Lightning pound Penguins to keep series alive

Looking to stave off elimination, the Lightning looked within to live for another game.

While plenty answered the call in a resounding 8-2 victory against Pittsburgh on Saturday in Game 5 of the best-of-seven playoff series, the player leading the way perhaps had the most impact.

Steven Stamkos led an offensive explosion with three points, including his first two goals of the series, as the Lightning set a franchise playoff record for goals scored. Forward Simon Gagne and defenseman Pavel Kubina also had multi-goal efforts, and Tampa Bay had four power-play goals. Teddy Purcell chipped in with three assists, and Vinny Lecavalier and Dominic Moore also scored.

Tampa Bay scored the first seven goals of the game before cruising to the victory, cutting its series deficit to 3-2.

With elimination held off for at least one game, the Lightning will be in the same boat when the teams play Game 6 on Monday night in Tampa.

Perhaps seeing Stamkos, who has led the Lightning in goals in each of the past two regular seasons, get his first multi-goal game since Jan.20 will provide a boost heading into another do-or-die game.

"I want to be part of this team's success in the playoffs, and prove to myself and my teammates that I can play in these pressure situations," said Stamkos, who had only one assist in the first four games of the series. "I just felt that each game I have been getting better and better. It wasn't showing up on the scoresheet, but I noticed it, the coaching staff noticed it and it was nice to get rewarded, especially in a game of this magnitude."

While goaltender Dwayne Roloson was holding the team steady in the early going of the first period, Stamkos had a lot to do with getting things going the rest of the game. After Gagne opened the scoring at 16:57, Stamkos scored 46 seconds later as he parked himself in front of the net, fought off two defensemen and found a rebound from a Steve Downie shot for his first career playoff goal.

In the early part of the second, Stamkos outmuscled Paul Martin in the corner boards and held the puck before making a pass to the front of the net to an open Lecavalier, who made it 3-0 at 1:55.

Gagne's second goal at 5:31 chased Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed four goals on 14 shots, and Stamkos scored on a power play off a rebound of Eric Brewer's shot at 7:00 of the second to make it 5-0.

The Lightning figure getting one of the league's top goal scorers feeling good about his game, and getting rewarded for his steadily improving postseason play, will only be a positive as Tampa Bay tries to pick up a third victory in this series and force a Game 7 in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

"I think he's been working really hard, been playing great but not getting the results, and that happens to a lot of people. You are right there but it's just not going in," Lecavalier said. "So finally today it paid off for him and he made some great plays. And not just the goals, it's everything about his game - his work ethic, making good plays, giving me that tap-in, and really just overall a great game and I think it's going to snowball for him and keep going."

In a game the Lightning had to win, there was more to Saturday's effort than just the team's 21-year-old All-Star center.

Gagne, who has six points in the series, made a strong defensive play to clear a puck that eluded Roloson and briefly sat in the crease.

Roloson made several key saves among his 13 in the first period, and ended the night with 31 saves. Fourteen different Lightning skaters had points, and eight players had multiple points, including Kubina, who had one goal in 42 career playoff games prior to Saturday.

But in all that went well for Tampa Bay, the contributions of Stamkos stood out because of the microscope that zeroes in on star players at the most pressure-packed time.

"I definitely want to be a key part of this team, to win and produce offense, and I put that pressure on myself," Stamkos said. "And to a certain extent, your teammates expect certain players to step up in big games.

"I'm just happy that I was able to do that tonight in a great team effort from the get-go."