Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, center, and Michael Bunting (8) combined for three goals to help edge the Lightning on Saturday.
Gene J. Puskar | AP photo
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PITTSBURGH — Michael Bunting snapped a tie with 5:28 left in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Saturday.
Referee Steve Kozari was taken off the ice on a stretcher after colliding with Lightning defenseman Haydn Fleury 6:11 into the third period. Kozari was able to move his arms. Fleury did not return.
“That was tough to watch,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “But (Fleury), I went into the locker room during that pause. Naturally, he was a little shook up. It was just one of those plays that was kind of a freak accident. But hopefully, both guys will be OK.”
Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist for Pittsburgh, and Bunting also had two assists. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang also scored.
Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves in his eighth straight start.
“We hung in there,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “Tampa’s a really good team. They have one of the more dynamic offenses in the league. … I give our players credit. We hung in there.”
Pittsburgh (36-30-11) posted its fourth straight win and improved to 6-0-2 in its last eight games overall. It is fighting with Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The Lightning (43-27-7), who clinched a playoff berth Friday when the Flyers, Capitals and Red Wings lost in regulation, had won 10 of their previous 12.
Steven Stamkos scored twice for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 stops. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each had three assists.
Bunting scored his 18th goal on a backhand from just outside the slot. Bunting was acquired in a March trade with Carolina.
Tampa Bay trailed 4-1 before rallying in the third. Nicholas Paul scored his 23rd goal 25 seconds into the period. Anthony Duclair cut the deficit to 4-3 at 7:23, and Stamkos tied it 4 with his second one-timer on a power play at 10:45.
“A case of too little, too late,” Stamkos said.
Crosby put the Penguins in front when he scored his 40th goal of the season 4:20 into the first period, finishing a 2-on-1. Bryan Rust held the puck long enough to avoid a block attempt from a sliding Darren Raddysh before finding Crosby for a backhand at the left post.
“I think what we have to do hasn’t changed for a while now,” Crosby said. “So, our game has been pretty good and we’ve just got to continue to go a game at a time here.”
Malkin’s 24th goal made it 2-0 at 6:06 of the second. After Stamkos scored with 7:45 left in the period, Letang snuck a snap shot through Vasilevskiy from the point and Malkin made it 4-1 with his sixth goal in six games, a wrist shot on his own rebound from outside the crease with 3:03 remaining.
The Lightning dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Forward Anthony Cirelli was sidelined with an undisclosed injury after he got hurt during Thursday’s 7-4 win over Montreal.
BRUINS 3, PANTHERS 2
BOSTON — Jesper Boqvist scored 2:05 into overtime, Linus Ullmark stopped 28 shots and Boston beat Florida in a matchup of the top two teams in the Atlantic Division.
First-place Boston moved five points ahead of second-place Florida. Both teams have four games left in the regular season — with the Panthers’ all at home.
Charlie McAvoy and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins, who improved to 5-1 since coach Jim Montgomery blasted the team during practice on March 25 for their lack of attention to details and not being prepared for the playoffs.
Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers, who lost for the fifth time in seven games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.
The Bruins swept the four-game season series between the teams and moved a point behind the New York Rangers for the NHL’s best overall record.
The Panthers knocked out Boston in the opening-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring after the Bruins set NHL records for wins (65) and points (135).
BLACKHAWKS 3, STARS 2
CHICAGO — Connor Bedard, Andreas Athanasiou and Seth Jones scored in the second period, and Chicago stopped Dallas’ franchise-record win streak at eight games.
Petr Mrazek made 42 saves for last-place Chicago, which improved to 8-6-0 in its last 14 games.
Roope Hintz scored his 29th goal for Central Division-leading Dallas, which dropped to 13-3-0 in its last 16 contests. Jamie Benn scored with 4:23 left, giving the Stars eight 20-goal scorers for the first time.
At 48-20-9 and 105 points, the Stars are three points ahead of second-place Colorado. The Stars and Avalanche meet in Denver on Sunday in what Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said was “our biggest game of the year” before Saturday’s loss. Dallas and Colorado have five games remaining.
Bedard leads NHL rookies with 22 goals and 59 points in 62 games. Athanasiou’s goal was his first in 22 games this season after missing four months with a groin injury.
JETS 4, WILD 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal and two assists, linemate Alex Iafallo a goal and an assist, and Winnipeg beat Minnesota.
Kyle Connor and Morgan Barron also scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves for Winnipeg in the opener of a four-game trip.
The Jets, who clinched a playoff berth Thursday, are two points behind Colorado for second place in the Central Division. Each team has five games remaining including against each other April 13 in Denver.
Kirill Kaprizov scored twice and Mats Zuccarello had two assists for the Wild who are all but officially eliminated from playoff contention. Minnesota is 10points behind Los Angeles for the second Western Conference wild card with six games remaining. The Kings host Vancouver later Saturday.
Winnipeg won all four games against Minnesota this season and improved to 17-5-1 against Central Division foes, Minnesota is 8-13-3 in the division.
With 6:23 left in the second period, Iafallo redirected a slap shot from Brenden Dillon for a 3-2 Winnipeg lead.
The Jets improved to 34-1-1 when leading after two periods.