Penguins recover, defeat Lightning to move into playoff position

PITTSBURGH -- Michael Bunting scored with 5:28 remaining, and the Pittsburgh Penguins recovered after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period for a 5-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Bunting, who also had two assists, scored on a backhand from just outside the crease.

"We made it exciting," Bunting said. "Obviously, we want to hold those leads when we're in them, but that's a good hockey team over there."

Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, Erik Karlsson had three assists, and Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins (36-30-11), who have won four straight and are 6-0-2 on an eight-game point streak. Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves in his eighth straight start.

Pittsburgh moved into the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They are tied in points with the Philadelphia Flyers, who have played one more game.

Steven Stamkos scored twice, and Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each had three assists for the Lightning (43-27-7), who had won five of six and 10 of 12 (10-1-1). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves.

Tampa Bay, which clinched a playoff berth on Friday, holds the first wild card from the East and fell four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division.

"These are tough games to play," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I can sit here after the fact and lament how we played the first two periods, but these guys have pushed so hard for so long now. We're playing a team that has put themselves right in it. The League's too tight to not be on the same emotional wavelength. And we weren't."

Kucherov, who has 136 points (43 goals, 93 assists), moved five points ahead of Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche for the NHL scoring lead.

Nicholas Paul scored for the Lightning on a snap shot from the left circle 25 seconds into the third period to cut it to 4-2.

Anthony Duclair made it 4-3 at 7:23 with a shot blocker side from the high slot.

"I thought we just stayed with it," Crosby said. "It didn't feel like we did a lot wrong, but that's a team that if you give them time and space, they're going to convert."

Stamkos then tied it 4-4 at 10:45 with a one-timer on a power play, his second goal of the game.

"It's just disappointing because if we play like that all game, then we, maybe, have a different result," Stamkos said. "A case of too little, too late."

Crosby put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 4:20 of the first period. Bryan Rust held the puck on a 2-on-1 rush, allowing Tampa Bay defenseman Darren Raddysh to slide by before passing to Crosby for a backhand tucked around the left post.

It was Crosby's 40th goal, the third time in 19 NHL seasons he's reached the mark.

Malkin made it 2-0 at 6:06 of the second period, deflecting a point shot from Karlsson.

Stamkos cut it to 2-1 on a power play at 12:15 with a one-timer from the left face-off circle.

"Second period, even though they jumped out to a 4-1 lead, I thought it was a lot more even," Hedman said. "Then in the third, we took over the game. ... Happy with the way we came back there."

Letang extended the lead to 3-1 at 14:39, scoring on a snap shot through traffic from the point.

Malkin pushed it to 4-1 at 16:57, scoring on his own rebound off a pass from Drew O'Connor with a wrist shot just outside the crease. It was his sixth goal in six games.

"I just give the players credit," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "We hung in there. Tampa's a really good team. They have one of the more dynamic offenses in the League. ... I give our players credit. We hung in there."

Lightning defenseman Haydn Fleury did not return after colliding with referee Steve Kozari at center ice in the third period. Cooper did not have an update on Fleury.

Kozari who remained down for several minutes, was transported to UPMC Mercy hospital for precautionary reasons. He has use of all his extremities and is expected to make a full recovery.

NOTES: Pittsburgh is in a playoff position for the first time since Nov. 14. ... Crosby is the seventh player in NHL history to score at least 40 goals at the age of 36 or older, joining Alex Ovechkin (50 in 2021-22; 42 in 2022-23), Teemu Selanne (48 in 2006-07), Gordie Howe (44 in 1968-69), Phil Esposito (42 in 1978-79), Brendan Shanahan (40 in 2005-06) and Johnny Bucyk (40 in 1972-73). ... Stamkos has seven goals during a five-game goal streak. … Kucherov tied his Lightning record for multipoint games in a season with 38. He set the record in 2018-19. … The Lightning used 11 forwards and seven defensemen with forward Anthony Cirelli out after sustaining an undisclosed injury in a 7-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.