Fast starts mean everything, but especially so for a Penguins team that is challenged at coming back.
That’s why Max Talbot and Arron Asham have put Pittsburgh in the place they want to be early in Game 3- out to an early lead.
Talbot collected a pass from defenseman Ben Lovejoy and took the puck up the ice, hesitated and fired a shot by Tampa goalie Dwayne Roloson. Lovejoy was rocked by the Lightning’s Steve Downie who rocked him with a high hit that would have drawn a penalty, but was cancelled out by Talbot’s goal.
Then, forty-five seconds later, the Pens Mike Rupp skated around Tampa defenseman Victor Hedman and threw a pass out that somehow got through the sliding Pavel Kubina and ended up on Asham’s stick. Asham made no mistake in firing a one timer past Roloson.
At the other end of the ice, Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made a dazzling save on Tampa star Steven Stamkos halfway through the first from right in front of the net.