Off a scramble around the Tampa Bay net, Michael Bunting tapped the puck inside the right post at 14:32 of the third period Saturday to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 5-4 win over the visiting Lightning after blowing a three-goal lead.
Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang also scored, and Erik Karlsson added three assists each for the Penguins (36-30-11), who won their fourth straight and moved into a playoff spot, pending Saturday’s night games.
Pittsburgh goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves.
Steven Stamkos had two goals, Nicholas Paul and Anthony Duclair also scored, and Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each had three assists for the Lightning (43-27-7), who had won five of six.
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves.
Referee Steve Kozari was taken off the ice on a stretcher after colliding with Tampa Bay’s Haydn Fleury at 6:11 of the third. Kozari was conscious as he left.
Crosby opened the scoring with his 40th goal at 4:20 of the first. Off a two-on-one, he converted a pass from Bryan Rust near the left post.
At 6:06 of the second, Malkin made it 2-0 when he deflected a shot by Karlsson under Vasilevskiy’s glove.
Stamkos scored his 35th goal to pull the Lightning to within 2-1 on a power play at 12:15 of the second. Stamkos blasted a one-timer from the left dot short side.
At 14:39 of the second, Letang scored on a shot from the right point that trickled over the goal line, giving Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead.
Malkin struck again at 16:57 of the second, shoveling in his own rebound, to push it to 4-1 with his 25th goal.
Tampa Bay cut it to 4-2 when Paul scored 25 seconds into the third on a shot from the left circle.
At 7:23 of the third, Duclair drew the Lightning to within 4-3 on a shot from the mid-slot.
On a power play, Stamkos tied it at 10:45 of the third with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle. Kucherov’s third assist gave him a league-leading 136 points.
–Field Level Media
