TAMPA, Fla. — The Penguins would be forgiven if they were emotionally drained after the last few days, with trade winds swirling and a flurry of roster moves.
The team said goodbye to Brock McGinn for now and Teddy Blueger and Kasperi Kapanen for good. Some players wondered if they would be goners, too, as the Penguins kicked the tires on the likes of J.T. Miller and Jakob Chychrun. Then they watched general manager Ron Hextall acquire Mikael Granlund.
Even for a roster stocked with 30-somethings, it has all been a lot to process.
But Thursday, in their final game before Friday’s NHL trade deadline, the Penguins put their heads down and pulled off a gutsy 5-4 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. Jason Zucker got the winner at the 2:13 mark.
It was an eventful evening as they beat the Lighting for the second time this week to extend their winning streak to four. Zucker and Jeff Petry scored two goals apiece, Kris Letang shook off an injury scare and Drew O’Connor scored a beauty.
O’Connor put them ahead, 4-3, in the third period with an impressive individual effort. He pulled in Josh Archibald’s chip pass, powered past Darren Raddysh then beat the best goalie on the planet with a sneaky shot across the grain.
The young forward has played two of his best games as an NHLer on this trip. His speed and size gave the Nashville Predators problems in Tuesday’s win.
But Victor Hedman scored through a screen with 4:10 left to send it into OT.
Earlier in the night, it looked as if the Penguins might have lost Letang again.
Letang during the first period endured another painful moment in what has been a trying season for the former All-Star. In the span of a few seconds, he got hit with a shot in the right hand or wrist, leaving him wincing. He kept battling in front and then got cracked in the face with a Tanner Jeannot wrist shot.
As Letang crumbled to the ice, the red light flickered on. The shot caromed off of the defenseman’s face and got behind Tristan Jarry, who lost track of it.
Letang lay there for a brief period then skated off to the dressing room. The trail of blood he left behind necessitated a two-minute clean-up by the ice crew.
Coincidentally, this is the same arena where John Marino fractured his face three years ago, when he got drilled up high by a heavy Steven Stamkos shot.
It was the latest bad break for Letang, who suffered a stroke in November, lost his father two months ago then out several games with a different injury. Fortunately, he returned to the game, his lip stitched up, late in the second period.
The loss of Letang, coinciding with Jeannot’s go-ahead goal, spoiled what was a decent opening period for the Penguins. Jake Guentzel nearly scored on a tap-in a few minutes in. Their power play, with Petry manning the point, twice pinged the post. Bryan Rust couldn’t beat Andrei Vasilevskiy on a breakaway.
Pittsburgh finally broke through in the second period with Petry’s pair of goals.
The veteran blue-liner buried his first when he stepped in from the left point and snapped a shot between Vasilevskiy’s pads. Sidney Crosby set him up, picking off Hedman’s pass in the neutral zone then dishing the puck to Petry.
Twenty-five seconds later, just as the “Let’s go Pens!” chant from a sizable chunk of yinzers died down, Petry streaked down the right wing and wired an acute-angle shot over the left shoulder of Vasilevskiy to put the Penguins up, 2-1.
The Lightning tied it with a power-play goal from Brayden Point. But the Penguins answered with Zucker’s breakaway goal. Marcus Pettersson flipped a pretty pass over the Lightning defense to send him in alone on Vasilevskiy.
The Penguins late in the second smacked the puck over the glass twice in a span of four seconds. Just after they had killed off the ensuing 5-on-3 power play for the Lightning, Steven Stamkos whipped the tying goal over Jarry’s glove.
The Penguins blew three one-goal leads but skated away with two big points.
ICE CHIPS
— Granlund in his debut skated on the third line, alongside Jeff Carter and Danton Heinen. Coach Mike Sullivan also put Granlund to work as a penalty-killer. He was one of the first three over the boards for that long Lightning 5-on-3.
— Zucker is on a roll, scoring in three straight games and five of the last seven.
— Sullivan said Thursday that Ryan Poehling suffered a setback in his recovery from a lingering upper-body injury. He was a full participant in Tuesday’s morning skate but sat out Thursday. Poehling has missed nine straight games.
— With Poehling out and Teddy Blueger having been traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, O’Connor had to center the fourth line against the Lightning. Skating on his left wing was Drake Caggiula, who was recalled before the game.
COMING UP
The Penguins are scheduled to skate Friday near Sunrise, Fla. Their last stop on this three-game road trip is Saturday at Florida. That will start at 6 p.m.
