Pens/Lighting Regular-Season Series Review
Written by PGHSportsBlog, Tuesday April 12 2011
October 27th, 2010
Penguins - 3
Tampa Bay - 5
The opening 20 minutes had the Penguins thinking blowout in the Sunshine State as they out-shot Tampa 12-8, scored two of the three goals short-handed goal and chased starting goaltender Mike Smith from the game. Still, they held just a 3-2 lead after one period and after going 0-for-5 on the power play and allowing Tampa to score four unanswered goals, two by Martin St. Louis (4,5) the Lightning were able to escape with a come-from behind victory. Dan Ellis made 24 saves in relief of Smith. It was one of seven times the Lighting were able to win when trailing after the first period (7-12-2), which was good for a .333 winning percentage, tied for 8th-best in the league.
November 12, 2010
Tampa Bay - 1
Penguins - 5
After a lackluster scoreless first period in which the teams combined for just 9 shots on goal, Pascal Dupuis and Alex Goligoski scored 27 seconds apart in the 2nd period to give the Pens a 2-0 lead after two. Although scoring chances were hard to come by, as the two team finished the game with a total of 36 shots, the Penguins made the most of theirs. Max Talbot, Sidney Crosby, and Deryk Engelland all netted third-period tallies to seal the deal. Marc-Andre Fleury, who received tremendous ovations from the CEC crowd all evening, made 16 saves and was named the games number one star. This game marked the start of a ridiculous run over the next 7 weeks that saw Flower go 16-2-2 with a 1.85 GAA, and a .937 sv%
January 6, 2011
Tampa Bay - 1
Penguins - 8
After a 12-game winning streak that stretched into mid December, the Pens limped slightly into the new year going 4-4-1, and were coming off a disappointing loss to the Capitals in the Winter Classic at Heinz Field. This game appeared to turn the Penguins fortunes in the right direction in several ways. Evgeni Malkin scored seven seconds into the game, igniting a 5-goal first-period outburst that led to an 8-1 thrashing. The power play fortunes were appearing to turn as the Pens went 2-for-4 with the man advantage, with both tallies coming from Chris Kunitz, who netted his 2nd career hat trick.
As we would find out the next day, the Pens fortunes would turn in a drastically different direction, as it would be the last time we would see Sidney Crosby on the ice in game action for the rest of the regular season. Crosby took what seemed at the time, as a harmless hit from Lighting defenseman Victor Hedman. Television replays showed Crosby wincing, but he finished the game and took the trip with the team that night to Montreal for their game against the Canadiens. We would not learn until just before game time on January 6th that Crosby had been sent back to Pittsburgh to be treated for, what was diagnosed at the time as a "mild" concussion. Crosby would, of course, go on to miss the remaining 41 games of the regular season.
Though it took them some time, the Pens continued to find ways to win without Crosby, and eventually, Evgeni Malkin too:
Penguins with/without Crosby:
With Without
Record: 26-12-3 23-13-5
Goals/Game: 3.22 2.34
PP%*: 17.3 14.0
*The Penguins finished at 15.8% for the season (25th in NHL)
March 31, 2011
Penguins - 1
Tampa Bay - 2
By the time the two teams met 12 weeks later, two things were on the line for the Penguins: 1) The Atlantic Division Title: The Pens trailed Philadelphia by 4 points and had lost to the Flyers on home ice two days prior. 2) Home ice advantage in the first round: The Pens had a 5-point lead on the Lighting for 4th place in the Eastern Conference.
The likelihood of a first-round playoff meeting was almost assured, so many looked at this as a preview of coming attractions, and both teams delivered.
The Lightning jumped out to a two-goal first period lead on goals from Steve Downie and Martin St. Louis, and Tampa looked to be in control of most of the opening stanza. The Pens did not go willingly into the night, charging out in the second with 14 shots on goal, but Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson was stellar for most of the night. Mike Rupp finally got to Roloson four-and-a-half minutes into the third, but he was able to make 36 saves and give the Lightning a split of the season series.
Here are the final numbers from the Pens and Lightning regular-season series
Penguins Lightning
Wins 2 2
Goals 17 9
Shots/gm 32.3 25.8
PP% 11.1% 9.5%
Face-off wins 128 127
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