Tampa Bay Lightning play host to Pittsburgh Penguins, game 4 – NHL news
The fourth game of the series between Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins will be played at the St. Pete Times Forum this Wednesday.
The past three games have been very entertaining with both teams coming up with wins while playing on away ice. The Penguins won the first game while the Lightning won the second. However, the third game played in the Lightning’s home was won by the Penguins 3-2 in the end. The Lightning will be looking to level the series that the Penguins currently lead 2-1.
The Penguins have been struggling so far in the series in terms of yielding goals when it comes to power-plays as they have not scored a single goal out of the 15 coming their way. On the other hand, the Lightning have scored four goals out of the 11 chances they received. The Penguins are facing the problems due to the absence of their offensive players Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
Both the teams face the common problem of replacing suspended players after Steve Downie and Chris Kunitz were involved in two separate incidents.
The Penguins frontline has done pretty well in the playoffs thus far as they have regularly bagged goals. Their play-making has also been very productive as Craig Adams has handled the transition responsibilities efficiently.
Not only this, but the players up front like Mike Rupp and Arron Asham have done well as they have scored seven goals for the Penguins.
“I think we've played pretty well as a group and Rupper and Ash worked a great goal (on Monday),” Adams said. “I think everyone is playing with intensity but that's the nature of playoff hockey.”
The Lightning are looking forward to Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis to continue doing what they have done best so far. The two have scored four out of the seven goals scored by the team.
The Lightning will be looking forward to Steven Stamkos to get back on the scoring sheet as he has not been justified his abilities yet. He scored 45 goals during the regular season and finished the league in fifth position.
However, he will play a key role in the Lightning’s run in their hunt for the playoffs.
“It's something that has been too prolonged for my liking, but at the same time I've picked up other aspects of my game that are going to need to be there to be successful in the playoffs so I'm happy where those parts of my game are at,” Stamkos said. “Now I'm just trying to find a healthy combination of the both to move forward and help this team win.”
The Lightning need to win this game and level the series but if the Penguins win this time out then they would be in a good position to wrap up the series with the next game scheduled to be held on their ice.
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