19:52: Off the ensuing faceoff, Malone give the Penguins a chance when he's nabbed for closing his hand on the puck.  Letang, Michalek, Neal, Staal and Kovalev take the ice.

19:40: Kovalev snaps off a wrister from the right circle. Roloson fight sit off.

18:38: And that penalty is wasted as well as Letang is called for interference. Four on four for 44 seconds.

18:22: Off a feed by Kennedy off the right wing, Letestu streaks in and puts a wrister on net from the right circle. Rolson makes the save and smothers the rebound.

17:52: The minor to Malone is killed. The Lightning will have 1:16 of power-play time.

16:38: Letang's minor is killed. The Lightning did little with that chance.

16:30: Roloson misplays a puck behind his own net. Talbot takes it off him and attempts a wraparound from the left of the cage on his backhand. Pavel Kubina hustles back and strips the puck from Talbot.

16:11: Staal snaps off a little shot from deep on the right wing. Roloson says no. Kunitz is there for the rebound and punches it on net. Roloson holds that out as well.

16:04: As Matt Niskanen booms a slapper from the right point wide on the near side, Kubina high sticks Kunitz in the slot. Kunitz takes a tumble holding his face. That's two minutes. They have to cash one of these in eventually. The law of averages dictates that right? Michalek, Letang, Neal, Staal and Kovalev take the ice.

14:42: Martin fumbles another puck at the right point.. Dana Tyrell takes it right off him, pushes it up ice and whips two wristers on net. Fleury turns away both. Martin owes Fleury a beer.

14:04: So much for the law of averages. 0 for 5.

13:11: Off a turnover by Adams on the left wing wall of the Penguins' zone, Stamkos has a chance down low but Fleury's right leg denies his backhander. Adams owes Fleury a beer.

12:22: Conner snaps off a wrister from the right wing as Talbot and Dupuis crash in. Roloson is able to fight it off.

10:52: And the Penguins get their own dirty goal from the fourth line. Rupp dupp the puck into the right wing corner. Roloson plays it but allows it to enters the "no-play" zone. Asham flies in and takes the puck push it ot the crease. It hits Roloson and bounces out above the crease. Adams is able to barge in and poke it behind Rolson with a backhander. The Penguins needed that badly. What an effort by Asham. He's come to play in the postseason. Asham gets the only assist. Roloson could make a case for one. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Lightning 3-1.

9:46: Lovejoy booms a one-timer from the right point. It hits something en route to the net and deflects to the right wing corner.

8:28: Attendance is announced as 18,507. It is the largest crowd for a Penguins game in Consol Energy Center. It is also the team's 208th consecutive sellout.

8:00: Michalek snap off a wrister from the right point. It hits a body and deflects to Letest coasting in off the left wing. Letesu is able to lift a backhander behind a scrambling Roloson. He has him beat but it clunks off the far post and deflects out. The Lightning clear out the rebound. Argh.

6:25: Lovejoy tries to play a "Murphy Dump" at his blue line as St. Louis pressures. Lovejoy ignores the puck and gives a shove to St. Louis who slips and takes a tumble.

5:56: Martin pounds a slapper from the left point. Dupuis is there for a redirect but the puck goes wide to the left wing corner.

5:32: After some wonderful work down low along the boards by by Dupuis, Talbot and Conner, Lovejoy tees up a slapper from the right point. Hall reaches out with his stick and deflects the puck out of play. The home crowns offers an ovation for the work by Dupuis, Talbot and Conner.

4:26: St. Louis snaps off a wrister from a tough angle in the right circle. Fleury eats it up.

4:09: Kennedy one touches a backhanded pass to Letestu in the slot. Letestu grips and rips a wrister high of the cage.

3:49: Kennedy takes a pass above the left circle and rips a wrister as Lecavalier jabs him with a shoulder check. Roloson turns it away.

3:32: Bobby Orrpik pushes a puck in deep ont he right wing and taps it just above the crease. Staal recovers it on his backhand tries to turnit to his forehand but loses a handle on the puck before he can shot.

1:22: What a defensive play. Michalek lose his stick in the neural zone. Moore pushes it up on Michalek on the right wing. Michalek just flops to his belly and strips the puck with his hands. Wow.

1:13: Brewer settles a loose puck at the right point and booms a slapper on net. Fleury eats it up.

0:20: This could be a killer. Orpik is nabbed for cross checking Hall into the boards down low behind the Penguins' net. Hall sold that well. Orpik couldn't have knocked over a Jenga tower with that "cross check." Staal, Dupuis, Martin and Michalek take the ice.

0:14: And it is a killer. St. Louis tks a pass down low on the goal line along the right wing wall. He tosses a puck at Fleury. The puck gets lost in his gear. Lecavalier stabs at it and Fleury allows it to squeak into the net. This place was rocking a minute ago. It's lifeless now. Gagne and Brewer get assists. Lightning 4-1.

0:00: End of period. Lightning 4, Penguins 1.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-It's amazing how easy momentum can come and go. After the Asham goal, the Penguins were dominating this game. They controlled play in Tampa Bay's zone. The Lightning was chasing the Penguins all over the in the offensive zone. The Penguins had some chances but just couldn't bury them. They were on the verge of making this a one-goal game. The crowd was going nuts. Then the Orpik penalty kills them.

-Imagine where this game would be if the Penguins' power play even had a pulse?

-His one puck-handling error aside, Roloson has been lights out tonight. He has earned this lead so far.

-Fleury has not. He's been bad. Period. He needs to be better.

-The Penguins have a 22-16 lead in shots.

-In the second period alone, the Penguins led in shots, 14-8.

-Letestu and Kennedy each lead the game with four.

-Brewer leads the Lightning with three.

-Brewer leads the game with 18:38 of ice time.

-Michalek leads the Penguins with 18:15.

-The Lightning had a 20-19 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).

-Letestu is 6 for 10 (60 percent).

-Thompson is 4 for 7 (57 percent).

-Letang and Hall each lead the game with two blocked shots.

-Fire Ray Shero.

-A leftover from our pregame rounds. A brave Steven Stamkos fan:

(Her and her companion said they were happy the Penguins finished in fourth place because they didn't want to go Philadelphia for some odd reason.)

-A generic cover for IceTime tonight:

THIRD PERIOD

17:34: Neal turns and whips a wrister from the right wing well wide on the near side.

16:18: Adams lugs the puck into the offensive zone and flings a wrister at the net from the right point. Roloson eats it up.

15:52: Staal has wrister from the slot blocked Brett Clark.

15:44: Letang booms a slapper from the right point which appears to get deflected wide to the far side.

15:33: Letang chops a wild slapper from above the right circle. It hits something and deflects to the left wing. Orpik chases it down and swats it at the cage. It strikes Clark in the face. Clark falls to the ice immediately holding his face. Play is halted. A trainer attends to him. Clark takes a few moments to recover to his feet. He does eventually and makes his way to the bench and locker room to a polite applause.

15:29: Off a faceoff win by Talbot in the right circle. Dupuis chops a feed on net from the right circle. Roloson is in perfect position and fights it off.

11:59: After a lifeless three minutes, Thomspon chases down a a loose puck against Michalek on the left wing and jabs a quick litle shot on net. Fleury holds it out.

11:49: Clark is back and he pounds a slapper on net from the right circle. Fleury fights it off.

11:00: Kovalev and Letestu battle down low for a puck. Letestu jabs a little shot on net. Roloson fights it off and pulls in the rebound with stick and smothers the puck to freeze play. Tyrell is called for hooking Neal. The Penguins have to get a goal here to stay alive in this game.

10:56: Off a faceoff win, Michalek blast a one-time from the left point wide to the far side.

10:38: Kennedy controls a puck in the left circle and cranks a slapper no where near the net. The shot is so inaccuarate it clears the zone around the boards.

9:00: The Tyrell penalty is killed. Another pointless two minutes for the Penguins.

8:31: Dupuis zips up the right wing an snaps a wrister from outside the faceoff circle. Roloson kicks it out to the right corner. Dupuis follows up on it. The puck actually appears to hit off Dupuis' helmet and deflect into the air where Roloson snags it.

7:18: Off a faceoffwin by Rupp in the left circle Martin snaps off a wrister from the left half wall which hits Rupp in front. The puck ends up on Asham's stick in the right circle. He releases a wrister which misses the net.

6:15: A clearing attempt by Neal out of the right wing corner gets deflected to the crease where Moore quickly whips it on net. Fleury gloves it. Neal owes Fleury a beer.

4:52: Neal turns and whips a wild wrister from the right half wall wide to the far side. Roloson jumps out of his crease and punches it away with his blocker.

4:10: Off a turnover by the Penguins in their own zone, St. Louis dumps a puck from the right point down low to the goal line on the right wing. Bergenheim settles it and steers it on net. As Fleury covers to freeze play, Orpik slams Bergenheim into the cage dislodging it. Oof.

3:59: Dupuis punches a quick slapper on net from the left point. Roloson fights it off.

3:27: The comeback starts now!!!!! Kubina is called for interference against Talbot. Neal, Staal, Kovalev, Letang and Michalek take the ice.

3:17: Thompson pushes the puck into the offensive zone and is greeted with a meaty hip check by Letang into the right cicle.

2:20: Fleury is pulled for an extra attacker.

2:13: Off a little give and go with Neal, Letestu snaps off a wrister at the cage. Roloson steers it away.

2:05: After Neal fails to keep a puck in the offensive zone on the right wing all, Ohlund takes it and calmly pushes it up ice. At the red line, he chips it down ice to the open cage for oen of us: 

-This barn empties out. The goal is unassisted. Lightning 5-1.

1:23: Rupp flips a little backhander on net from the right circle. Roloson eats it up.

0:42: Moore appears to challenge Dupuis to a fight in the Lightnign zone with a little slash to the back of the legs. Play is halted. Dupuis gives Moore a little jab to the face. Moore reacts as if someone began to remove his spleen and forgot to use anethesia.  A few penalties are doled out. The Lightning end up with a power play. Orpik, Lovejoy, Adams and  Kunitz take the ice.

0:00: End of game. Lightning 5, Penguins 1.

POSTGAME

-You didn't think this would be a sweep did you? These teams went 2-2-0 in the regular season. Outside of one blowout in early January by the Penguins where everything went wrong for the Lightning, this was a pretty even series throughout the regular seaosn. This playoff series will not be any different.

-If there's a good thing about this loss its that just about every goal the Lightning scored came off a mistake by the Penguins. Either a turnover or a bad pinch or a penalty. All those things are correctable.

-That's not to take anything away from the Lightning. They got chances and buried them. But the Penguins provided them with a lot of opportunities.

-The bad thing? Fleury looked bad. He looked nothing like the franchise goaltender who dominated things in Game 1. He needs to rebound off this in a big way.

-After taking one game off, the Penguins lack of discipline returned in a big way for Game 2. They took a ton of lazy or selfish penalties. They played with fire considering how potent the Lightning's power play is. And they got burnt in a big way.

-Does Matt Cooke make a difference tonight on the penalty kill?

-The Penguins had a very good chance of getting back int his game. They dominated the second period. But that penalty on Orpik late and St. Louis' immediate conversion on the power changed momentum totally.

-Said St. Louis on his goal: "We’ve done that across the crease play all the time and I just thought I could surprise him. I think he thinks I’m going across to (Lecavalier). It’s a big goal because they surged on us the whole second. We were really happy to come back to the locker room up by three still."

-Paul Martin and Kris Letang were brutal at various points tonight. They need to rebound as well considering all the minutes and situations they play.

-How crucial could even one power play goal have been for the Penguins? We don't want to go overboard and call the Penguins' power play a tragedy, but... we're short on words to explain it.

-Eric Brewer has stepped up in a big way in this series. He was tremendous for the most part in Game 1. And he was all over the place tonight. He has been the best defenseman in this series thus far.

-The Penguins' best lines tonight were the bottom two. Dupuis-Talbot-Conner and Asham-Adams-Rupp make their limited ice time count when they're out there.

-Good for those six. Bad for the Penguins.

-After a strong effort in Game 1, Staal was a non-factor tonight.

-Dwayne Roloson continued his strong play as well. He was very steady outside of the one puck-handling gaffe which led to Adams' goal. It's only been two games, but he's been the most consistent goaltender in this series.

-The Penguins dominated shots, 36-21.

-Letestu led the game with seven.

-Asham and Orpik were the only Penguins skaters who failed to get a shot on net.

-Brewer led the Lightning with three.

-Michalek led the Penguins with 25:20 of ice time.

-Brewer led the Lightning with 24:53.

-The Penguins had a 31-28 edge in faceoffs (53 percent).

-Letestu was 8 for 13 (62 percent).

-Lecavalier was 11 for 20 (55 percent).

-Hall led the game with four blocked shots.

-Fire Ray Shero.

-Letang led the Penguins with three.

-Game summary.

-Event summary.