Pens surge, beat Tampa, 4-3

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin finished a frantic Pittsburgh rally with 15.5 seconds left in overtime for his second goal and the Penguins, looking lifeless while trailing by three goals early in the third, surged to beat Tampa Bay 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Malkin began the comeback, apparently set off when he was checked by former teammate Mark Recchi into a corner early in the third, by scoring his first goal not long after that. He later set up Petr Sykora’s tying goal with 3:29 remaining in regulation after Sykora assisted on Mark Eaton’s goal.

The Penguins, three points below the Eastern Conference’s playoff cutoff coming in, were in danger of losing their fourth in a row until NHL points leader Malkin scored his 23rd and 24th goals. Tampa Bay led 3-0 in rookie goalie Mike McKenna’s first career start before dropping its fourth in a row.

Pittsburgh, 5-11-1 in its previous 17 games, did nothing against McKenna in the first two periods as Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier each had a goal and an assist. Former Pittsburgh forward Ryan Malone also scored.

But Malkin appeared agitated and could be seen yelling at Tampa Bay’s bench after being checked by Recchi behind the Lightning net early in the third. From then on, Pittsburgh was in control while outshooting the Lightning 17-5 over the final period and overtime. Pittsburgh had five of the seven shots in overtime.

On the game winner, Jordan Staal briefly controlled the puck along the goal line, somehow regained it after pulling it away from two Tampa Bay defenders and passed in front to Malkin, who scored on a wrist shot before being pulled to his knees.

Malkin celebrated by throwing his body against the glass, and his teammates piled on top of him to celebrate what arguably was their best comeback victory of the season.

Eaton had made it 3-2 with 5:54 remaining as Sykora assisted. Sykora tied it with 3:29 remaining during a scramble in front of the net that began with Malkin’s one-handed shot toward McKenna, who made his NHL debut Tuesday by stopping all 11 shots he faced in relief during a 3-1 loss against the New York Islanders. He finished with 31 saves.

Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves.