Tampa Bay Lightning holds off Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2: NHL Play-off Recap
Steve Downie tallied a final-period goal and goalie Dwayne Roloson turned away 27 shots, as the fifth-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning took a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday
night to even their first-round play-off series at 3-3.
“Rollie’s been doing that all year. He’s been making save after save for us since he’s been here,” Downie said. “We expect that from him, and he expects that from himself.”
Downie also scored two assists while Ryan Malone and Sean Bergenheim each posted a goal for the Lightning, who defeated the fourth-seeded Penguins 8-2 Saturday to cut their series deficit
to 3-2. Teddy Purcell also lit the lamp for the victors.
The Lightning will try to make history in Game 7 which is on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. The Lightning have already won two games this post-season. They have never corner back from
a 3-1 deficit in their first-round Eastern Conference series.
Pascal Dupuis and Jordan Staal each posted a goal for the Penguins, who came into Monday's contest with a 5-1 record in their last six chances to close out a series on the road. Goaltender
Marc-Andre Fleury allowed all four goals on 21 shots in the defeat.
Pittsburgh forward James Neal said after the game, "It comes down to one now. We'll lay it on the line and do what we can to come out with a win.”
Pittsburgh got the scoring started in the ninth minute of the opening frame. Goalie Roloson roamed to meet the puck behind his net, and Maxime Talbot then collected the disc for the Penguins.
He quickly made a feed to Dupuis, who put the puck in the back of the net to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.
The Lightning equalised the game at 1-1 with less than four minutes to play in the first period when Purcell tucked home a rebound.
The Lightning took a 2-1 lead in the sixth minute of the second period when Dominic Moore collected the puck behind the Penguins net and centred a pass to Bergenheim, who tipped the puck
past Fleury.
The Penguins pulled even at 2-2 in the fourth minute of the final stanza when Staal unleashed a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Roloson.
The Lightning went ahead 3-2 in the fifth minute of the third period when Downie scored from his own rebound.
Malone capped the scoring near the midway mark on a break-away. The goal came when Mattias Ohlund grabbed the puck and sent a great pass to Malone, who fired a shot from the slot past
Pittsburgh net-minder to make it 4-2.
Roloson was strong between the pipes, saving 12 shots in the final period to secure the victory.
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