NEW YORK: Steve Downie scored twice after missing five games with the mumps, and the Pittsburgh Penguins used a three-goal, first-period lead to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 yesterday.
Chris Kunitz scored a power-play goal, his 12th of the year and Evgeni Malkin netted his 17th and just his second in 11 games as Pittsburgh won its ninth straight home game against Tampa Bay. Sidney Crosby added four assists for the Penguins, who bolstered their depth at forward earlier in the day by acquiring left wing David Perron from the Edmonton Oilers.
Andrew Ebbett added a goal and an assist, and Christian Ehrhoff also scored. Thomas Greiss, playing for the first time since he was diagnosed with the mumps, made 32 saves for his fourth win and first at home.
Brian Boyle, Victor Hedman and Alex Killorn had goals for the Lightning, whose four-game win streak ended. Tampa Bay, which plays four of the next five away from home, has just two wins in its past eight road games.
The struggles have been magnified at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center where the Lightning have never won. Their last win in Pittsburgh came March 31, 2010, when the Penguins played at the now-razed Civic Arena.
Pittsburgh chased starter Ben Bishop, scoring three first-period goals on just 10 shots, but Evgeni Nabokov came on to stop 16 of 18 shots. Tampa Bay, trailing 4-2 entering the third period, cut the deficit to a goal when Killorn worked around Penguins defenseman Simon Despres and slid a shot around an outstretched Greiss. Agencies
