Penguins beat defending Cup champion Lightning
Tristan Jarry had 26 saves, Danton Heinen and Brian Boyle scored early second-period goals, and the short-handed Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 in the regular-season opener on Tuesday night.
Dominik Simon, Teddy Blueger, Bryan Rust and Evan Rodrigues also scored, and Kris Letang had two assists for the Penguins, who played without injured stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The final three Pittsburgh goals were into an empty net.
Tampa Bay got goals from Anthony Cirelli and Andrew Killorn, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 29 shots.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in attendance as Tampa Bay unveiled its 2020-21 Stanley Cup banner during a pregame ceremony. The Lightning have won two consecutive titles following pandemic-impacted and abbreviated regular seasons. AVS’ MACKINNON TO MISS OPENER >> Colorado Avalanche star Nathan McKinnon will miss the season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight after testing positive for a breakthrough infection of COVID-19.
Colorado general manager Joe Sakic said Tuesday that MacKinnon’s positive test surfaced Monday and that the center is “asymptomatic
and feeling good.”
MacKinnon did not practice Tuesday. The earliest he could return is Saturday when the Avalanche host the St. Louis Blues.
That’s when Avalanche coach Jared Bednar is expected to return to the bench after being placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol last week.
Sakic said the team is 100% vaccinated against the coronavirus. BETTMAN SAYS JUST 4 PLAYERS UNVACCINATED >> NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has only four unvaccinated players as it opens up the 2021-22 season.
“Everybody banding together to do the right thing,” Bettman said. “Maybe that’s why hockey is the ultimate team sport.”
Bettman said NHL officials and all the personnel that come into contact with the players are vaccinated.