The Eastern Conference Final is deadlocked in a 1-1 tie as the Penguins and Lightning's best-of-seven series shifts to the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh will look to win a big road game to take back home-ice advantage, while Tampa Bay will hope to find success by returning home after doing its job and finding a split in the first two games.
The Lightning took Game 1 of this series with a 3-1 victory last Friday, while the Penguins drew even in thrilling fashion with an early overtime tally to win Game 2, 3-2, on Monday.
Sidney Crosby snapped an eight-game playoff goal drought and scored his first-ever playoff overtime goal just 40 seconds into the extra frame to send the series to Florida tied. It marked the Penguins' quickest overtime game-winner in franchise history.
Every other goal of the contest came in the first period. The Penguins got off to a fast start with Matt Cullen finding the twine for his fourth of the playoffs and Phil Kessel extending the lead to 2-0 with his team-leading sixth tally. Kessel has six points in his past four games.
The Lightning then drew even as the returning Anton Stralman (leg) scored his first goal and Jonathan Drouin lit the lamp for his third. Stralman was playing in the playoffs for the first time this season and notched his fifth marker against the Penguins this year.
From there, it was a goaltending duel between Lightning backup Andrei Vasilevskiy and Penguins rookie Matt Murray. After taking over for Ben Bishop (lower-body) in Game 1, Vasilevskiy stopped 38 of the 41 shots he faced.
Murray, meanwhile, yielded just two goals while making 19 saves and improved to 8-3 this postseason with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.
Bishop (lower-body) remains out for Tampa Bay along with Steven Stamkos (blood clot), while Ryan Callahan (undisclosed illness) is expected to slot back into the series.
"It's unlucky, obviously, to miss a playoff game and to miss it in that fashion," Callahan told NHL.com about Game 2. "At the same time it's out of your control."
Pittsburgh's offense has been paced by Kessel, who is having a postseason to remember with a club-leading 13 points. Nick Bonino has a team-high nine assists and has added 11 points in the playoffs.
Still, the Penguins offense isn't without its problems.
"We'd like to settle into some stability," coach Mike Sullivan said via NHL.com. "And we'll do that. We have a game plan going into [Wednesday] and we'll see how it goes and we'll make our decisions accordingly."
Pittsburgh will look to stop Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson, who have been the driving forces for Tampa Bay. Kucherov leads the Lighting with nine goals, while Johnson has a club-high nine assist and 13 points.
Game Details & Live Stream
Matchup: Penguins at Lightning Eastern Conference Final Game 3
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay, Fla.
Radio: Pittsburgh (105.9 WXDX); Tampa Bay (WDAE 620)
Series: Tied 1-1.
Predictions: Our predictions for this series can be viewed here.
Betting Odds: The latest betting odds for this game can be found here.
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
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