By hook or by crook: Snapping slump against Penguins good news for Lightning
TAMPA, Fla. -- They arrived sick, tired and strained.
They arrived vulnerable, beaten down and with an injury list the length of a Black Friday shopping receipt.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, winners of 10 straight games over the Tampa Bay Lightning, were far from full strength when they hobbled into Amalie Arena. They were coming off a loss Monday at the Florida Panthers. They were dealing with a mumps outbreak, part of the reason why they skated Tuesday night with 13 players out.
And the Lightning? No tears were shed. Not one. Not for a second.
All is fair in love and hockey.
Tampa Bay piled on Pittsburgh with a 4-3 victory that began as a rout but featured anxious moments at the end. Center Tyler Johnson, so good with so much life, choked the Penguins early with three of the Lightning's goals. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who entered with an NHL-high six shutouts, was ripped for three of those scores before he was pulled in the second period. Jeff Zatkoff, the Penguins' reserve goaltender, allowed one in the second that sent hats fluttering to the ice from above. Young Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stood strong in the final seconds to repel a third-period rally.
"Yeah, it's huge," Johnson said. "We've talked about it. It's one of the only teams I haven't beat. Still some others out there, but we're coming for them now."
Ding, dong, the streak is dead.
It's hard to lose 10 consecutive games against one opponent. That's why a collective sigh of relief from Tampa Bay's dressing room can be excused, a 0-9-1 bear of a skid against the Penguins over and buried.
Go back to Nov. 17, 2011, to find the last Tampa Bay victory over Pittsburgh before Tuesday. Old names such as Vinny Lecavalier and Steve Downie played key roles in a 4-1 win at the then-St. Pete Times Forum.
That's a wicked drought against one of the NHL's brand names. That's too long against anyone.
The stars aligned for the Lightning to shake the spell. Monday, the Panthers jumped on the Penguins and claimed a seven-round shootout victory in South Florida. Afterward, the Penguins' charter flight cut through the Sunshine State's Gulf Coast and landed in Tampa at 12:55 a.m. Tuesday. They opted out of skating later in the morning.
Throughout the first two periods, the Lightning looked like the fresher and more confident group. The Johnson-Nikita Kucherov-Ondrej Palat line combined for four goals and five assists. Tampa Bay was the aggressor. The surge proved enough to slap back against Sidney Crosby and his merry band of tormentors.
At last.
"It worked out well," Palat said. "Last year, I never won against Pittsburgh. The team was struggling the last couple years against them, so it's nice to get a win."
No, nothing major was claimed here. This was no playoff-clinching affair, no reason for confetti to swirl from the rafters like snowflakes. Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay meet for a third and final time this season on Jan. 2 at Consol Energy Center. Beyond that, much about the winter remains undiscovered.
Still, this victory was an important pick-me-up moment for a team that was limping. The Lightning entered the night bruised after a five-game trip through the Northeast. They went 1-3-1 against the Washington Capitals, Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. They needed a reason to feel good before a short holiday break.
They received their wish. Coach Jon Cooper called the result an early Christmas present. He's right. For once, the Penguins didn't deliver the Lightning a lump of coal at center ice. For once, the Penguins were no Grinch.
For once, a result against Pittsburgh meant just another victory for Tampa Bay on just another night in a long season. Ten puzzling losses didn't become 11.
"Somebody in this room wrote about us losing 10 in a row to these guys," Cooper said to reporters gathered postgame, "so there was a little bit of motivation for us."
So the Penguins were fatigued. So they were under the weather. So they had history on their side.
So what?
Ding, dong, the slump is gone.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
