TAMPA, Fla. — With stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin sidelined by injuries, the Pittsburgh Penguins are finding other players they can count on in the playoffs.
Old standby Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 25 shots and Tyler Kennedy — silent during the first two games of the postseason — stepped up offensively when the sputtering Penguins needed him most Monday night to score the winning goal in a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Maxime Talbot and Arron Asham also had goals for the Penguins, who took a 2-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference best-of-seven playoff series and regained home-ice advantage.
Pittsburgh rebounded from a 5-1 home loss in Game 2 despite giving up two more power-play goals to Martin St. Louis. The Lightning star erased a 2-0 deficit by striking late in the opening period, then again early in the third to give Tampa Bay hope of taking control of the series.
But Kennedy answered with the go-ahead goal just 31 seconds later, scoring in heavy traffic from in front of goalie Dwayne Roloson.
Bruins 4, Canadiens 2
MONTREAL — David Krejci and Nathan Horton scored first-period goals as Boston finally won after dropping the first two games in the series.
Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots for Boston.
Red Wings 4, Coyotes 2
GLENDALE, Ariz.. — Ruslan Salei and Drew Miller had goals 44 seconds apart to open the game as Detroit pushed Phoenix to the brink of elimination.
Detroit can complete the sweep Wednesday on the Coyotes’ home ice.
Flyers 4, Sabres 2
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Brian Boucher stopped 35 shots in helping Philadelphia grab a 2-1 series lead.
Danny Briere and Nikolay Zherdev keyed the victory by scoring second-period goals.
The Associated Press
