Cirelli, Lightning Power Past Pittsburgh to Retake Atlantic Division Lead

Mike Smith
4 minutes ago
4 min read

By Mike Smith | Thunderstuck Sports

Anthony Cirelli earned a hat trick, and Zemgus Girgensons scored the game-winning goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night, 6-3. Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists.

The win placed the Lightning back in a statistical tie for first place with the Buffalo Sabres in the very competitive Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay currently holds the tiebreaker over Buffalo with one head-to-head matchup left on April 6th.

Cirelli opened the scoring at the 5:06 mark of the first period when he put a Gage Goncalves-shot rebound past Pittsburgh goalie Stuart Skinner. It was the first time during the Lightning's current seven-game homestand that they had scored first in a game.

Unfortunately, Tampa Bay's lead did not last long. Richard Rakell scored the equalizing goal less than two minutes later at the 7:01 mark. Rakell was able to kick a Samual Girard pass to his stick and then past Andrei Vasilevskiy to even things up.

Pittsburgh then went ahead Egor Chinakov was able to get around Bolts defenseman Ryan McDonagh and backhand the puck past Vasilevskiy towards the end of the period.

To make matters worse, Darren Raddysh held Noel Acciari at the 18:24 mark of the period, creating a Pittsburgh power play opportunity. The Lightning were able to fend off the Pittsburgh attack for the remainder of the period, but faced a man-advantage for Pittsburgh entering the second.

Cirelli Leads The Lightning Comeback

With the Lightning trailing by one and on the penalty kill, Cirelli took matters into his own hands.

Cirelli took advantage of a misplay on the opening faceoff by Brian Rust in the Tampa Bay zone to force a breakaway opportunity. The Bolts center streaked through the Pittsburgh slot to deke Skinner and score on the backhand only 11 seconds into the period.

The shorthanded goal with the 17th of his career changed the entire complexion of the game. Tampa Bay would then score four more unanswered goals before the Penguins would score late in the game, long after the outcome was determined.

Brayden Point would get back in the scoring column with his first goal in six games at 14:08. Jake Guentzel chased his own missed shot behind the Pittsburgh net and managed to center the puck out in front to the right of Skinner. Point handled the bouncing puck perfectly, putting the Lightning up, 3-2.

Zemgus Girgensons scored the 100th goal of his NHL career on a similar play with 55 seconds left in the second period. This time, Yanni Gourde collected a pass from McDonagh behind the net and got the puck out front on the left to Girgensons. Girgensons made a move on Skinner and backhanded the puck in for the game-winner.

"I think our line was working really hard all game," Girgensons said when asked to describe scoring his 100th goal. "And then we just kept it going, and Gordo (Gourde) made a nice play."

Kucherov Continues to do Kucherov Things

Tampa Bay rode the momentum of the second period into the third, continuing to press the Pittsburgh defense. After drawing even in shots for most of the game, the Lightning outshot the Penguins 13-5 in the final stanza.

Kucherov missed two games earlier this week due to an illness that kept him off the ice for four days. His return during Tuesday's Montreal game was lackluster as he continued to regain his strength.

Kucherov's game on Thursday night against Pittsburgh was a different story.

Kucherov scored his team-leading 41st goal at the 13:50 mark when he sent a wrist shot over the shoulder of Skinner just under the bar. The improbable goal was one of three points scored by the Bolts forward, who sits in second place in the NHL points tally.

As of the conclusion of Thursday night's games, Kucherov trails Edmonton's Connor McDavid by only one point.

Cirelli would finish off the hat trick at the 15:33 mark of the third period with an empty net goal. With forward Brandon Hagel out day-to-day, Cirelli's performance came at a crucial point in the team's drive to make the playoffs.

"Tony deserves that. We've watched him play for years," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said afterward. "He gives everything, every shift. He just gives everything."

"And so you love to see guys like that get rewarded."

Three Stars of the Game

Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay. His first goal of the night got Tampa Bay off to the right start. His second goal lifted the team's spirits on the way to a convincing win. Cirelli earns the second hat trick of his career.
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay. A goal and two assists. The goal was a thing of wonder, continuing Kucherov's drive for another points title.
Zemgus Girgensons, Tampa Bay. His game-winning goal was the 100th of his career.