Tampa, FL – Jussi Jokinen potted two goals and added an assist on Thursday to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Pascal Dupuis registered a goal and two assists, while Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and Tanner Glass each scored once for the Atlantic Division champion Penguins, who have won three straight and 18 of their last 20 overall.
Pittsburgh, which clinched its first division crown in five years with a 5-3 win over Carolina on Tuesday, received 16 saves from netminder Tomas Vokoun.
"When I got traded here and found out who I was going to play with I was expecting a lot from myself," said Jokinen. "This was a good game for everyone here and luckily I was able to contribute."
Teddy Purcell scored twice and Brett Connolly lit the lamp once for the Lightning, who have lost three of their last four and sit eight points behind the New York Rangers for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference with eight games left.
Ben Bishop allowed all six goals on 41 shots in the setback.
"They were getting pucks in off skates, off sticks and that's what happened," said Bishop. "They did a good job of getting bodies in front of the net and creating some confusion."
Jokinen opened the scoring just over four minutes in when he pounded home a rebound off a Brenden Morrow backhander to make it 1-0 at the 4:07 mark.
Dupuis followed with a power-play marker just under two minutes later, as he buried a rebound from the low right side to double Pittsburgh's edge at 6:02.
Purcell's tip-in tally with four minutes left in the first trimmed the deficit in half, but the Penguins answered while on the power play early in the second when Jarome Iginla's one-timer from the top of the left circle deflected off Kunitz before slipping past Bishop to make it 3-1 at the 1:48 mark of the second.
However, the Lightning responded just under four minutes later when Connolly lit the lamp with a one-timer at the 5:46 mark.
The Penguins, though, outshot the Lightning 14-4 in the third and scored three times in the frame to pull away.
Malkin started the flurry at the 1:24 mark when he came up with a steal near the Tampa Bay blue line and made his way to the low right side before beating Bishop with a quick wrister for a 4-2 lead.
Nearly 3 1/2 minutes later, Douglas Murray flipped a shot on net from the left point that Jokinen tipped in past Bishop to make it 5-2 at the 4:45 mark.
With the Penguins on a 5-on-3 and under four minutes remaining, Glass put home a rebound from in close to push the margin to 6-2 at 16:40.
Purcell's second of the night accounted for the final margin at the 19:42 mark.
Game Notes
Glass' goal snapped a 65-game goalless skid for the Pittsburgh winger ... Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang (lower-body injury) returned from a six-game absence and registered an assist in just under 24 1/2 minutes of ice time ... The Lightning have lost six straight against the Pens and have been outscored 33-15 during the skid.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.