The Tampa Bay Lightning have clearly looked second best through the first three games of the Eastern Conference final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The defending East champs need to rectify that scenario immediately.
Losers of two straight and down 2-1 in this series, the cavalry isn't about to ride to the rescue for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Captain Steve Stamkos (blood clot), the team's regular-season goals leader with 36 and Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop (lower-body injury) won't be in the lineup for Game 4 at Amalie Arena. Bishop practiced Thursday and feels he's getting close to a return but Stamkos, who remains on blood thinner medication, frankly admitted he might not play at all in the playoffs.
The Penguins, meanwhile, find themselves up 2-1 for the third successive series and if you believe in trends, Pittsburgh won Game 4 in the first and second rounds to grab 3-1 stangleholds on those sets. It's the first time Tampa Bay has found itself trailing in a series in this spring's playoffs.
A good sign for the Lightning was that Tyler Johnson, Tampa's leading goal scorer through the first two rounds, tallied his first marker of the series in Game 3. Lightning coach Jon Cooper juggled his lines, reuniting the Triplets combo of Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat and that unit scored twice. He also dropped Jonathan Drouin, whose offensive creativity is often offset by his cheating and chance taking on the defensive side of the puck, to the third line. Johnson now has 19 career playoff goals, moving him past Brad Richards into fourth on the Lightning's all-time list.
Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin garnered an assist in Game 3 for his first point in six games. Along with captain Sidney Crosby's back-to-back game-winning goals, the Penguins are beginning to get offense from the their top players but their slowdown continues to be offset by the steady production of the third line of Nick Bonino, Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin, who have combined for 3-6-9 numbers in this series. They are 14-25-39 together during the playoffs.
Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist, who plays on Crosby's line, blocked a shot with his hand late in Game 3 but is expected to play in Game 4. Only three active NHL players with a minimum of 20 career playoff games have averaged more than a point per game and all three play for the Penguins - Crosby (1.15), Malkin (1.06) and Kessel (1.03).
Pick: The Lightning (+400)
Category : News
More articles...What: Jaron Ennis vs. Eimantas Stanionis boxing bout Where: Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey When: Saturday, April 12 at 10 p.m. ET How to watch: DAZN Who's ready for an exciting matchup inside of the ring this weekend? Come Saturday night, there's an exciting matchup on the way between Jaron Ennis […]
What: The Masters When: April 10-13 Where: Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia How to watch: CBS Arguably the biggest and best golf tournament of the year is here. That's right, we're talking about The Masters, an event that golf fans can't wait to arrive every spring. Already, the course at Augusta is filled with people […]
What: 2025 NFL Draft Where: Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin When: April 24-26 How to watch: ESPN The calendar may read April, but there's no question that sports fans across the world have football on their mind. Wait, what? That's right, the NFL Draft is sneaking up on us and countless superstars are ready […]
