The season-opening road trip ends on a rough note for the Bolts. They made their third and final stop of this trip in Pittsburgh tonight. And it was a rough one. It was the second half of a back-to-back. Andrei Vasilevskiy took the first game in Columbus last night, so tonight was Brian Elliott’s turn. Elliott came up big for the Bolts to keep them in the game, particularly during a second period in which they were outshot 17-9. But in the end, it was not enough. The Lightning fell to the Penguins by a final score of 6-2 to end the road trip on a rough note.
Starting off Strong
Although the road trip ended on a rough note, the Bolts actually got off to a strong start in this one. They scored the first goal of the game for the first time this season. The Penguins were called for a penalty just under 4 minutes into the game when Jeff Petry tripped up Nikita Kucherov. Stamkos made the Penguins pay, firing a shot past Tristan Jarry to claim the lead just 15 second into the power play. It was Stamkos’ 4th goal in 3 games to continue his torrid pace to start the season.
That's four goals in three games for Steven Stamkos (@RealStamkos91)… so far. 🧐 #NHLFaceOff pic.twitter.com/gdKizifxtV
— NHL (@NHL) October 15, 2022
But the game went downhill for the Lightning after that. Pittsburgh tied it up at the seventeen-minutes mark on a nice play by Sidney Crosby to beat Elliott. The teams went to the dressing room tied at a goal apiece.
Penguins Dominate the Second
The Penguins came out dominant to start the second period. Stamkos was called for a penalty just two and a half minutes into the frame. Pittsburgh applied continuous pressure throughout, finally scoring in the last 15 seconds to take a 2-1 lead. That was all the scoring of the second period mainly because of some amazing stops from backup netminder Brian Elliott. It was about eight minutes into the period before the Bolts managed to get their first shots on net. Pittsburgh ended up outshooting the Bolts 17-9 that period and took that one-goal lead into the second intermission. The Bolts were down but not out. Despite Pittsburgh’s dominant period, the Lightning were just one shot away from tying it up.
Rocky Road Trip Ends with a Rough Ending
This Bolts’ road trip ended off on a rocky note. The Bolts looked better to start the third period. They had a couple of decent looks at the net early on but nothing to show for it. And then the game got away from them. Jake Guentzel scored his second of the season two and a half minutes into the period and Jeff Carter scored his second of the season less than a minute and a half later. In what felt like a flash, the Bolts suddenly were down 4-1.
Bryan Rust scored on the power play for the Penguins at 13:31 to make it a 5-1 game. Just over 30 seconds later, Brayden point managed to break through and put another goal on the board for the boys in blue, making it 5-2 Pittsburgh. With four and a half minutes to go in regulation, Coach Jon Cooper pulled his goalie for the extra attacker. It did not take long for Rickard Rakell to put the puck into the empty Lightning net to give the Penguins a 6-2 lead. That’s how it ended.
The Bolts will no doubt be happy to return to the friendly confines of Amalie Arena to greet their faithful fans Tuesday night after a rough end to this 3-game road trip.
Three Stars
- Sidney Crosby- 1 goal, 2 assists
- Jake Guentzel- 1 goal 1 assist
- Steven Stamkos- 3-game goal-scoring streak
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