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With Evgeni Malkin sidelined, Penguins routed by Lightning | TribLIVE.com
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Penguins/NHL

With Evgeni Malkin sidelined, Penguins routed by Lightning

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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Brayden Point of the Lightning scores a goal against Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry as Conor Timmins (20) reaches for the puck Tuesday in Tampa, Fla.
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Victor Hedman of the Lightning is checked by the Penguins’ Blake Lizotte on Tuesday in Tampa, Fla.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin was scratched from his team’s lineup for a 6-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

There was no substantive word on his status. The team announced he would not be playing prior to the game in a social media posting.

Typically deployed as center of the second line, Malkin entered Tuesday as the team’s fifth-leading scorer this season with 46 points (15 goals, 31 assists).

Various ailments have plagued the 38-year-old Malkin this season. In total, he has missed 11 games due to medical-related factors, including Tuesday’s contest.

Frankly, a healthy 28-year-old version of Malkin probably wouldn’t have altered the course of Tuesday’s bludgeoning, which was one of the Penguins’ worst losses of the season.

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, making his seventh start over the team’s past eight games, was pulled in the first period after being diced up. Stopping only three of seven shots in 16 minutes of ice time, Jarry’s record fell to 12-10-5.

He was replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 18 saves on 20 shots in 44 minutes of time on ice.

“When you get down that many goals early, it’s a tough mountain to climb,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said to reporters in Tampa via audio provided by the team’s media relations staff. “Especially against a team like that.”

Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli’s 25th goal of the season opened the scoring Tuesday 12:13 into regulation.

Accepting a pass at the center point of the offensive zone, Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a wrister toward the cage. Coasting above the top of the right hashmarks, Lightning forward Nick Paul redirected the puck into Cirelli, stationed above the crease. Allowing the puck to strike off his right thigh and then plop onto the ice, Cirelli spun to his left and shuffled a forehand shot through Jarry’s five hole. Paul and McDonagh had assists.

The hosts struck again only 77 seconds later via McDonagh’s third goal.

Off a cross-ice pass from Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, McDonagh took the puck deep on the left wing of the offensive zone and chucked the puck toward the cage. Ex-Penguins forward Jake Guentzel crashed the crease, dragging current Penguins forward Rickard Rakell with him. That tactic led to the puck deflecting off of Rakell’s right skate and into the cage. McDonagh was credited with the goal off assists from Kucherov and defenseman Erik Cernak.

Cirelli struck again at 15:12 of the first period.

Rushing a puck up ice from the defensive zone, Lightning forward Brandon Hagel gained the offensive blue line on the right wing. Pulling up above the near circle, Hagel dished a cross-ice pass to a mostly open Cirelli, who lifted a wrister from the left dot by Jarry’s blocker on the near side. An attempted poke check by Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk may have changed the trajectory of the shot. Hagel and defenseman J.J. Moser merited assists.

Jarry’s night came to an end only 48 seconds later when Lightning forward Brayden Point scored his 35th goal.

Off a give-and-go sequence, Point gained the offensive blue line on the right wing and left a drop pass at the point for Kucherov, who immediately dealt the puck to the far circle. Off that pass, Guentzel elevated a wrister that Jarry rejected but did not control the rebound. Fending off a shove by Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, Point cleaned up the garbage with a forehand shot. Assists were generated by Guentzel and Kucherov.

Kucherov’s 31st goal came during a power-play sequence at 15:31 of the second period.

After Lightning forward Oliver Bjorkstrand gained the offensive zone on the right wing, he left a drop pass along the wall for Kucherov, who then offloaded the puck to the near point for former Erie Otters defenseman Darren Raddysh. Maneuvering a bit toward the center point, Raddysh passed the puck back to Kucherov, who advanced into the right circle and sizzled a wrister to the far side by Nedeljkovic’s blocker. Paul offered an effective screen on the sequence. Assists were registered by Raddysh and Bjorkstrand.

Hagel put his team up by a touchdown with his 33rd goal at 19:19 of the middle frame.

Taking a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Lightning defenseman Nick Perbix moved forward slightly and fed a clever pass to the far side of the crease. Fending off Penguins forward Blake Lizotte, Hagel barged in from the left circle and tapped a forehand shot into a mostly vacant cage. Perbix and defensive partner Emil Lilleberg logged assists.

“They’re really dangerous off the rush,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said to reporters in Tampa. “And they executed on a couple plays.”

Penguins forward Bryan Rust broke up the shutout bid with his 26th goal at 14:15 of the third period.

Racing into Tampa Bay’s zone on the right wing, Crosby pulled up on the half-wall and waited for things to develop before dishing a pass to the center point for Grzelcyk. Turning toward the net, Grzelcyk snapped a shot/pass below the right circle where Rust was able to deflect a forehand shot by goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s left skate on the near side. Grzelcyk and Crosby had assists.

Notes:

• With Malkin absent, forward Emil Bemstrom rejoined the lineup after being scratched the previous three games for what has been labeled as an undisclosed injury.

• Rust served as an alternate captain with Malkin scratched.

• In 52 career games against the Lightning, Crosby has 68 points (24 goals, 44 assists).

• In addition to Malkin, Penguins forward Tommy Novak (undisclosed) and defenseman Ryan Shea (suspected left hand or wrist) were scratched due to injuries.

• Cirelli appeared in his 500th career game.

• In 30 career games against the Penguins, Kucherov has 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists).

• The Lightning dressed an irregular lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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