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No style points for Penguins, who lose to Lightning despite mostly solid effort | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

No style points for Penguins, who lose to Lightning despite mostly solid effort

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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The Penguins’ Rickard Rakell (67) gets a shot under the arm of Tampa Bay goaltender Jonas Johansson during the first period Sunday.
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Penguins coach Mike Sullivan talks with linesman Bryan Pancich during the first period against the Lightning on Sunday.
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Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry blocks a shot by Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov during the first period Sunday.
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Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson blocks a shot by the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby during the first period Sunday.
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The Penguins’ Rickard Rakell (right celebrates his goal with Bryan Rust (top) and Sidney Crosby during the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.

There was plenty to like about the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

They hemmed in the offensive attack of an opponent blessed with some luminary All-Star talent.

Also, there were signs of improvement.

For the first time in 24 hours, they didn’t give up a goal on the first shot they faced. Also, they weren’t shut out.

In some granular pursuits, the Penguins took a step forward.

But in the only way that matters, they tumbled backward again via their 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins limited a Lightning squad – which entered the day with an NHL-high 3.65 goals per game – to a lean 19 shots on net. Yet, they wound up with their sixth loss in their past seven games (1-3-3).

“Every time you’re able to put in an effort like that and you don’t get the result, there’s something that is wrong,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. “There’s a lack of details and things like that that happen at key moments. And we have to correct them. And we have to be able to maintain the same effort and the same style of play that we’ve played for two periods, and we give ourselves a chance to win.”

While the final score was lopsided, this was a largely level affair with both teams – particularly the Penguins – playing tight defense.

“I think we played better overall than them and we don’t get the result because there’s a letdown in some areas,” Letang said. “But overall, I think we’ve played pretty well.”

Penguins forward Rickard Rakell opened the scoring at 14:20 of the opening period with his team-leading 22nd goal of the season.

From the center point of Tampa Bay’s zone, Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson struck a one-timer that was blocked by the stick of Lightning rookie forward Gage Goncalves. The puck bounced into the slot where Penguins forward Bryan Rust tapped it forward to Rakell, stationed above the blue paint. Stopping the puck with his backhand, Rakell flipped to his forehand, turned to his right and fired a wrister that clunked off the inside of goaltender Jonas Johansson’s blocker and bounced into the cage. Rust and Pettersson had assists.

The Lightning tied the game at 6:54 of the second period via forward Brandon Hagel’s 20th goal which came on what was only the fourth shot of the contest for the visitors.

Off a give-and-go sequence in the neutral zone with linemate Anthony Cirelli, Hagel gained the offensive zone on the left wing. Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson offered some resistance but was jammed up by a slight deke from Hagel who released a wrister from the left circle that beat goaltender Tristan Jarry’s glove on the far side. Cirelli and defenseman Emil Lilleberg logged assists.

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov’s 19th goal gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 16:04 of the second frame during a four-on-four sequence.

Settling a rebound in the Penguins’ left circle, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman fed a pass to the high slot for Kucherov who had his stick cocked and blasted a one-timer by Penguins forward Philip Tomasino as well as Jarry’s glove on the near side. Hedman and ex-Penguins forward Jake Guentzel generated assists.

The Penguins tied the game, 2-2, when forward Kevin Hayes scored his seventh goal during a power-play sequence at 2:17 of the third period.

Off Tampa Bay’s right half-wall, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby slid the puck to Hayes, stationed to the right of the crease. Hayes tried to go forehand to backhand while spinning to his left but lost possession of the puck which slid to the left of the blue paint. Rakell fought off Lilleberg and tapped the puck back to Hayes who slammed in a forehand shot by Johansson’s left skate for his third goal in five games. Rakell and Crosby collected assists.

Kucherov struck again on the eventual game-winning goal at 16:57 of the third.

From his own blue line, Penguins forward Noel Acciari fumbled a puck. Kucherov accepted the charity, generated a mini-breakaway and fired a wrister by Jarry’s blocker. There were no assists.

“I tried to go wide (on a pass attempt to Karlsson) on the breakout and just kind of whiffed on it,” Acciari said. “Gave them the game. No one to blame but me. We played a really good game, I think, overall as a team. I think we outplayed them. But, they capitalized on the mistake.”

Cirelli secured victory by scoring his 17th goal on an empty net at 18:48 of the final frame. Kucherov and Hagel had assists.

Lightning forward Nick Paul also scored on an empty net, registering his 11th goal at the 19:39 mark off assists from Guentzel and defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Only 17 of the shots the Penguins faced came with a goaltender in net. Jarry made 14 saves as his record fell to 8-7-4.

“I thought (Jarry) was solid,” Coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought the save he made on our power play, the breakaway we gave up (to Hagel at 7:03 of the third period), was a huge save. That gives us a chance. I thought he made some timely saves.”

Just from a cosmetic standpoint, Sunday’s effort by the Penguins was so much more appealing than what was offered in a lifeless 5-0 home loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (in which they allowed a goal on the first shot by the opposition).

But the results were the same.

“They’re two different games,” Crosby said. “(Saturday), we didn’t really give ourselves a chance at all. (Sunday), I thought we deserved better.

“But you don’t get points for playing well. You got to find a way to win games. And we’ve got to do that.”

Notes:

• Penguins forward Michael Bunting was scratched after being involved in an automobile accident prior to the game near the arena at the intersection of Washington Place and Centre Ave. Sullivan indicated Bunting was “okay” but did not elaborate further.

• Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves and Ryan Shea were healthy scratches.

• Tomasino was activated from injured reserve Sunday afternoon and rejoined the lineup after being sidelined for four games.

Opening the contest on the second line, Tomasino logged 13:36 of ice time on 17 shifts and had two shot attempts.

• Rust (405 points) surpassed forward Ron Schock (404) for 14th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• In 51 career games against the Lightning, Crosby has 67 points (24 goals, 43 assists).

• In 29 career games against the Penguins, Kucherov has 38 points (11 goals, 27 assists).

• Guentzel’s assists were his first points in three career games against his former team.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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