Lightning Dominate Penguins Behind Cirelli’s Milestone Night

The Tampa Bay Lightning delivered a dominant performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night, defeating them 6-1 at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Anthony Cirelli celebrated his 500th NHL game with two goals early in the first period.

Lightning Strike Early

The Lightning were quick to open the scoring, notching four goals in the first period. Cirelli opened the scoring at 12:13 of the first. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh extended the lead to 2-0 at 13:30. Cirelli would go on to notch his second of the game off of a wrist shot at 15:12 from the left face-off circle. Brayden Point wrapped up the scoring in the first to make it 4-0 when he scored off the rebound of Jake Guentzel’s shot.

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Goaltending Struggles for the Penguins

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on seven shots before being pulled only 16 minutes into the first. Backup Alex Nedelijkovic would go on to finish in net for the Penguins and make 18 saves.

Kucherov Continues His Success

Nikita Kucherov finished with a powerplay goal in the second and two assists, surpassing the 100-point mark for the year. His goal in the first marks his 38th of the season and extends his point streak to six games. This is Kucherov’s third straight season notching 100 points and fifth time overall in his 11 NHL seasons.

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Penguins Struggle to Generate Offense

Right wing Bryan Rust broke through for the Penguins offense in the third period to notch their lone goal. Sidney Crosby picked up the secondary assist on the goal to get one away from his 20th point-per-game season. This would surpass Wayne Gretzky’s 19 for the most in the NHL. Despite Crosby’s success, the Penguins have struggled to capitalize on scoring chances, registering only 16 shots on goal versus the Lightning’s 27.

Lightning Look to Remain Dominant

Brandon Hagel closed out the scoring for the Lightning late in the second. Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 15 of 16 shot attempts he faced. With this win, the Lightning improve to 41-25-5 and will look to continue their momentum on Thursday where they will play the Utah Hockey Club at home. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.