The Tampa Bay Lightning Look To Strike Down the Pittsburgh Penguins

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The Tampa Bay Lightning Look To Strike Down the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Tampa Bay Lightning were left for dead, but an amazing eight goal game got them back in the hunt in the playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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One of hockey's best goalies and one of its best defensive units had a day to remember in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the Penguins and Lightning. Marc-Andre Fleury was yanked and the Penguins defense stumbled throughout as the Lightning stunned Pittsburgh at Consol Energy Center in an 8-2 rout. Steven Stamkos, Simon Gagne and Pavel Kubina each scored twice for Tampa Bay, which still trails in the series, 3-2. Game 6 is scheduled for Monday at 7 at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Tampa Bay was at its best Saturday, using a dazzling display of talent and hard work to score eight goals on only 25 shots. Goalie Dwayne Roloson actually was crucial in this game. The Tampa Bay goaltender made a big save on Chris Kunitz and a couple of other top-notch saves during the first 10 minutes, which saw the Penguins dominate.

The rest of the game, obviously, belonged to the Lightning. Tampa Bay went 4-for-7 on the power play and is now clicking at 36.3 percent for the series. Meanwhile, the Penguins' dreadful power play went 0-for-7 and has only converted on four percent of its chances during the series.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled after giving up his fourth goal.

The Penguins have been terrific defensively all season but have displayed the bizarre habit of occasionally imploding at Consol Energy Center. They picked a bad time for such a turn of events Saturday.

With the chance to put away the Lightning at home presenting itself, the Penguins played their worst game of the season in an 8-2 loss. Defensive breakdowns were an undeniable theme. On two occasions, the Penguins lost control of Steven Stamkos. On Stamkos' first goal, Penguins defensemen Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek both found themselves on the opposite end of the ice than Stamkos, and the slumping sniper made them pay. Finding himself with the puck and plenty of time to make a decision, Stamkos buried a backhand shot over goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Now it’s up to Pittsburgh to try and slow down Tampa Bay and regain control of the series. If Pittsburgh comes out flat this could head to a dangerous game seven.

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