HBK line clicks, Pens lead 2-1

The Penguins owe a lot to the HBK line, that's Hagelin, Bonino and Kessel if you didn't know. In Game 3 they stamped a mark on it and made it there own to march the Penguins to a 2-1 series lead. Pittsburgh's 4-2 win last night was the first time that Tampa had lost two games in a row in the play offs and the first time they had been behind in a play off series this year.

The game was a goaltending masterclass for a good period of the game until Hagelin broke the deadlock with just 10 seconds left in the second. Although the Bolts had enjoyed a lot of early possession and jumped to a 7-2 shot lead they failed to take their chances and Hagelin made them pay. It was a superb time to score, right before the break. Kessel broke down the wing and had a shot on Vasilevski rebound out to Hagelin on his door step.

The Penguins struck thrice in the third period and it was the HBK line, Shawn Michaels approved, that gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Bonino's hand work with the stick has been exceptional lately and with Stralman's back turned to Kessel he picked him out for Kessel to rifle it into the top right. The Tampa Lightning struck just 14 seconds on a Johnson rush through the defence.

Pittsburgh have been excellent at restricting Tampa to their shot totals in this series and again today they were restricted to just 28 this time round. Higher than the last two games at 21 and 20, but still fairly low. Pittsburgh enjoyed a heavy shot dominance with their 48 shots and they made them count.

The Penguins power play, which has been much maligned, clicked to restore a 2 goal lead 10 minutes into the third. Crosby scored of nice give and go with Malkin to have his 2nd Game winning goal in back-to-back games. Kunitz scored later and Palat reduced it to a 4-2 game just before the end but the damage was won and the Penguins won the game.

The last two games have shown superb management by Sullivan in his management of the lines and how he adjusts his team. Cooper hasn't done that and after the game sounded a little defeated. Bishop almost likely won't be in net for Game 4 which represents a huge opportunity for Pittsburgh to get a stranglehold on this series heading home for Sunday's Game 5.