Teddy Purcell’s first career playoff goal gave the Tampa Bay Lightning a 1-1 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins after one period of Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Purcell scored just after a Lightning power play had ended. With Kris Letang not quite back in the play after being released from the penalty box, Steve Downie’s shot deflected off a Penguins skate and right to Purcell, about 10 feet from the net. He couldn’t control the puck, but Ryan Malone pulled it in and shot it. After Marc-Andre Fleury made the save, Purcell grabbed the rebound and slid it under Fleury’s pads to tie the game.
Pittsburgh’s goal was a combination of bad play behind the net by Dwayne Roloson and a smart play by Maxime Talbot. Roloson tried to backhand a puck around the back of the net to Marc-Andre Bergeron, but Talbot read the play and jumped in to steal the puck when Roloson hesitated. Talbot then went behind the net to the opposite side and passed to Pascal Dupuis for a quick one-timer that beat Roloson on the stick side.
Although the team scoring first has won every game in the series, it’s the first game where the team taking the 1-0 lead did not make it a 2-0 lead.