The Pittsburgh Penguins will be on Florida’s Gulf Coast to conclude their three-game season series with Tampa Bay on Tuesday, but the stakes are higher for the Lightning these days.
The matchup between the two Eastern Conference clubs will be the first meeting in Florida, and the first since the Lightning (40-25-5, 85 points) topped the Penguins (29-32-11, 69 points) 5-2 in Pittsburgh on Jan. 12.
Two consecutive regulation losses have hurt the Lightning’s chances of climbing atop the Atlantic Division. They are four points behind the first-place Florida Panthers (43-25-3, 89 points) with one game in hand over the reigning champions. The second-place Toronto Maple Leafs (42-25-3, 87 points) will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, while the Panthers are idle until Friday.
Tampa Bay essentially went bust in Las Vegas when it allowed the Golden Knights to build a three-goal first-period lead en route to a 4-2 outcome on Sunday night.
After their second straight setback, the Lightning ended their road trip 1-2-0 with a 16-17-3 overall record away from home.
“Kind of the message here with the guys is âlet’s start building something here,'” said forward Brandon Hagel, whose team won both meetings in Pittsburgh. “(The postseason) is not just a light switch that turns on 12 games from now.”
One of six Lightning players with at least 20 goals, center Anthony Cirelli (24 goals, 26 assists) will skate in his 500th career game Tuesday.
Nikita Kucherov tallied against Vegas in the game’s closing seconds to mark the winger’s eighth time reaching the 30-goal plateau over 11 campaigns.
While Pittsburgh is a proud group led by captain Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, the club’s 11 losses after regulation have been incredibly damaging to coach Mike Sullivan’s group.
That was true again Sunday as the Pens opened their swing through Florida with a 3-1 lead midway through the second period against the Panthers.
However, that advantage slipped away as Florida stormed back to win in a shootout. Pittsburgh failed to score on any of its three shots against goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in the 4-3 loss.
The Metropolitan Division squad fell to 1-6 in the one-on-one session as Rickard Rakell, Crosby and Bryan Rust were all denied by the two-time Vezina Trophy winner.
The reality is that the wild-card standings and the remainder of the schedule are stacked against Pittsburgh. Even if it ends the campaign on a 10-game winning streak, the club would finish with 89 points, historically short of the number needed to qualify for the playoffs.
Still, that has not deterred the Penguins, who are 5-1-1 in their past seven matches at a time when winning appears counterproductive.
“Shows a lot about the character and leadership in this room, is that we’re in here to keep fighting hard, keep playing really hard,” said Rust, who raised his goal total to 25 with two, plus an assist, against the Panthers. “It doesn’t really matter where we are, kind of what’s going on.
“I think we’re in here to still prove something and still be a good hockey team.”
Crosby notched two assists against Florida, bringing his team-high points total to 78 in 70 games. Rakell leads with 32 goals in 71 contests.
After facing the Lightning, Pittsburgh ends its three-game road trip at the Buffalo Sabres.
