The Penguins made a statement Wednesday night by clobbering the Tampa Bay Lightning, which had one of the best records in the NHL, 8-1.
Evgeni Malkin scored seven seconds into the first period and the Pens didn’t look back, piling on four more goals in the first period alone (one each by Chris Conner and Tyler Kennedy, and two by Chris Kunitz). Then Mark Letestu scored in the second period, and Kunitz made it a hat trick with a power-play goal late in the period. Adam Hall scored the Lightning’s only goal early in the third period, but he was quickly answered by yet another Penguins goal, this one by Alex Goligoski.
Goligoski and Kris Letang each had three assists for the Pens, while Ben Lovejoy had two.
Marc-Andre Fleury recorded 31 saves for the Penguins. The Lightning’s goalies, in contrast, didn’t have such a great day. The newly-acquired Dwayne Roloson, who looked like a revelation, or something like that, on Tuesday night while shutting out the Washington Capitals in his Lightning debut, allowed the first five goals and was pulled in favor of Dan Ellis, who allowed three more.