Kyle Flemington, Trent Knorr
Attendance: 19092

Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin tallied a goal and two assists as the visiting Penguins broke the Tampa Bay Lightning's five-game winning streak with a 5-1 blowout on Thursday.

Malkin set up both scores in Pittsburgh's two-goal first period. He potted a breakaway goal in the third for the Penguins, who have won three straight and are 8-1-0 in their past nine road games.

Pittsburgh's Danton Heinen, Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby each produced a goal and an assist, Brock McGinn found the net and Tristan Jarry stopped 20 of 21 shots.

Crosby's 75th game-winning marker put him into a second-place tie with Malkin in franchise history. Jaromir Jagr is the record holder with 78.

The victory enabled Pittsburgh to win the season series 2-1-0, with the road team prevailing all three times.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves.

With both teams opening a set of back-to-back games, Malkin wheeled his way through the neutral zone in the first period and passed to Kasperi Kapanen, whose ensuing shot bounced through traffic and to Heinen. The left winger pushed the puck in for his 12th marker just 3:46 in.

Pittsburgh's second goal -- Crosby's 17th -- was a clinic put on by the Penguins' power play.

Swift passing among the top unit ended with the captain potting Guentzel's pass at 6:27 -- putting the Lightning down 2-0 in the opening period for the second straight game.

The visitors completely dominated the frame, managing a 16-5 shot advantage.

A turnover by Kris Letang in Pittsburgh's defensive end wound up on the stick of Bellemare, who slipped in his seventh tally of the season at 6:20 of the second period.

The Penguins regained their two-goal edge when McGinn zipped in on a breakaway, fired a forehander and netted his 11th at 17:08.

After a big scrum late in the middle period, Pittsburgh went on the power play, and Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper was ejected, with assistant Derek Lalonde taking over as acting head coach.

Malkin gave his club breathing room with a breakaway marker, his 10th, at 5:14 of the third, and Guentzel deposited one into an empty net with six minutes remaining.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Pittsburgh   Tampa Bay
Evgeni Malkin 3 Points Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 1
Evgeni Malkin 1 Goals Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 1
Evgeni Malkin 2 Assists Pat Maroon 1
Sidney Crosby 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Tristan Jarry .952 Save Percentage Andrei Vasilevskiy .897
Tristan Jarry 20 Saves Andrei Vasilevskiy 35
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Pittsburgh 40 5 1-3 1-1 21 30
Tampa Bay 21 1 0-1 2-3 23 29
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Detroit. The Lightning have a W/L % of .618 after a win and .714 after a loss.
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Carolina. The Penguins have a W/L % of .706 after a win and .455 after a loss.