TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 3 at Detroit 0
The Tampa Bay Lightning kicked off a brief, two-game road trip with a 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena…The Bolts improved to 37-17-4 on the season with a road record of 15-13-1…The Lightning are 1-2-0 vs. DET this season with a final matchup set to be played April 13 at AMALIE Arena…Brayden Point opened the scoring at the 9:04 mark of the first period when he took a pass from Nikita Kucherov and used his speed to get behind the DET defense and fire a perfectly placed shot past Ville Husso and into the top left corner for his team-leading 35th goal of the season with Alex Killorn picking up the secondary assist…Kucherov doubled Tampa Bay’s lead and made it a 2-0 game with seven seconds remaining in the second period when he took a pass from Point and sent a backhand shot on goal that got through Husso for his 22nd goal of the season with Nick Paul recording the secondary helper…Killorn wrapped up the 3-0 win with an empty-net goal at the 17:47 mark of the third period with Brandon Hagel recording the lone assist…Andrei Vasilevskiy was named first star of the game after recording a 45-save shutout, setting a new career high and tying the Lightning record for the most saves in a shutout in franchise history…Tampa Bay blocked 29 shots, the most blocked shots they have recorded in a single game this season.
PP: TBL – 0-2 DET – 0-4
SOG: TBL – 18 DET – 45
Attendance: 19,515
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Penguins are playing the second of three matchups this season and the second of two meetings at PPG Paints Arena…The Bolts are 0-1-0 against PIT this season after suffering a 6-2 loss Oct. 15 at PPG Paints Arena…Steven Stamkos (1-1—2) and Nikita Kucherov (0-2—2) both posted multi-point efforts in the first game vs. PIT this season, while Victor Hedman (0-1—1) and Brayden Point (1-0—1) also found the scoresheet for Tampa Bay…Stamkos has recorded points in 13 of his last 15 games vs. PIT (6-14—20)…Stamkos has pointed in four straight games at PIT (2-3—5)…Kucherov has recorded an assist in four consecutive contests at PIT (0-7—7)…Point has scored a goal in two straight games at PIT (2-0—2) and has points in four of the last five road matchups (5-1—6)…Point scored his only career hat trick Nov. 15, 2018 at PIT…Hedman has recorded points in seven of his last nine games vs. PIT (1-8—9)…Mikhail Sergachev has recorded five points in six career contests at PIT (2-3—5)…Ian Cole won backto-back Stanley Cups with PIT (2015-16 & 2016-17)…The Lightning are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games at PIT and 6-4-0 in the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts are 44-50-3 with five ties all-time vs. PIT, including a road record of 16-29- 3 with three ties…Vincent Lecavalier (27-18—45) and Martin St. Louis (15-30—45) are tied for the Tampa Bay franchise record for career points vs. PIT.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. PIT
T1. Vincent Lecavalier – 45 pts. (27-18—45, 52 GP)
T1. Martin St. Louis – 45 pts. (15-30—45, 49 GP)
- Steven Stamkos – 42 pts. (14-28—42, 39 GP)
- Brad Richards – 26 pts. (5-21—26, 25 GP)
T5. Nikita Kucherov – 25 pts. (7-18—25, 22 GP)
T5. Victor Hedman – 25 pts. (3-22—25, 37 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the second game of a brief, two-game road trip tonight…The Bolts will play seven of their 12 games in February on the road…The Lightning are 8-4-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents and 17-10-2 against the Eastern Conference this season…The Bolts are 3-5-2 in the second game of a back-to-back set this season…Tampa Bay is 15-13-1 on the road this season and are 3-1-1 over their last five road games…The Lightning penalty kill is 16- for-16 over their last five road games…The Bolts have scored three or more goals in nine of their last 11 road games…Tampa Bay will not have more than one day between games until their March 28 matchup with Carolina.
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 95
Current Injuries:
None
TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 30 – Recalled D Nick Perbix from AHL Syracuse
Jan. 30 – Re-assigned F Rudolfs Balcers to AHL Syracuse
Jan. 29 – Assigned D Nick Perbix to AHL Syracuse
Jan. 29 – Recalled F Rudolfs Balcers from AHL Syracuse
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Feb. 25: Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 2 (OT) – Enterprise Center
PIT Goals: Rust (OT), Malkin, Pettersson
Multiple Points: Malkin (1G-1A), Rust (1G-1A), Pettersson (1G1A)
Goalie: Jarry (25 saves, 27 shots)
Key Stats: Bryan Rust’s fifth career overtime goal helped Pittsburgh snap a four-game skid.
PP: 0-2
PK: 3-3
Feb. 23: Edmonton 7, Pittsburgh 2 – PPG Paints Arena
PIT Goals: Letang (2)
Multiple Points: Letang (2G), Malkin (2A)
Goalie: Jarry (23 saves, 29 shots), DeSmith (14 saves, 15
shots)
Key Stats: Kris Letang’s netted his second multi-goal game of the season.
PP: 1-4
PK: 1-3
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
F Ryan Poehling Upper-Body 6 20
D Mark Friedman Upper-Body 6 6
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 142
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Feb. 25 D Jan Rutta activated off of injured reserve
Feb. 20 G Tristan Jarry activated off of injured reserve.
Feb. 20 G Dustin Tokarski re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Penguins’ All-Time Record vs. Lightning: 53-38-11
In Pittsburgh: 32-12-7
In Tampa Bay: 21-26-4
OT Record vs. Tampa Bay: 4-5-7
Shootout Record vs. Tampa Bay: 0-2
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh is 1-0-0.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. LIGHTNING:
Sidney Crosby – 44GP, 59 PTS (21G-38A)
Evgeni Malkin – 42GP, 58 PTS (26G-32A)
Jaromir Jagr – 33GP, 39 PTS (20G-19A)
Mario Lemieux – 18GP, 39 PTS (11G-28A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
- The Penguins return home to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena (TV: AT&T Sportsnet, NHL Network; Radio: 105.9 The X).
- A win tonight would allow Pittsburgh to take the season series against Tampa Bay for the second straight season.
- The Penguins have wins in three of their last four games against the Lightning (3-1-0) and have points in four of their last five against them (3-1-1).
- The Penguins are 17-6-3 in their last 26 home games versus the Lightning and are 5-2-1 in their last eight home contests against them.
QUICK HITS
1) Pittsburgh has points in 75% of their games versus Atlantic Division opponents this season (7-4-5).
