Lightning early in game 5, undermining penguins to stay alive

PITTSBURGH (AP) — the Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher was convinced that it was only a matter of time before Steven Stamkos has become a dynamic offensive force in the NHL playoffs. By Gene Puskar, AP

Vincet macadamian lightning celebrates with Simon Gagne (12) and Teddy Purcell (16) after macadamian scored a goal in the first period. Gagne scored twice and Purcell had three assists in rout of 8-2.

By Gene Puskar, AP

Vincet macadamian lightning celebrates with Simon Gagne (12) and Teddy Purcell (16) after macadamian scored a goal in the first period. Gagne scored twice and Purcell had three assists in rout of 8-2.

His party of postseason coming-out came just in time to keep living in their Lightning playoff series in the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Stamkos scored his first two NHL playoff goals and the Elimination of lightning strongly avoided with an 8-2 victory over the penguins on Saturday in game 5 of first-round series.This kid has discovered that the playoffs are all about, "said Boucher. "I knew that sometime he would because he has character. I was just hoping it was this year ".The penguins, who lead the series 3-2, you will get a second chance to advance to Monday night in 96 goals for Tampa Bay. over the past two seasons Stamkos led the NHL, but he had only one assist on the first four games of the series. He had three points on Saturday, two days after being held without a shot in penguins 3-2 double-overtime victory in game 4. Stamkos, who had 21 goals in his first 22 games this season, had only four goals in his past 26 jogosDatando to the regular season. "" I'm very happy for Stamkos because the last game I thought he played a great game, "said Boucher.He simply does not pay for it and it paid off today. As I always say, take care of the process and the results will come. "He was a great warrior in this game. "He wasn't the only one.Simon Gagne (FSY) and Pavel Kubina (FSY) both scored his first two goals of the series, Captain Vincent macadamian (FSY) added his second, and Dominic Moore (FSY) also scored late for the Lightning, who set a franchise record for goals in a road playoff game and gave the penguins their worst home loss of the postseason.

Penguins lead 2-1.

Game 1: Pittsburgh 3, Tampa Bay 0

Game 2: Tampa Bay 5, Pittsburgh 1

Game 3: Pittsburgh 3, Tampa Bay 2

Game 4: Pittsburgh 3, Tampa Bay 2 (2OT)

Game 5: Tampa Bay 8, Pittsburgh 2

On April 25: Tampa Bay, 7

x-April 27: Pittsburgh 7

x-if necessary

Dwayne Roloson (FSY) made 31 saves, including several impressive stops in the opening minutes when Pittsburgh controlled play. "Pittsburgh (Roloson) was good for the first 17 minutes and then your team gave them a couple there, "forward Pascal Dupuis (FSY), said. "Things disbanded after that."Gagne and Stamkos stunned record crowd of penguins to a game at home topped with two goals in a span of 48 seconds from 3: 03 left in the first.Road teams have won four consecutive games in the series and Tampa Bay's victory was the 22nd by a visiting team in 36 games NHL playoff. "I think me and the rest of the NHL playoffs now coaches are all scratching their heads trying to figure out what is happening with national teams, said Boucher. Pittsburgh Mike Rupp and Chris Conner (FSY) scored in the third period after Tampa Bay had an advantage of 7-0but by then it was evident the penguins would leave to become the first Eastern Conference team to advance to the second round.The Penguins are 0-5 under coach Dan Bylsma when they have a chance to eliminate an opponent at home. The margin of victory was the largest for any playoff game this season.Counting a victory by 5-1 in game 2, the lightning have won two in a row in Pittsburgh by a combined score of 13-3. Stamkos ' first goal made it 2-0 right after Gagne opened the scoring. Seven minutes into the second half, Stamkos scored his second of the game while the Lightning were on the power play, extending his lead to 5-0. "I wanted to, of course, be a part of the team's success in the playoffs and prove to myself and my teammates that I can play in these situations, "Stamkos said."I felt every game I was getting better and better, "added."Wasn't appearing in reach, but I think I noticed, the coaching staff noticed this, so it's good to get rewarded, especially in a game of this magnitude. "A second goal for Stamkos was the first of three consecutive man-advantage goals that pushed the lead lightning 4-0-7-0 But the lightning were not limited to the power game. They came into the game with only three out of every 5 goals in the series, but had four in the first 26 minutes on Saturday The final one, the second objective of Gagne goaltender Penguins game, stalked Marc-André Fleury (FSY). He allowed four goals on 14 shots, and backup Brent Johnson (FSY) fared worse, giving up four in just 11 shots.Penalty-killing unit of Pittsburgh was the best in the NHL during the regular season, but the lightning was 4-for-7 to make them 6 to 22, for the series ".There is nothing easy in this Championship and we fought, said Martin St. Louis (FSY), star of lightning through four games that added two assists on Saturday. "They came out hard, but we are compounds and (Roloson) made some big saves. "Notes: Fourteen of the 18 skaters Tampa Bay had at least one point. eight had at least two. ... Lightning RW Steve Downie (FSY) and penguins LW Chris Kunitz (FSY) each returned to the lineup after serving a suspension in game 4. Downie had two assists. ... Penguins RW Alex Kovalev assisted on the goal of Rupp, his 100th career playoff point. ... The crowd of spectators standing 18.535 was near consecutive sellout of penguins. ... Tampa Bay was outshot 33-25, marking the first time that the team with the most missed shots in the series. ... Rupp's goal was his first in the playoffs since scoring the winner in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to New Jersey in 2003.

Copyright 2010 the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ. To report corrections and clarifications, contact standards Editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We've updated the guidelines of the conversation. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation of how to use the "report abuse" button. Read more.