Playoff Game 1: Penguins 3 vs. Lightning 0
vs.

Penguins lead the series 1-0.

Quick Recap
Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stole the show in game 1 stopping Ryan Malone, Vincent Lecavalier, and Dominic Moore with show stopping saves.

Alexei Kovalev broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd period on a great feed by James Neal. Neal had a great shift leading up to the goal. Kovalev had been taken down in the corner by Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina away from the play – with no call – and Kubina lost his stick. As a result, he couldn’t keep Kovalev from receiving Neal’s slap pass.

Arron Asham contributed to the Penguins’ playoff effort only 18 seconds later after collecting a puck in the neutral zone, faking out the defense, and scoring on a rebound off of his own wrap around attempt.

Kunitz later scored an empty net goal to ice the game away for the Penguins.

Scoring Summary
1st Period: No Goals

2nd Period: No Goals

3rd Period:

PIT GOAL 06:05 Alexei Kovalev (1): assists by James Neal (1) and Paul Martin (1)
PIT GOAL 06:23 Arron Asham (1): assists by Kris Letang (1) and Brooks Orpik (1)
PIT GOAL 19:13 Chris Kunitz (1): assists by Jordan Staal (1) and Brooks Orpik (2)

3 Stars

3rd Star: Jordan Staal (1 assist, 6 shots)
2nd Star: Alexei Kovalev (1 goal, 5 shots)
and he may be number 29 in your programs but tonight he is number 1 in your hearts…

1st Star: Marc-Andre Fleury (32 save shutout)

News and Notes

  • The Penguins had 6 power plays to only 1 for Tampa Bay.
  • The Penguins recorded 39 shots on goal during the game – the Lightning averaged 28.6 shots against per game during the regular season.
  • Steven Stamkos finished the game with only 1 shot.
  • Brooks Orpik tied Nate Thompson with 7 hits. Downie had 6 hits. Dupuis and Adams had 5.