TEMPE, Arizona – Michael Bunting snapped a tie with 5:28 left in the third period, as the Pittsburgh Penguins moved into a playoff spot with a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Referee Steve Kozari was taken off the ice on a stretcher after colliding with Lightning defenseman Haydn Fleury 6:11 into the third period. Kozari was able to move his arms. Fleury did not return.
Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist for Pittsburgh, and Bunting also had two assists. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang also scored.
Michael Carcone, meanwhile, scored twice in Arizona´s six-goal third period, and the Coyotes rallied from three goals down to stun the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 7-4.
Sebastian Aho, also, grabbed a tiebreaking power-play goal with 1:51 remaining and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 4-2.
Josh Doan, Nick Bjugstad and Carcone scored in a 67-second span midway through the third to tie it 4-4 before Carcone’s deflection off Zach Whitecloud´s stick put the Coyotes ahead with 5:13 remaining.
Josh Brown and Logan Cooley scored in the final four minutes as the Coyotes stopped the Golden Knights´ seven-game point streak (6-0-1) while tying a franchise record for goals in a period.
Cooley scored into an empty net. Alex Kerfoot also scored for Arizona, and Karel Vejmelka had 20 saves. “We showed character,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said according to AP.
“Our guys showed they care a lot. We´ve had comebacks in the past, and it´s good for everybody to contribute.”
Clayton Keller had two assists to extend his points streak to 10 games, the longest active streak in the league. It was the Coyotes’ league-best second comeback from a three-goal deficit this season.
Their six goals came in a span of 9:06, the fastest six in a third period since the original Winnipeg Jets (who later moved to Arizona) in 1988.
“Some of it was us not taking care of the details,” Las Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.
“Let´s face it; there was a stretch there where every shot went in. You have to stop the bleeding somewhere in that. They were opportunistic, and we paid the price.”
Penguins’ goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves in his eighth straight start.
Pittsburgh (36-30-11) posted its fourth straight win and improved to 6-0-2 in its last eight games overall. It is tied with Philadelphia (36-30-11) for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, with the Flyers visiting Columbus on Saturday night.
The Lightning (43-27-7), who clinched a playoff berth Friday when Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit lost in regulation, had won 10 of their previous 12.
Steven Stamkos scored twice for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 stops. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each had three assists.
Bunting scored his 18th goal on a backhand from just outside the slot. Bunting was acquired in a March trade with Carolina.
Tampa Bay trailed 4-1 before rallying in the third. Nicholas Paul scored his 23rd goal 25 seconds into the period. Anthony Duclair cut the deficit to 4-3 at 7:23, and Stamkos tied it 4 with his second one-timer on a power play at 10:45.
Crosby put the Penguins in front when he scored his 40th goal of the season 4:20 into the first period, finishing a 2-on-1. Bryan Rust held the puck long enough to avoid a block attempt from a sliding Darren Raddysh before finding Crosby for a backhand at the left post.
Malkin´s 24th goal made it 2-0 at 6:06 of the second. After Stamkos scored with 7:45 left in the period, Letang snuck a snap shot through Vasilevskiy from the point and Malkin made it 4-1 with his sixth goal in six games, a wrist shot on his own rebound from outside the crease with 3:03 remaining.
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