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Lightning 4, Penguins 3

Dave Molinari 9 years ago

Some news and notes, numbers and quotes from the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay Tuesday night at the Amalie Arena:

*** The Penguins spotted Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead on three goals by Tyler Johnson and one by Nikita Kucherov before running off three unanswered goals to nearly force overtime. “I liked from the halfway point of the game on,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “I thought we did a real good job out there, under the circumstances.”

*** The Penguins were missing 13 players because of injury and illness.

*** Tampa Bay’s victory snapped a streak of 10 consecutive losses to the Penguins.

*** Dominik Uher replaced Blake Comeau, who has an apparent wrist injury, in the lineup, becoming the sixth Penguins player to make his NHL debut in December. Uher played seven minutes, 17 seconds and was credited with one hit.

*** Coach Mike Johnston said Comeau will miss “several weeks,” although he did not specify the nature of his injury.

*** The loss was the Penguins’ first in regulation in nine games. They had been 5-0-3 in the previous eight.

*** The Penguins reached the NHL’s three-day Christmas break with a 22-7-5 record, good for first place in the Eastern Conference.

*** The Lightning built a four-goal advantage by 2:37 of the second period. “They put us in a hole early,” Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz said. “We just have to be better prepared.”

*** Jeff Zatkoff replaced Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury when it was 3-0, and took the loss despite stopping 16 of 17 shots.

*** Patric Hornqvist, Kunitz and Kris Letang got the Penguins goals.

*** The Penguins allowed the first goal for just the ninth time in 34 games.

*** The Penguins expect to learn Wednesday whether three players sent back to Pittsburgh Monday after displaying mumps-like symptoms – center Brandon Sutter, winger Steve Downie and goalie Thomas Greiss – actually have the disease. If their test results are negative, all three could return when the Penguins face Washington Saturday at Consol Energy Center.