Penguins, with Evgeni Malkin on IL and Michael Bunting out after accident, lose to Lightning
PITTSBURGH — Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 Sunday.
Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning, and Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul had empty-net goals.
Before the game, the Penguins announced Evgeni Malkin was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He has missed four straight games after he was a late scratch before Tuesday’s home game against Columbus.
The news only got worse pregame: coach Mike Sullivan also said Michael Bunting was involved in a car accident outside of PPG Paints Arena before the game. Sullivan said Bunting is OK, but he did not play against Tampa Bay.
Jake Guentzel, who won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2017, had two assists to become the second player in Lightning history with at least 20 goals and 40 points in his first 40 games with the franchise. Guentzel signed a seven-year deal with the Lightning in the offseason.
Rickard Rakell scored his 22nd goal of the season for Pittsburgh, and Kevin Hayes added his third goal in five games. Sidney Crosby recorded his 1,040th career assist to tie Marcel Dionne for 11th on the NHL’s career list.
Penguins: Dropped to 3-5-3 in their last 11 games.
Kucherov stole the puck at the Penguins’ blue line and beat Tristan Jarry on a partial breakaway for his clutch goal.
Tampa Bay became the first team this season to have four players with 20 or more goals. The last team to have four players with 20 goals through 41 games were the 1995-96 Penguins.
Pittsburgh finishes a five-game homestand Tuesday against Seattle.
