Speedy
Penguins Outlast Lightning, Take Series Lead
Last night’s Game 3 of the Eastern
Conference Finals at Amalie Arena was exciting to say the least. It featured everything
from physicality to goaltending. By the time the dust had settled, the
Pittsburgh Penguins had come out with 2-1 lead in the series.
For the first few minutes of the game,
the Lightning had a majority of the scoring chances. Their defensemen were
jumping into plays, trying to make life tough for the Penguins in their zone. Matt
Murray was good when he needed to be, stopping all of Tampa’s chances. Shortly
after, the Penguins began creating chances of their own with their forecheck
and speed. 21-year old backup goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was up to the task and
kept the game scoreless. Though scoreless, the 1st period had a lot
of quick, exciting back and forth action.
The 2nd period was more of
the same. The only difference was that Pittsburgh’s speed enabled them to get a
majority of the chances. They would outshoot the Lightning 21-6 in the middle
frame. The Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel line, which has been good for the Penguins all
playoffs, finally broke through with a late rebound goal from Carl Hagelin at
19:50. The goal was generated by speed, which has contributed to much of
Pittsburgh’s recent success.
That same line would strike again when
Nick Bonino sent a no-look pass from behind the net right into Kessel’s
wheelhouse for a 2-0 lead at 5:16. The Lightning, however, had a good response
when Tyler Johnson, who looked like he’d been shot out of a cannon, scored 14
seconds later. Though the Lightning had climbed back into the game, they ran
into a bit of penalty trouble. In the ensuing 4 on 3, Sidney Crosby sent a
one-time blast past Vasilevskiy at 10:50 to make it 3-1.
Though the Lightning battled hard to
keep the game close, Chris Kunitz made it 4-1 at 13:12. The game wasn’t completely
out of reach for the Lightning until Braydon Coburn took his second penalty of
the period at 14:12. Though the Penguins did not score, they killed enough time
that the game was practically over for the Lightning. Despite Ondrej Palat
scoring at 18:16, it was too late for the Lightning.
Though the Penguins won the game by a
final score of 4-2, Patric Hornqvist was lost to injury after blocking a shot
with his hand. Though the Lightning lost, Andrei Vasilevskiy was a bright spot
on the team, making 44 saves. I’m pretty sure the Lightning will bounce back in
game 4 on Friday. However, if they don’t, I think the Penguins speed will make short
work of this series.
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