PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins are still in the driver's seat, but the ride is now a little less comfortable.
The Penguins were blown out on home ice, 8-2, by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon, which means they head to Tampa for a sixth game on Monday night.
The Penguins are still in control. They can afford to lose one game, and Tampa Bay can't.
But the pressure is on the Penguins, too.
They took a 3-1 lead in the series, which means it's their series to lose.
The worst thing to happen Saturday was Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos woke up and became a factor.
Stamkos had been invisible in the series, aside from being on the receiving end of a big check from Brooks Orpik.
His flop in the first four games followed a sluggish second half of the regular season.
Now Stamkos has had some success, and he probably has confidence now, too.
That's another weapon for the Lightning.
If the Lightning can win on Monday, look out for a seventh game where anything can happen.
The Penguins learned that lesson in 1993 when they let a vastly-inferior New York Islanders hang around, only to lose in overtime.
The Civic Arena was silent when David Vokek beat Tom Barrasso for the winning goal and dashed the Penguins' hopes of a third straight Stanley Cup.
The Penguins are still in charge of the current series.
They need to remember that on Monday night in Tampa.
Impressive work
Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury must have been dizzy from all the passes Tampa Bay made to set up the first goal in Saturday's blowout win.
That kind of play hadn't been seen since the Edmonton Oilers were flying high in the Gretzky era.
More fallout
By now you've seen the video of the big guy being Tasered and clubbed at PNC Park.
Remember the woman screaming in the background? There's a separate video of her being arrested.
She identified herself as a producer for KDKA-TV, and she was.
She was fired last week.
Unrest brewing?
After decades of mediocrity, you'd think Duquesne would be happy with coach Ron Everhart's upgrade of the program.
But spies report there's been some friction between Everhart and athletic director Greg Amodio, to the point that the AD complained that last year's team underachieved.
The late-season swoon was troubling, but remember that Duquesne isn't that far removed from a 3-24 season under Danny Nee.
Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com
