@jayRecher
Well, that certainly wasn't the way you wanted to start.
In their season opener in front of a packed crowd, the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
It was a 2-0 game heading into the 3rd period, but instead of Tampa Bay cutting into the lead, Pittsburgh forward Dominik Simon scored at the 11:32 mark to put the Pens up by three.
Anthony Cirelli scored at 14:23 to make it 3-1, but the visitors added a trio of empty net goals to put the game out of reach.
The Lightning weren't sharp in the 1st period, with the Penguins getting the majority of the good looks & outshooting them 14-7.
Pittsburgh unfortunately carried that momentum to the 2nd period, and they didn't wait long to take the lead.
A clearing attempt by Vasilevskiy behind the net was stopped by Penguins center Jeff Carter and the veteran forward found Heinen in front, and he snapped it into the open net to put the visitors up 1-0 just 12 seconds into the middle stanza.
If Bolts Nation thought that the Pittsburgh goal would awaken the Lightning, they were sadly mistaken.
Former Tampa Bay forward Brian Boyle was able to get behind the Bolts defense and slip one under the pads of Vasilevskiy at the 4:11 mark to push the Penguins lead to 2-0.
Teddy Blueger, Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust found the empty net for the Penguins.
Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning.
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Raise It Up : Before tonight's season opener the Tampa Bay Lightning raised their 2020-21 Stanley Cup banner to the rafters before a wonderful rendition of the National Anthem by the one and only Sonya Bryson-Kirksey.
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SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
- Pittsburgh - Heinen - (Carter) - 0:12
- Pittsburgh - Boyle - (Lafferty, O'Connor) - 4:11
3rd Period
- Pittsburgh - Simon - (Letang, McGinn) - 11:32
- Tampa Bay - Cirelli - (Hedman, Stamkos) - 14:23
- Pittsburgh - ENG - Blueger - (Unassisted) - 14:53
- Tampa Bay - Killorn - (Stamkos, Cirelli) - 16:49
- Pittsburgh - ENG - Rodrigues - (Marino) - 17:35
- Pittsburgh - ENG - Rust - (Unassisted) - 18:11
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PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
- Boston - Heinen - (Tripping) - 12:56
- Tampa Bay - TEAM - (Too Many Men) - 16:09
3rd Period
NONE
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What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action on Thursday night as they travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings. Puck drop is slated for 7:30pm with the pregame show starting at 7:00pm on NewsRadio WFLA.
Photo: Getty Images North America
PHOTO : Getty Images