Penguins rout Lightning as trade deadline looms

On Friday, one day after fans chanted for him to be fired, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall indicated he would not be a seller and jettison veteran players on expiring contracts to other teams for future assets with the trade deadline looming March 3.

“We want to stay competitive,” Hextall said in Cranberry. “We made that commitment last summer with our core.”

On Sunday, the Penguins’ core — forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang — and dang near everyone else on the roster offered an argument as to why Hextall should keep this team pointed in a direction that will qualify it for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In one of their most lopsided victories of the season, the Penguins grounded the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-3, at PPG Paints Arena. The result kept them in position for a wild card seeding in the Eastern Conference and, perhaps more importantly, offered compelling evidence that the Penguins are more than capable of playing meaningful games this spring.

Coupled with a hard-fought 3-2 overtime road win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, Sunday’s result placed the Penguins into the second wild card seed in the Eastern Conference with a 29-21-9 record (67 points).

Each victory comes in the wake of what was arguably the low point of the season, a humiliating 7-2 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday in which those who paid for their seats taunted Hextall.

Suffice it to say, the mood in the Penguins’ dressing room was far more upbeat after Sunday’s contest in which they routed one of the NHL’s premier franchises.

“That’s an important win for us, especially going back-to-back (games on consecutive days),” Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin. “Those are a big two points that we needed, especially during this stretch this weekend.”

All seven of the Penguins’ goals came from different players starting with forward Drew O’Connor, who found his fourth goal of the season, a new career high, 3:20 into regulation.

After O’Connor forced Lightning forward Brayden Point into a turnover along Tampa Bay’s left wing wall, the Penguins worked the puck around the zone, and it eventually made its way to the left point where Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson chucked a wrister toward the cage. Positioned just to the left of the crease and obstructing goaltender Brian Elliott’s vision, O’Connor re-directed the puck with the shaft of his stick past Elliott’s glove on the far side. Pettersson and defensive partner Jeff Petry had assists.

A fortunate bounce allowed the Lightning to tie the game, 1-1, at 16:06 of the first period.

Wrangling a loose puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian teed up a slapper that sailed past a kneeling block attempt by Penguins forward Brock McGinn and made its way on net. Above the crease, Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli battled for position and had the puck glance off of him before it was initially stopped by goaltender Casey DeSmith. The rebound proceeded to hop up over DeSmith’s blocker and land in the cage for Cirelli’s ninth goal of the campaign. Bogosian netted the lone assist.

The Lightning claimed their only lead with a four-on-four score by forward Nikita Kucherov late in the first period at the 18:05 mark.

Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Lightning forward Brayden Point pulled up over the left circle and offloaded the puck to an on-rushing Kucherov. With Petry and Pettersson offering minimal resistance, Kucherov snapped off a wrister from the slot. DeSmith denied the initial shot with his left skate but on the ensuing rebound, Kucherov surged past Pettersson and chopped in a backhander for his 23rd goal off assists from Point and former Penguins defenseman Ian Cole.

A breakaway goal by Malkin, his 23rd score of the season, tied the game, 2-2, at 6:17 of the second period.

As a tripping infraction expired for Malkin and he was liberated from the penalty box, Penguins forward Josh Archibald settled a puck in his own left circle and alertly snapped a stretch pass to Malkin. Attacking the cage from the offensive blue line, Malkin approached Elliott and snapped a wrister under the goaltender’s left leg. Assists went to Archibald and Dumoulin.

A five-goal outburst in the final 4:32 of the middle period restored a lead and secured victory.

Crosby scored his team-leading 26th goal on a power-play opportunity to put his team ahead at the 15:28 mark.

After Elliott failed to clear a puck up the slot, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell intercepted the puck in the left circle and dealt it to Letang in the high slot. Surveying his options, Letang chopped a forehand pass to Penguins forward Jake Guentzel just above the crease. With poise, Guentzel knocked the puck dead with his forehand then slipped a clever backhand pass to the right of the crease where Crosby buried a forehand shot past Elliott’s left skate. Guentzel and Letang claimed assists.

Beleaguered Penguins forward Teddy Blueger snapped a 32-game slump and scored his second goal of the season on a goalmouth scramble only 52 seconds later.

From the left point of the offensive zone, Pettersson chucked a puck off the end boards. The rebound caromed between the near post and Elliott’s right skate and sat free in the blue paint where Blueger barged in and swept in a forehand shot before falling to the ice. Pettersson and Petry teamed up on the assists.

The rout was on at the 17:50 mark when heavily scrutinized Penguins forward Jeff Carter claimed his ninth goal.

From the left half wall, Letang dished a cross-ice pass to the right circle for Carter who elevated a near-side wrister over the left shoulder of a charred Elliott. Letang had the lone assist.

Penguins forward Jason Zucker scored his 16th goal only 47 seconds after that.

After Penguins forward Danton Heinen held serve in a puck battle along the left corner of the offensive zone against Bogosian and Lightning forward Corey Perry, Malkin swooped in to claim possession and dished a pass to the top of the crease where Zucker went forehand to backhand and lifted a shot over Elliott’s glove. Malkin and Heinen tallied assists.

Dumoulin’s first goal of the season (and first in 99 games) put the hosts up by five late in the second at the 19:55 mark.

Crosby beat Lightning forward Nicholas Paul on a draw in Tampa Bay’s left circle and the puck slid to the center point where Dumoulin wound up and whacked a one-timer that clunked off the left post and hit twine for the chili goal. The only assist was claimed by Crosby.

The Lightning made things respectable with a power-play score by forward Brayden Point at 7:57 of the third. Off some precision passing, Point stroked a one-timer from the Penguins’ slot past the right skate of a scrambling DeSmith for his 36th goal off assists from Kucherov and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.

“Everyone contributed,” Blueger said of the multi-faceted attack. “Sometimes, that’s how it goes. You have to fight through it. It’s, obviously, a good feeling to score at any time but especially when you haven’t done it for a while.”

DeSmith got his first win in a while — 11 days to be precise — as his record improved to 11-12-4 after he made 26 saves on 29 shots.

As for his team, the Penguins improved their case for being worthy of the playoffs.

“I know a lot of teams wouldn’t want to play us in the playoffs,” Dumoulin said. “We’ve just got to keep building, got to keep working for each other, getting better. From now on, obviously, we have to play playoff hockey to get in.”

Notes:

• Before Sunday, Dumoulin’s most recent goal came in a 5-2 road win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 21, 2022.

• Injured Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman and Ryan Poehling were each scratched for a fifth consecutive game due to undisclosed ailments. Coach Mike Sullivan indicated both players skated on Sunday morning.

• Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel was a healthy scratch.

• Kucherov’s goal was his 700th career point.