Sidney Crosby's OT winner evens series vs. Lightning (Video)
Sidney Crosby’s Game 2 overtime goal gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, evening their conference final series at one.
The Penguins didn’t wait long into overtime to send the CONSOL Energy Crowd home happy. Just 40 seconds into the extra period Brian Dumoulin sprung Bryan Rust into the Lighting zone where he dropped a pass for Crosby, who ended an eight-game goal drought with a quick shot over Andrei Vasilevskiy's blocker.
Things started out well for Pittsburgh as they jumped out to an early lead after scoring twice in a 5:05 span in the first period. But the Lightning didn’t cower and went into the dressing room after the first 20 minutes with a tie score thanks to goals from Anton Stralman and Jonathan Drouin, who put a beautiful shot past Matt Murray.
Needing to give his offense a jump, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan reunited Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on a line in the second period. That move nearly resulted in a tie-breaking goal from the Pittsburgh captain, but Crosby’s backhander was gloved by Vasilevskiy.
Both sides were unable to break the deadlock in the final 40 minutes of regulation, setting up the dramatic finish by Crosby.
“It’s a tie game going into the third, we like our chances,” Crosby told NBCSN afterward. “We were playing pretty good, thought we had another level and did a good job of going after it here.”
Crosby's goal was the fastest playoff overtime winner in Penguins history and the team tied a franchise record with their third postseason overtime win.
The series now shifts to Tampa for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Friday. Pittsburgh still has not lost consecutive games since Jan. 12-15.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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