PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - The Penguins have moved into a playoff position after a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Pittsburgh saw a 4-1 lead evaporate in the third period after Tampa Bay scored three straight goals, but Michael Bunting scored with less than 5 minutes left to give the Pens the lead back. It's Bunting's 5th goal of the season which is the most by any player traded at the deadline this season.
With 6.2 seconds left in the game, the Lightning had a 6 on 4 due to a delay of game penalty on the Penguins and an empty net, Tampa won the draw and got a shot at the net but Alex Nedeljkovic made the save and sealed the win for Pittsburgh.
"It was just a great team effort," said Mike Sullivan. "It's a lot of fun to watch these guys compete right now. We're trying to stay in the fight, we understand how difficult it is. We're just trying to focus on that game in front of us. We knew this was going to be a tough challenge today against this team. I just give the players a lot of credit, I just think their determination, their persistence, their commitment just to stay with it. They're determined to stay in this fight."
Sidney Crosby opened up the scoring with his 40th goal of the season. Crosby becomes the seventh player age 36+ in NHL history to score 40 goals. It's the third time in his career he has scored 40 goals or more.
Evgeni Malkin scored twice in the win. It is his 34th multi-goal period in his career, passing Crosby and Auston Matthews for second and only trailing Alexander Ovechkin.
The Penguins go to 107-10-5 when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin score in the same game, which is the fourth-most wins by one team when a duo scores.
Pens are streaking
The Penguins have points in 9 of their last 12 home games (8-3-1). They have an eight-game point streak, going 6-0-2 since March 24th. The Pens lead the league in points (14) and wins (6) in that span.
Pittsburgh now holds the second Wild Card spot with 83 points and the tiebreaker over Philadelphia who also has 83 points after a 6-2 loss to Columbus. They are two games back in the Metropolitan Division as they sit behind the Islanders for the third spot.
Updated playoff picture
The Wild Card standings look like this:
1. Tampa Bay Lighting 43-27-7 93 points (6 games remaining)
2. Pittsburgh Penguins 36-30-11 83 points (5 games remaining)
-Philadelphia Flyers 36-31-11 83 points (4 games remaining)
- Washington Capitals 36-30-10 82 points (6 games remaining)
- Detroit Red Wings 37-31-8 82 points (6 games remaining)
- Buffalo Sabres 37-35-5 77 points (5 games remaining)
- New Jersey Devils 37-36-4 78 points (5 games remaining)
The Metropolitan standings look like this:
1. New York Rangers 52-21-4 108 points (5 games remaining)
2. Carolina Hurricanes 48-22-7 103 points (5 games remaining)
3. New York Islanders 35-27-15 85 points (5 games remaining)
4. Pittsburgh Penguins 36-30-11 83 points (5 games remaining)
5. Philadelphia Flyers 36-31-11 83 points (4 games remaining)
6. Washington Capitals 36-30-10 82 points (6 games remaining)
7. New Jersey Devils 37-36-4 78 points (5 games remaining)
With just seven games left on the schedule here is what the Penguins have left:
Saturday April 6: Vs Tampa Bay 1 pm.
Monday April 8: @ Toronto 7 p.m.
Thursday April 11: Vs Detroit 7 p.m.
Saturday April 13: Vs Boston 8 p.m.
Monday April 15: Vs Nashville 7 p.m.
Wednesday April 17: @ New York Islanders 7 p.m.
With just five games left on the schedule here is what the Penguins have left:
Monday April 8: @ Toronto 7 p.m.
Thursday April 11: Vs Detroit 7 p.m.
Saturday April 13: Vs Boston 8 p.m.
Monday April 15: Vs Nashville 7 p.m.
Wednesday April 17: @ New York Islanders 7 p.m.