Jarry scores goalie goal, Penguins rally past Lightning

TAMPA — Tristan Jarry scored and made 39 saves, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Jarry became the 14th different goalie to score in the NHL and the first in Penguins history. The most recent to score was Linus Ullmark for the Boston Bruins in a 3-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 25, 2023.

Sidney Crosby, Jeff Carter and Drew O’Connor also scored for the Penguins (11-10-1), who fell behind 2-0 in the first period.

“This was a gutsy effort by the whole group,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought our team competed hard. The pushback after the first period was terrific. We were proud of them. I thought we defended hard down the stretch. A lot of guys had really strong games for us.”

Steven Stamkos and Tanner Jeannot scored, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists for the Lightning (10-9-5), who have lost three straight. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves.

With Vasilevskiy pulled for an extra attacker, Jarry made a save, lifted the puck with his stick and scored from his crease into an empty net at 18:52 of the third period for the 4-2 final.

“It was kind of a perfect scenario,” Jarry said. “They dumped it right on net and I didn’t even have to stop it. I just shot it right on the fly and it ended up going in.”

Jarry’s goal was the 17th by a goalie in NHL history, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Martin Brodeur scored three times for the New Jersey Devils, and Ron Hextall scored twice for the Philadelphia Flyers.

“It’s something that doesn’t happen very often,” Jarry said. “There’s very few that have done it. So, it’s something that’s definitely pretty cool.”

Stamkos gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 9:06 of the first period with a redirection of a shot by Victor Hedman.

Jeannot extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:33 when he stuffed in a shot off a rebound.

“I think it’s just the same story over the last couple of games,” said Stamkos, the Tampa Bay captain. “We’re playing some of the better hockey in spurts, but the mistakes that we’re making are just tough ones that end up in the back of our net.

“That was probably the best hockey we played all year in the first period. Smothering them, skating, backchecking. … It was the recipe. But then a couple of plays lead to chances for some really good players, and they make you pay.”

Crosby cut it to 2-1 at 8:53 of the second period with a shot from the left face-off circle that beat Vasilevskiy high to the short side.

O’Connor tied it 2-2 at 19:24 when he finished a 2-on-1 off a pass from Evgeni Malkin through Hedman’s legs.

“Listen, we’ve got the best goalie in the League on our team,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “But if you’re going to give Sidney Crosby a breakaway and if you’re going to give Malkin an on-track 2-on-1 and then you give up another 3-on-2 … I think those are the only three odd-man rushes they had all night, and they scored on all three of them.”

Carter put the Penguins ahead 3-2 at 2:49 of the third period with his first goal of the season in his 16th game. He scored from the left circle off a quick return pass from Matt Nieto.

“It felt good [to score],” Carter said. “It’s been a while. They came out and played good hockey, and we sat back a little bit. We have guys that have been around a while and we knew it wasn’t good enough. ‘Jars’ made some big saves in the first to give us a chance.”