Penguins pull away from Lightning with 6 goals in 2nd

PITTSBURGH --The Pittsburgh Penguins scored six goals in the second period, including five in a 4:27 span, to pull away from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 7-3 win at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Brian Dumoulin each had a goal and an assist, and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for the Penguins (29-21-9), who were coming off a 3-2 overtime win at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
"Tonight, we had some looks we were able to finish on," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "I think we've generated a lot of quality looks here over the last handful of games. It's nice that our guys got rewarded tonight for it, for sure."
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist to surpass 700 NHL points for the Lightning (37-18-4), who were coming off a 3-0 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and are 2-2-2 in their past six games. Brian Elliott made 29 saves.
"It just unraveled," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "I haven't been a part of that, I don't know if ever, in this league. I guess it happens at times. Just doesn't feel very good when it happens to you."

Malkin tied it 2-2 at 6:17 of the second period, receiving a stretch pass from Josh Archibald as he exited the penalty box before scoring five-hole on a breakaway.
Crosby put the Penguins in front 3-2 with a power-play goal at 15:28, finishing a backhand pass from Jake Guentzel at the right post.
"Obviously, take that penalty there and they score on the power play," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "Kind of sucked the life out of us a little bit. I don't know the details, but that was obviously tough. I thought it was a decent game before that."
Teddy Blueger made it 4-2 at 16:20 when he dove to knock in a loose puck after Marcus Pettersson's shot caromed back into the crease off the end boards. It was just his second goal this season and first since Dec. 6 (33 games).
"Just overall, good team effort," Blueger said. "Had to fight through it. It's obviously a good feeling to score at any time, but especially when you haven't done it in a while."
Jeff Carter extended the lead to 5-2 at 17:50 with a wrist shot from the right circle, and Jason Zucker scored 47 seconds later on a backhand in front to make it 6-2.
Dumoulin pushed it to 7-2 at 19:55 with his first goal of the season, a slap shot from the point off a face-off win by Crosby.
"Didn't give our goalie a chance to save some of those pucks," Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said. "That's what happened."

Brayden Point made it 7-3 at 7:57 of the third period, scoring from the low slot off a set up by Kucherov for a power-play goal.
Drew O'Connor put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 3:20 of the first period with a redirection in front.
"I think we've just kind of responded in a good way after a tough week (lost previous four prior to St. Louis win)," O'Connor said. "I think yesterday was a really good game for us. I think we kind of just continued that today."
Anthony Cirelli tied it 1-1 at 16:06 when the rebound of Zach Bogosian's slap shot deflected in off his shin.
Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 18:05, chipping in his own rebound during a 4-on-4.
"To get 700 points in this league is remarkable," Cooper said of Kucherov, who has 269 goals and 432 assists in 621 NHL games. "To do it in like 600-plus games or whatever he did, in a bleak night, that's a little bit of a shining moment. So we'll hang our hat on that."

NOTES: The five goals in a 4:27 span were the second-fastest in Penguins history. They scored five goals in a 2:07 span against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 22, 1972. … Crosby has 71 points (26 goals, 45 assists) in 59 games this season. It is his 13th season with at least 70 points, passing Mario Lemieux for the most in Penguins history. … Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak served the second of a two-game suspension for elbowing Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo in a 6-5 overtime loss on Thursday. … Kucherov is the fourth player to reach 700 points in Lightning history, joining Stamkos (1,033), Martin St. Louis (953) and Vincent Lecavalier (874).