The Eastern Conference Final is set to continue when the puck drops on the Penguins and Lightning at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay for Game 6 on Thursday.
Tampa Bay is looking to clinch its second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final after defeating the Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final last year and falling to the Blackhawks in six games in the championship round last season.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will look to force a Game 7 back at Consol Energy Center on Thursday. The Lightning took Game 1 of this series, while the Penguins took a 2-1 series lead by taking Games 2 and 3. Tampa Bay then emerged triumphant in Games 4 and 5 to take a 3-2 lead.
"All we want to do is win the game," Lightning forward Cedric Paquette said per NHL.com. "You can look at other things later. But we know we need to win [Tuesday] and it's going to be the toughest game to win. They are going to play hard and we have to match that."
Jason Garrison's shot trickled off of Tyler Johnson and in to give the Lightning a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 5. It marked the second game of this series to go to an extra frame and Johnson's seventh goal of the playoffs. Johnson also has a team-best 10 assists.
Nikita Kucherov scored twice to give him a team-leading 11 goals and 19 points this postseason in Game 5. Alex Killorn scored his fifth of the postseason to round out the goals for Tampa Bay.
Brian Dumoulin (1), Patric Hornqvist (7) and Chris Kunitz (4) each scored for the Penguins in the loss. Phil Kessel has paced Pittsburgh with eight goals and 17 points this spring, while Nick Bonino had a club-leading 11 helpers. The Carl Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel line has been huge in the playoffs.
After Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 25 shots in Game 5, the Penguins are going back to rookie Matt Murray. The 21-year-old is 9-4 in these playoffs with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
"Matt Murray's our starting goaltender," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said per NHL.com. "And the reason, just like the reason we make all our lineup decisions, we try to put players on the ice that give us the best chance to win."
The Lightning will counter with Andrei Vasilevskiy for the fifth straight game as Ben Bishop (groin) remains sidelined. Vasilevskyi made 31 saves on 34 shots in Game 5 and is 3-2 with a 2.65 GAA and a .928 save percentage in the playoffs.
Game Details & Live Stream
Matchup: Penguins at Lightning Eastern Conference Final Game 6
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay, Fla.
Radio: Pittsburgh (105.9 WXDX); Tampa Bay (WDAE 620)
Series: Lightning leads 3-2.
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.
