Penguins vs. Lightning: Game 3 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NHL Playoffs

Goaltender Matt Murray may only be a rookie, but he has the Pittsburgh Penguins a mere two victories away from the Stanley Cup Final.   

Murray registered 26 saves on 28 shots and led the Penguins to the 4-2 road victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday at Amalie Arena. He was unbeatable throughout the first two periods and didn't allow a single goal until Pittsburgh was already ahead by two in the third. The Penguins are now leading 2-1 in the series. 

His counterpart, Andrei Vasilevskiy, was more impressive than the four allowed goals indicated. He registered a save percentage of 91.7 by stopping 44 of 48 shots from the relentless Pittsburgh offense. 

Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz all scored for the Penguins, while Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat registered goals for the Lightning. The NHL reacted to the Pittsburgh victory:

While the Lightning still had Vasilevskiy in goal instead of the injured Ben Bishop, they were the ones peppering the net with early chances in the first period. Tampa Bay jumped out to an early 7-2 advantage in shots and won five of the first six draws in the faceoff circle, but Murray continued to turn the barrage away. 

Josh Yohe of DKonPittsburghSports.com reflected on the opening minutes of the first period:

After that spurt, it was Pittsburgh's turn to control the tempo. Writer Erik Erlendsson said the Lightning were "falling back [into the] habit of turning the puck over on their side of the red line," which led to transition opportunities for the Penguins. Still, Vasilevskiy held his ground, as NHL on NBC highlighted: 

From there, Tampa Bay earned a power play but could not convert, and the two teams ended the first period without a goal. Both goalies were fantastic and combined for 22 saves, but Dan Rosen of NHL.com noticed the Lightning missed a handful of opportunities:

The theme of defensive and goaltender dominance continued early in the second period, as Tampa Bay thwarted a Pittsburgh power play and Murray made a tremendous save on a short-handed counter. Brian Boyle then drilled the post with a shot, and Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said the Penguins were "living dangerously" in the opening minutes of the second.

However, the Penguins seized the momentum throughout the middle of the period and built a 14-4 advantage in the shots department. Vasilevskiy was having none of it, though, per NHL on NBC:

Pittsburgh finally broke through on a charge in the final moments of the second period. Kessel came charging up the right side of the ice and fired a shot, which Vasilevskiy deflected right to the waiting stick of Hagelin. Hagelin buried the rebound and gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with 10 seconds left until the final period, as the NHL shared:

It was set up by a Jonathan Drouin turnover, and Erlendsson said, "All Drouin has to do is keep the puck in the zone, it was a pass under pressure up high in the offensive zone, got disrupted led other way." Despite the Tampa Bay mistake, Yohe praised Kessel for taking advantage and dictating tempo:

Kessel didn't stop dominating in the second period. He gave the Penguins some breathing room with 14:44 left in the game by sneaking in front of the net and scoring off a perfect assist from Nick Bonino from behind the net. The Penguins captured the highlight:

Rosen pointed to the defensive breakdown on Tampa Bay's side:

The Penguins enjoyed that breathing room for all of 14 seconds, as Nikita Kucherov found Johnson on a transition charge up the middle of the ice for Tampa Bay's first goal of the game, via the NHL:

Much like with the goal on the other side, it was a defensive mistake that set up the attack. Yohe said, "Pretty inexcusable defensive lapse after taking a 2-0 lead. [Evgeni] Malkin, [Kris] Letang and [Conor] Sheary all played that poorly," as Johnson skated right up the middle essentially unchallenged.

The game was hanging in the balance again, but Crosby responded with a power-play goal off a one-timer to push the Pittsburgh advantage to 3-1 with less than 10 minutes left, per the Penguins:

Malkin set Crosby up with the assist, and Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports said it was "way too difficult" to defend Pittsburgh with only three players on the ice because of the skill level (the Penguins had a four-on-three power play). Just for good measure, Kunitz proved how dangerous the Penguins were even at full strength with an insurance goal with less than seven minutes remaining. 

A three-goal deficit was too much for the Lightning to overcome with Murray in goal, although Palat did find the back of the net with less than two minutes left to make the final score more respectable. Tampa Bay pulled Vasilevskiy near the end but never got closer than 4-2. 

What's Next?

Game 4 in this series is Friday at Tampa Bay.

The Penguins lost home-ice advantage when they dropped Game 1 in Pittsburgh, but they seized it right back Wednesday and are now playing with house money heading into the next contest. Another victory in Tampa Bay would put them fully in control with a 3-1 lead and Games 5 and 7 at home, but they will still have the home advantage in a best-of-three series with a loss. 

As for the Lightning, they will likely treat Friday's contest as a must-win. Falling behind 3-1 would be close to a death sentence, but they already proved they can win in Pittsburgh in Game 1. If Tampa Bay can make it a best-of-three, it will only need to steal one more on the road, and it was an impressive 21-18-2 away from home on the season.

Before they can start planning for that best-of-three, the Lightning have to take care of business in Game 4.

Postgame Reaction

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper did not put the blame on Vasilevskiy after the game, via the Lightning: “It's extremely disappointing to give up 48 shots. You feel bad for the kid. He's keeping us in there. We're not bailing him out.”

Cooper did praise Kessel for the way he controlled the game on Pittsburgh’s side and said he “doesn’t get near the respect he deserves,” via Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.

Kessel was given credit for the assist on Hagelin’s goal in the final moments of the second, and Lightning defender Anton Stralman pointed to that period as the difference, per Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: “They really turned the tables in the second period. They spent basically the whole period in our zone.”

Kessel’s goal in the third period was also important, and Bonino talked about the communication on his assist, via Pens Inside Scoop: “Phil game me a 'Bones!' yell. He's open most of the time. I trust him. Give him the puck and he does what he does.”

As impressive as Kessel was, Murray was the star in net. He was already looking ahead after the victory, via Pens Inside Scoop: “It's a huge win. We can enjoy it for tonight & appreciate how we played & move on. Next game is most important.”

If the Penguins maintain that attitude, they will likely earn a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.