Penguins beat Tampa 4-2

The Penguins came into tonights game to conclude their 11th set of back to back games on the season.  This season, the Pens were 4-5-1 in the second game of a back to back, so when they fell behind AGAIN 2-0 in the first period, you had to wonder if they had enough magic left to come from behind two nights in a row.  They came out sloppy for the second day in a row,  and at 9:58 and 10:09, just 11 seconds apart, Steve Downie put the Penguins down 2-0, just like that.  But all it seemed to do was awaken the Pens top line, along with defenseman Kris Letang, who for the second night in a row responded to giving up two quick goals to fall behind by potting 4 unanswered tallies.  At 16:15 of the first period, Evgeni Malkin scored his 31st goal of the season, assisted by Kris Letang (20), and James Neal (24).  Pens are down 2-1.  The period ended with the same score.  Then, at 00:56 of the second period, Chris Kunitz scored his 16the goal of the season, when he split the D on a beautiful feed from Letang (21), and Brent Johnson (1) before snapping a shot behind Mathieu Garon to tie the game at 2-2.  Malkin did not touch the puck, but the defense seemed to hesitate for just a second, expecting Kunitz to dish to Geno, and that gave the KOON all the time he needed to split them and do his damage.  Steve Sullivan had a chance right in front to put the Penguins in the lead, but missed an empty net on a back hand attempt right in front.  No matter,  because at 4:28 of the period, a red hot Kris Letang scored his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Kunitz (23) and James Neal (25).  The Penguins had their first lead of the night at 3-2.  Right after the goal, Johnson kept the Penguins in the lead after stopping a two on one break created by an Orpik turnover, and another chance right on the doorstep for the Lightning.  Then, Kris Letang had a goal waved off after Richard Park had incidental contact with Garon, but while attempting to get off of the fallen goaltender, he was cross checked several times, during which Letang found the empty net.  No goal.  Again, the Penguins would not be denied for long as Evgeni Malkin scored his 32 goal of the year, assisted by linemates Kunitz (24) and Neal (26).  Penguins expand their lead to 4-2.  Later in the period Kris Letang helped keep the Pens up by two goals when he made a save on a shot into an open net over a fallen Brent Johnson!  Tanger is everywhere it seems!  The period ended with the same score.  What a period for the Penguins, as they scored three unanswered goals and outshot Tampa 19-9.   This was bad news for Tampa as the Penguins were 17-0-2 coming into the game when leading after two periods, soon to be 18-0-2!  The third period was about Malkin's mission to get his second hat trick in a row against Tampa, a mission almost completed when he hit the post with about one second left in the game while shooting at an open net.  There are several things to discuss after this game.  First, the victory coupled with a Philadelphia regulation loss, put the Penguins in a tie with the Flyers for the fourth seed in the conference, with 69 points.  The win was the Penguins' 6th home win in a row, the second longest home winning streak in the NHL this season.  During the streak, the Penguins have averaged a little more than 4 goals per game.  The Penguins are now 11-2-1 in their past 14 games.  The Penguins top line scored 19 points in the past two games!  NINETEEN!  The usually unsung hero of the line Chris Kunitz got 7 points over the weekend, netting 2 goals and 5 assists.  James Neal got 5 points over the weekend scoring one goal and assisting on 4 others,  and Evgeni Malkin continued his assault on the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy race by scoring 3 goals and adding 4 assists for a seven point weekend, and 69 points on the season.  During his past 14 games, Geno has collected 24 points, has played to a plus 10, and scored 3 GWG, not to mention his red hot performances in the shootout, I believe 6 for his last 6 attempts.  Add to that, 62.5% in the faceoff circle over the past three games, and you have one bonafide BEAST in all facets of the game right now.  Geno also has a goal in each of his past 8 home games, tying him with teammate James Neal for the second longest home goal scoring streak in Pens' history behind Mario Lemieux's 11 game home goal scoring streak.  While we are at it, let's not forget Kris Letang.  Tanger chipped in 3 goals and 3 assists over the weekend, plus a save, and had another goal waved off!  Kris Letang would be in the discussions for the Norris Trophy had Pacioretty not cost him 20 games.  The other interesting development tonight was Disco's shakeup of the 2nd and 3rd defense pairings.  Matt Niskanen was moved up to the second pairing with Zybnek Michalek, and seemed to stabilize that unit, while Paul Martin was dropped to the 3rd pairing with Deryk Engelland, and both pairings seemed to perform better, with fewer mistakes.  I am not sure how long you keep a 5M per year third pairing defenseman, but, at least for tonight, it seemed to stop the bleeding a bit on the blue line. Tonight's win for Johnson was his first since 12/3/11, but his second solid performance in a row, after a bad start to this season.  Now the Penguins have fat ass  Brucie BooHoo coming to town Wednesday night with his Anaheim Ducks.......Go Pens!