Stamkos scores first goal since knee surgery to help Lightning hold off Penguins
>> FLORIDA: Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since having right knee surgery in November and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Thursday night.
Stamkos made it 3-1 with a powerplay goal at 3:49 minutes of the second period from the low left circle. The Lightning star previously scored Nov 15 at Detroit, the same game that he had a season-ending lateral meniscus tear in the knee. Stamkos entered with five assists in three games this season.
Stamkos also tied Vincent Lecavalier for the Lightning team record with 112 power-play goals.
Slater Koekkoek got his first two NHL goals, and Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning. Alex Killorn had four assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves.
Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and Matt Hunwick scored for two-time defending Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh. Antti Niemi, who allowed four goals on 13 shots over 9:16 minutes against Chicago on Oct 5 in his Penguins debut, stopped 29 shots.
In Chicago, Chris Stewart broke a tie midway through the third period with the first of his two goals and Minnesota hammered Chicago 5-2 for their first victory of the season.
Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist, and Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves to help the Wild (1-1-1) hand Chicago (3-1-1) their first regulation loss.
Stewart tapped Zucker’s feed past Corey Crawford from the doorstep at 9:28 minutes of the third to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead. Stewart and Zucker broke in 2-on-1 against Duncan Keith after fellow defenceman Brent Seabrook fell down. The goal withstood a review after the Blackhawks challenged Zucker was offside.
Zucker added a power-play goal with 7:31 minutes to go on the delay-of-game penalty that resulted from the failed Chicago challenge. He banged the puck in from behind the net off Crawford’s skate.
Stewart scored into an empty net with 4:04 minutes remaining to make it 4-1. Mikko Koivu added another empty-netter with 2:01 minutes left. Eric Staal also scored for Minnesota.
Ryan Hartman and Jonathan Toews scored for Chicago.
In Sunrise, Florida, Roberto Luongo moved into a tie for fourth on the NHL career victory list with 454, making 37 saves to help Florida beat St Louis 5-2.
The 38-year-old Luongo is tied with Curtis Joseph on the career list.
Vincent Trocheck scored the goahead goal, Ian McCoshen had his first NHL goal, and Jared McCann, Aaron Ekblad and Nick Bjugstad also connected for Florida.
Paul Stastny and Vince Dunn — also with his first career goal — countered for St Louis. Jake Allen stopped 33 shots in the Blues’ first loss in five games this season.
In other NHL games on Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2; the Nashville Predators crushed the Dallas Stars 4-1; the San Jose Sharks edged the Buffalo Sabres 3-2; the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2.