Sunday, 3 a.m.
Maybe, after officially reaching the NHL playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning took a breath.
Maybe their hot streak was bound to run out.
Maybe the Pittsburg Penguins, still fighting for the post-season, were just a tad more desperate.
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Either way, the Bolts dug themselves a hole they couldn’t quite recover from Saturday afternoon, The Bolts lost a 5-4 game to Pittsburgh after falling behind 4-1 after two periods.
The Lightning rallied to tie the game in third period but couldn ‘t finish off the Penguins, who got a game-winning goal fro Michael Bunting.
Before that, Bolts’ forward Steven Stamkos scored twice to bring his season total to 36. Nick Paul and Anthony Duclair also scored. Nikita Kucherov, still leading the NHL in points, had three assists.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy didn’t have one of his crisper games, giving up five goals on just 28 shots.
The Bolts are home against Columbus on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.