Penguins Beat Lightning 5-2 To Tie Series, Force Game 7

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 in Game 6 at Amalie Arena on Tuesday night to extend the Eastern Conference Final series, which his now tied 3-3.

Penguins Beat Lightning 5-2 To Tie Series, Force Game 7

Game 7 will take place at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Thursday. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray, 22, made 28 saves, 17 of them in the third period. Murray returned to the net after starter Marc-Andre Fleury played in Game 5, which the Penguins lost 4-3 in overtime on Sunday.

“He doesn’t get rattled,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Murray. “If he lets a goal in, he just continues to compete. … Usually it takes years to acquire that, and to have it at such a young age is impressive. That’s always impressed us about him. Certainly it’s impressed me since I’ve got to know him and watch him as a goaltender but also as a person.”

The youngster was pulled from a 4-3, Game 4 loss after allowing four goals in two periods.

“It’s not my job to worry about [coach’s] decision,” Murray said. “It’s my job to be ready if my name is called, and if my name is called, to go out and play my heart out and compete.”

Phil Kessel gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead with 1:14 left in the first period with a power-play goal. The Penguins gained a two-man advantage after Victor Hedman joined Anton Stralman in the penalty box on a delay of game. Kessel deflected a pass from Sidney Crosby into the net to earn his ninth goal of the postseason.

Jonathan Drouin scored for the Lightning just 5:12 into the game, but the Penguins challenged the play and the goal was overturned after the officials ruled that Drouin entered the zone offside.

The Penguins then gained a 2-0 lead 7:40 into the second period thanks to Kris Letang. After a screen from Patric Hornqvist, Letang fired a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy high on the stick side to earn his second goal of the playoffs.

Crosby netted his third game-winning goal of the series on Tuesday. With 26 seconds remaining in the second period, he skated around Stralman and fired a wrist shot through Vasilevskiy’s five-hole to push the score to 3-0.

“As soon as I turned with the puck, I could tell they were probably in the middle of coming up the gap,” said Crosby, who has six goals this postseason. “So I just tried to get some speed off that turnover there that [Hornqvist created], and had a lane and just tried to hit it. That’s a great play by him; if he doesn’t backcheck, it’s probably a nothing play and they’re going back the other way.”

Brian Boyle scored both goals for the Lightning, who lost their third straight Game 6 in a series.

Boyle’s first goal came unassisted at 5:30 of the third period when his centering pass to Braydon Coburn was tipped by Kessel and flew past Murray to make it 3-1. Boyle then took a pass from Slater Koekkoek and fired a wrist shot from the left circle with 7:17 left in the game to make it 3-2. The shot beat Murray in the top left corner.

Bryan Rust and Nick Bonino scored the final two goals for the Penguins. Rust netted a breakaway goal with 2:08 remaining, while Bonino scored an empty-netter with 54 seconds left to seal the victory.

Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh played a Game 7 at Consol Energy Center in the 2011 Eastern Conference First Round. The Lightning won 1-0 on a goal by Sean Bergenheim. The Penguins are 2-7 in Game 7s at home.

TAMPA, FL – MAY 24: Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores a goal on Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on May 24, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)