Sidney Crosby broke his goal drought at the right time, sending the Penguins to Tampa Bay with the series tied 1-1 after a quick 3-2 victory in overtime.
Lightning vs. Penguins 2016 final score: Sidney Crosby’s OT goal evens series for Penguins
Pittsburgh’s captain has broken his goal-scoring drought, and not a moment too soon.
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Crosby has been held scoreless since April 21 in the Penguins first round series against the Rangers.
Unlike Game 1, the Penguins were strong on the puck early, which helped them to a 2-0 lead within the first 10 minutes of the game. Matt Cullen got the first goal for Pittsburgh, jumping on the rebound of a 2-on-1 rush after Anton Stralman missed a puck that caused a Lightning turnover in his first game back from injury.
The Lightning were not able to clean up a rebound in front at the 9:37 mark, and Phil Kessel benefited from a puck that deflected off Andrej Sustr and right to the forward for his sixth goal of the playoffs.
Tampa Bay was able to climb back from the 2-0 hole in fewer than three minutes at the end of the first. Stralman atoned for his mistake that caused Cullen's goal, as he cut the Penguins lead in half after firing a rolling puck up and over Matt Murray for the 2-1 strike.
Then, Jonathan Drouin finished the comeback on a snipe from the right circle. The Penguins defense gave the forward space, and he beat Murray between the arm and blocker on the evening tally.
The Penguins dominated the final two periods of regulation but were unable to come away with any goals. Neither team could score in periods two and three, despite Pittsburgh’s 24-13 shot differential.
It took 40 seconds for the Penguins to win in overtime on Crosby's top-shelf goal over Vasilevskiy. A turnover caused an odd-man break, which Crosby buried after a pass from Bryan Rust set the Penguin captain up for the 3-2 winner.
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