Bryaden Point completes the comeback in his return from injury to keep the winning streak going in a thrilling game in Pittsburgh. With Nikita Kucherov and Sidney Crosby both closing in on milestones it was sure to be an exciting night regardless of the outcome. A welcoming sign for the Lightning was the awaited return of Point to the lineup. He had missed the past four games due to a lower-body injury and was eager to get back on the ice. Tristan Jarry stole the show for a majority of the game before Tampa took command in the third period to force overtime. Tampa would be without Nick Paul who was not on the bench to start the third period and did not return for the rest of the night.
Pass less, shoot more
Not much action occurred to begin the game with a total of three shots on goal in the opening minutes of the game. Numerous unforced icings were caused by the Lightning, but it did not yield scoring chances for the Penguins. What this did though is prevent the Lightning from attacking the net. Then, Lightning would generate scoring chances but performed more passes than shots on net. Eventually, Tampa drew the first penalty, and it was Bryan Rust going to the box for slashing. Penguins did a great job killing of the penalty and the game remained scoreless with less than half the period gone by.
Error on defense becomes costly
Soon after the power play ended the Penguins scored the first goal of the game. Lightning could not get the puck out of their zone which allowed Jessie Puljujarvi to open up the scoring and give Pittsburgh the lead. Whenever you have the puck close to your net you cannot afford to turn it over and that is exactly what allowed Pittsburgh to take the lead. Up to that point the Lightning were not playing sloppy but were not shooting the puck as much as they should be. Lightning would get their second chance on the power play in hopes of tying the game. Once again, Penguins penalty kill do their job and the score remained 1-0.
The Jarry show?
Beginning of the second period nearly saw the Lightning tie the game up and continued to attack the net. This was a much better start than the first period and it was a matter of when not if the Lightning score a goal. Jarry continued to deny anything that came his way despite Tampa’s best effort to tie the game. Under halfway to go in the period and the score remained 1-0 Penguins with Jarry bailing out Pittsburgh’s defenders. Penguins nearly added to their lead, but Andrei Vasilevskiy was able to make the save and keep it a one goal game.
Digging a hole
That was Pittsburgh’s best scoring chance of the period and would get more with their first power play of the game. Unfortunately, Crosby was left unguarded and fed the puck to Rickard Rakell who scored with ease to extend the lead 2-0. Crosby’s assist on the goal moved him past Joe Sakic for the 13th most assists in NHL history with 1,017. Penalty kill was going fine up until that error that once again allowed Pittsburgh to score. Next, Penguins went back on the power play with 3:25 left in the period. This time Lightning kill off the penalty and the score remains 2-0 with the period coming to an end. That was a crucial kill for Tampa Bay and looked to answer Jarry in the third period.
The start of a comeback
It was do or tie for the Lightning as third period began. Again, Lightning’s offense went to work right away and wasted no time generating scoring chances. Nick Paul was not on the bench to begin the period which explains why the lines were shuffled a bit. Lightning would get their third power play of the game hoping to finally get on the board. It was a good power play for Tampa but Jarry continued to be stellar in net and keep the Lightning from scoring. Soon after, Lightning finally got the goal they were desperately searching for. Point scored his 9th of the season in his first game back from injury to cut the Penguins lead 2-1.
Welcome back, Pointer 😎 pic.twitter.com/f8jyBJ6V3P
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 20, 2024
Let there be overtime
For the first time tonight, momentum shifted to Tampa’s side and now their sights were on scoring the equalizer. Eventually, Lightning did end up scoring that equalizer and made the game a lot more interesting. Anthony Cirelli circled the net before shooting it on net and Brandon Hagel was there to bank it past Jarry for the goal. Minutes after the goal was scored it was instead awarded to Cirelli as they deemed it went off a Penguins defender and not Hagel. Overtime was needed for what became a thrilling game in Pittsburgh.
Clutch 🫡 pic.twitter.com/lpmr1hbhSw
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 20, 2024
Point completes the comeback
Starting off, after a false start Cirelli won the opening face-off giving Lightning first possession in overtime. Penguins then took possession of the puck, but the Lightning took it back. Teams would then exchange possession without either team getting a good look on net. Finally, Tampa completed the comeback thanks to Point scoring on the only shot on net to give Tampa the 3-2 victory. They will look to extend the winning streak to four games Thursday in Columbus.
Couldn't have dreamt of a better ending 👏 pic.twitter.com/OYSAcxWNQz
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 20, 2024
Three stars of the night
1st Star: Brayden Point – 2 goals including the gwg in OT
2nd Star: Darren Raddysh – 2 assists
3rd Star: Anthony Cirelli – 1 goal
