PITTSBURGH, Penn. — History has a way of repeating itself, and on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning proved it.
In a defensive grind that required extra time to settle, the Lightning edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in a shootout, extending their winning streak to 11 games. The victory ties the franchise record originally set during the 2019-20 season.
For over 54 minutes, neither side could break the deadlock. It wasn’t until 14:13 of the third period that JJ Moser finally put Tampa Bay on the board, firing home his fifth goal of the season off feeds from Yanni Gourde and Zemgus Girgensons. The assist kept hot streaks alive for both Gourde and Girgensons, who have now found the scoresheet in four straight contests.
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The lead was short-lived, however. Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin struck back just over three minutes later at 17:44, forcing the game into overtime and eventually a shootout.
That’s where Tampa Bay’s specialists took over. Gage Goncalves opened the skills competition with a goal, improving to a perfect 2-for-2 on the season. After a few tense rounds, Nikita Kucherov played the hero. The star winger buried his 14th career shootout goal to seal the win—his first game-deciding shootout tally since 2018. The marker moved him into a tie with Martin St. Louis for the fifth-most game-deciding goals in club history.
While the shooters finished it, Andrei Vasilevskiy kept them in it. The veteran netminder turned aside 26 shots, securing his eighth consecutive victory between the pipes.
The win underscores the Lightning’s dominance away from home this season. They now boast a league-leading 17 road victories and have taken points in 10 straight games as the visitors.
Up Next: The Lightning will look to break the franchise record with a 12th straight win on Friday night. They head to the Enterprise Center to take on the St. Louis Blues at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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