Points power-play goals down Penguins

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Penguins filled the penalty box in a hurry. Brayden Point loaded up the net with pucks at a rapid pace, too.

Point scored three straight power-play goals in 1:31 — the sixth-fastest three goals in NHL history — and the Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Thursday night.

“That’s a first for me,” Point said. “They told me after the game, so it’s pretty cool. Guys made good plays and I was able to score.”

Bill Mosienko holds the record, scoring three times in 21 seconds for Chicago against New York in 1952. Point’s 91-second burst was the first NHL hat trick of his career and the second-fastest three goals since 1967-68.

Pittsburgh took three penalties in 10 seconds in the final minute of the first period. Point’s first power-play goal came with 2.7 seconds left in the first. He scored twice in the first 1:28 of the second period, finishing two slick one-touch passing sequences with one-timers.

“I thought we moved the puck well,” Point said. “Obviously, 5-on-3s are pretty tough to defend, and I thought we weren’t getting too cute with it. I thought we were making good plays to the net and shooting the puck.”

Yanni Gourde also had a power-play goal, Nikita Kucherov added three assists, and backup goalie Louis Domingue made 28 saves to help the Lightning win for the fifth time in seven games. Starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is out indefinitely after injuring a foot during practice Wednesday.

Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby sat out after sustaining an upper-body injury Tuesday night at New Jersey. Coach Mike Sullivan confirmed the injury is not a concussion, and Crosby is considered day-to-day, but will likely miss a week.

Patric Hornqvist scored twice for Pittsburgh, Phil Kessel also connected, Evgeni Malkin had two assists and Matt Murray stopped 22 shots. The Penguins have lost seven of eight following a four-game winning streak.

Pittsburgh committed eight penalties through two periods, which led to four Tampa Bay power-play goals.

“We put ourselves in a real tough spot at the end of the first period,” Sullivan said. “We have to find a way to get through that and we didn’t get it done, so we have to be better.”