PITTSBURGH – Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper refused to accept the premise that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were not producing.
“I don’t know how dry they are,” Cooper said Sunday. “Doesn’t Crosby have 11 points in the playoffs? That’s probably a lot more than other guys who are playing right now. I think Sidney’s dry spell is most players’ hot spell.”
Maybe Cooper had a sense of foreboding.
On Monday night Crosby scored 40 seconds into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 win that ties the Eastern Conference Final 1-1. It was Crosby’s first career NHL playoff overtime goal.
“I think he got rewarded for a hard effort,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.
Crosby scored on his sixth shot on goal against Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who played brilliantly as the replacement for injured No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop.
“I thought he was outstanding tonight and probably the reason why that game went to overtime in the first place,” Cooper said.
Vasilevskiy made 38 saves and earlier in the game had robbed Crosby on a backhander set up by Malkin. “I thought I got pretty good wood on that,” Crosby admitted.
Bryan Rust, usually a fourth liner, set up the game-winner after he heard Crosby screaming for the puck.
“I didn’t think Rusty saw me, so I tried to let him know I was there,” Crosby said. “I didn’t know exactly what he was going to do. He had a good chance to shoot, too, but he made a perfect pass.”
The Penguins poured 16 shots on Vasilevskiy in the third period. “I thought we had the right mindset going into the third,” Crosby said.
“As the game wore on, I thought we got better and better,” Sullivan said.
Although Vasilevskiy is 21, he has some experience in big games. He replaced an injured Bishop in last year’s Stanley Cup Final and won that game.
After giving up two first-period goals to Matt Cullen (4:32) and Phil Kessel (9:37), Vasilevskiy didn’t show the Penguins much net until Crosby beat him.
The Lightning played without veteran winger Ryan Callahan, who was sidelined with the flu.
“I’m not even sure Callahan moved from his bed all day,” Cooper said.
The Lightning had an added spark because defenseman Anton Stralman returned to the lineup for the first time since breaking his leg seven weeks ago. He scored Tampa Bay’s first goal. Their defensive game looked more complete with his presence.
“He is a really important player for us, and for us to move on this season we are going to need him,” Cooper said.
Meanwhile, Malkin’s drought continued. He has one goal in nine games. Sullivan isn’t worried about Crosby or Malkin.
“I think it is coming for both of those guys,” Sullivan said, “because they are playing the right way. Their puck possession time is significant, and that’s the most important part from our perspective.”
