Penguins beat the Lightning 8 to 1, Kris named 3rd star of the game!
“I think right off the hop, we jumped on the puck,” defenseman Kris Letang said, who tallied three assists. “It was pretty good, it gave us a lot of momentum right away.”
That was an exciting game, not exactly the most competitive, but if you’re a Penguins fan, you definitely enjoyed that one – I know I did!
AP Recap:
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Chris Kunitz scored three goals, Evgeni Malkin got Pittsburgh going with a goal 7 seconds into the game and the Penguins, playing for the first time since the Winter Classic, beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 8-1 on Wednesday night.
Alex Goligoski added a goal and set up three others and Kris Letang had three assists to help the Penguins end a two-game losing streak.
Pittsburgh scored four times on its first eight shots while opening a 5-0 lead in the first against the Lightning. Tampa Bay was 9-1-1 in its previous 11 after beating Washington 1-0 in overtime Tuesday night.
Despite all the goals, it was a quiet night for NHL scoring leaders Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos. Crosby had an assist for the only point between them.
Crosby, shut out in his previous two games following a 25-game scoreless streak, has 66 points in 41 games as Pittsburgh is 26-12-3 midway through its season.
Source and the rest of the Post Game Report
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Notebook: First Period Frenzy Fuels Pens
Alex Goligoski Notches First-Career Four-Point Game
Wednesday, 01.05.2011 / 10:55 PM / Features
By Michelle Crechiolo
Much ado had been made prior to Wednesday’s game about the offensive firepower of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But after just the first 20 minutes of play, it’s the Penguins’ offensive firepower that’s the talk of the town.
The Penguins got onto the board just seven seconds into the game when Evgeni Malkin intercepted a pass off the opening faceoff and drove to the net for the score.
He came just one second from tying the fastest opening goal in Penguins history, which was scored in six seconds by Jean Pronovost on March 25, 1976, against St. Louis. It was the fastest goal in the NHL since Joe Nieuwendyk tallied in seven seconds for Dallas in 1998.
“I think right off the hop, we jumped on the puck,” defenseman Kris Letang said, who tallied three assists. “It was pretty good, it gave us a lot of momentum right away.”
“It’s a whole different game if we don’t get the start we get,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “We did a good job, shift after shift, just going at it.”
That goal started an absolute barrage by the Penguins on the Lightning, as they proceeded to score a total of four goals within a 7:35 span to give Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead.
Chris Conner scored just 2:16 after Malkin’s goal to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Tyler Kennedy scored just under five minutes later, with Chris Kunitz tallying the first of his three goals just 25 seconds after him to give the Penguins their third and fourth goals.
Kunitz rounded out the first period scoring by re-directing an Alex Goligoski blast past Lightning goalie Dan Ellis with 1:04 remaining in the first to get his second of the night and Pittsburgh’s fifth of the period.
The Penguins’ 5-0 lead after 20 minutes was definitely impressive. But what was even more impressive was that the Penguins didn’t sit back and rest on their five-goal cushion – they stuck to their guns for the remaining 40 minutes.
“I think coming out of the first with the score 5-0 kind of changes the rest of the game a little bit,” head coach Dan Bylsma.
