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It took the Pittsburgh seven seconds to do what the Washington Capitals couldn’t do in 60 minutes in the Penguins 8-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightening. Playing two of the better teams in the NHL back to back is a tough go for any team, but with a new goalie in hand playing in the net and momentum from shutting out the Capitals, the Lightening thought they could be competitive. This wasn’t the case.

Tampa Bay Coach Guy Boucher said his team was on empty because of the game in Washington. He really felt that his squad fought so hard to make the statement they made against the Caps, and when the first shot went in, he said it really et the pace. “It was an emotional game(against Washington) and we gave everything. Tonight, The first goal right away set the tone for the rest of the game. We had no juice, nothing, and they had everything.” Boucher also said he wasn’t going to dwell on this game, because with the loss they are 9-2-1 in their past 12 games.

Steven Stamkos said he knew right away they were in for a long night. Stamkos said “It’s just one of those games where you could tell it was going to be a weird game from the first draw. We won the draw clean and they got a breakaway out of it.” The night proceeded to get even stranger for Stamkos. Stamkos was awarded a penalty shot, and while he was coming in past the left circle, he lost an edge and the chance to score the goal. Stamkos said he checked his skates after the penalty shot, and found the culprit. “The last thing on your mind is to check your skates, so I guess I’ll learn from that if that happens again. I had to get both of them done; there was no edge.”

The Penguins were back inside after their “Winter Classic” win outside in the rain, and obviously they were happy to be back inside. Especially Chris Kunitz who found the back of the net 3 times to get himself a hat trick, said “It was nice to get out fast. Geno’s goal in 7 seconds got us going, and things went right.” He also was happy to see the rest of the team not have to depend on their captain. He said “It’s nice that other guys are getting confidence. We don’t have to rely on Sid every night.” Crosby’s only point was an assist on Kuntiz’s first goal. Crosby, shut out in his previous two games following a 25-game scoring streak, has 66 points in 41 games and Pittsburgh is 26-12-3 midway through its season.

The Penguins defense made it an easy night for All-Star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, but he was unable to get the shut out when Adam Hall scored in the third. After his 31 save game, Fleury said his life is a lot easier being back indoors. “(There was) no rain, so it was back to routine,.It was good to be back in our building.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins (26-12-3, 55pts) who are now 1st in Atlantic Division, will face Montreal (21-16-3, 45pts) on Thursday. The Tampa Bay Lightening (24-12-5,53pts) who are 1st in Southeast Division, will face the Ottawa Senators (16-19-5, 37pts) on Saturday.

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