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The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Sunday.
Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning, and Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul had empty-net goals.
Tampa Bay recorded points in both halves of back-to-back games for the first time this season. It lost in overtime against New Jersey on Saturday.
Jake Guentzel, who won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2017, had two assists to become the second player in Lightning history with at least 20 goals and 40 points in his first 40 games with the franchise. Guentzel signed a seven-year deal with the Lightning in the offseason.
Rickard Rakell scored his 22nd goal of the season for Pittsburgh, and Kevin Hayes added his third goal in five games. Sidney Crosby recorded his 1,040th career assist to tie Marcel Dionne for 11th on the NHL's career list.
The Penguins played without Evgeni Malkin, who was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and Michael Bunting, who was involved in a car accident before the game but was OK, according to Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.
Takeaways
Lightning: Looked lethargic early, but Kucherov snapped a 2-2 tie with his 20th goal with 3:03 left. The Lightning have won three of four since a four-game losing streak.
Penguins: Dropped to 3-5-3 in their last 11 games.
Key moment
Kucherov stole the puck at the Penguins' blue line and beat Tristan Jarry on a partial breakaway for his clutch goal.
Key stat
Tampa Bay became the first team this season to have four players with 20 or more goals. The last team to have four players with 20 goals through 41 games were the 1995-96 Penguins.
Up next
Pittsburgh finishes a five-game homestand Tuesday against Seattle. Tampa Bay closes a three-game trip Tuesday at Boston.
Saturday's game
Shane Pinto scored two special teams goals in the first period, Leevi Merilainen stopped 30 shots and the Ottawa Senators beat the Penguins 5-0 on Saturday.
Pinto beat Alex Nedeljokvic on the power play just over five minutes into the game then added a short-handed goal in the waning moments of the opening period as the Senators won for the second time in their last eight games.
Tyler Kleven, Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle also scored for the Senators. Claude Giroux added three assists as Ottawa won its sixth straight over Pittsburgh.
Nedeljokvic was pulled midway through the second period after stopping just 12 of the 17 shots he faced. Kleven's goal 3:16 into the game on a blast from the point marked the 10th time this season that the Penguins have allowed a score on an opponent's initial shot.