The Tampa Bay Lightning struck in overtime to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in overtime to take a 3-2 series lead in the 2016 Eastern Conference Final.
The Tampa Bay Lightning knew when they headed back into the Consol Energy Center for Game 5 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final they were going to be in for one tough game. The Pittsburgh Penguins fans are certainly passionate about their team and have no qualms in letting the whole world know about it. Unfortunately for the Penguins, the Lightning are more than used to dealing with adversity.
While Game 5 may not have started out with the same bang as Game 4 did at the Amalie Arena on Friday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning were definitely making their presence known in the Steel City. The team was aggressive with the puck, spending quite a bit of time in the Lightning’s offensive zone, making Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
The Lightning did all they could to put the pressure on Fleury. This may have a lot to do with the fact that Game 5 is the first time Fleury has taken the ice as the starter since March 31st. As you can imagine, coming into a series like this after being away from the ice for so long could prove to be an issue for the Pens.
It wouldn’t take long before things would take a wrong turn; especially if you’re a Tampa Bay Lightning fan. In the first period, the Tampa Bay Lightning almost had to add another name to their injury list when Pittsburgh Penguins center Eric Fehr takes a run at Jonathan Drouin, nailing him in the head and sending him crashing down to the ice and into the boards.
The good news is, Johnson wasn’t injured on the play. The bad news is, there was no call made on the play. While Tampa Bay Lightning fans should probably be used to this kind of thing at this point, it’s still an incredibly frustrating situation.
Speaking of frustrating. Both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins would spend the first 19:59 of the period attempting to get the puck in the back of their respective nets. Unfortunately for the Lightning, it would be the Penguins who would sink the puck with just one second left in the first period.
Just when you think things can’t get any more frustrating, Penguins crash the net once again with a goal by Patric Hornqvist that would extend the Pittsburgh Penguin’s lead over the Lightning to two goals. Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning weren’t quite ready to go down without a fight.
Just past the halfway point in the second period, Alex Killorn would make a brilliant play with the assist of Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr that would make its way into the back of the net to make this a one-goal game. One minute and ten seconds later, the Lightning would strike once again with a goal from Nikita Kucherov. The lone assist on the Kucherov goal would go to his fellow Russian, Vladislav Namestnikov.
Unfortunately, as the second period came to a close the Tampa Bay Lightning were hit with a pretty big case of déjà vu. Just under a minute before the end of the period, the Penguins would retake the lead with a goal from Chris Kunitz. The lone assist on Kunitz’ goal went to Evgeni Malkin.
At this point, the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans alike were starting to feel the pressure as time continued to tick off the clock. In the third period of play, the Pittsburgh Penguins would outshoot the Tampa Bay Lightning 12-11. Both sides would fight with everything they had. The Tampa Bay Lightning needed one goal in order to take this thing to overtime. A goal from the Penguins would put the final nail in the Lightning’s coffin.
Related Story: Jonathan Drouin Nailed In The Head By Eric Fehr (Video)
There were just three minutes and 16 seconds left in the 3rd period, Nikita Kucherov would come up with a huge wraparound goal that would reignite the Tampa Bay Lightning and take the game to overtime. Now, the Tampa Bay Lightning will need to come out strong and really bring the pressure to the Penguins if they wanted to head home to the Amalie Arena with the lead.
We have said this a million times, but we’ll go ahead and make it a million and one. Never, ever, count the Tampa Bay Lightning out when they are down. The Lightning would head into overtime with a renewed fire in their souls and a deep desire to head home with the series lead.
The Tampa Bay Lightning would only muster one shot in the overtime period, but it was that one shot that made all the difference. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison would release one of his patented bombs toward Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury. It would be Tyler Johnson who would get a stick on the puck and send the puck flying into the back of the net.
The Lightning now have a 3-2 series lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bolts are now just one game away from once again becoming the Eastern Conference Champions and continuing on to play for the Stanley Cup. As we said earlier today, one game, one single moment can make all the difference. The Tampa Bay Lightning proved that tonight in overtime.
Next: Jason Garrison: Team Must Play A Full 60 From Now On
The Tampa Bay Lightning will charge into the Amalie Arena on Tuesday night to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6. As has become the norm with this series, the puck is scheduled to drop at 8:00 p.m. If you’re not one of the 19,000+ who will be at the game on Tuesday, you can always catch the live broadcast on the NBC Sports Network or listen to Dave Mishkin make the call on 970WFLA Tampa Bay.