Penguins barely keep lightning in a bottle, beat Tampa Bay, 5-4

PITTSBURGH — This article originally appeared on PittsburghHockeyNOW.com.

A week ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ challenge of qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs looked to be a task worthy of Sisyphus.

You know, the guy in Greek mythology consigned to pushing a boulder uphill — only to have it roll back down that hill — for all eternity as punishment for tricking Hades, ruler of the underworld.

Well, seven days later, they’re getting a lot closer to the mountaintop than Sisyphus ever did.

They defeated Tampa Bay, 5-4, at PPG Paints Arena for their fourth consecutive victory. It raised their record to 36-30-11 and moved them into a tie with Philadelphia and the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division and the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

They outplayed Tampa Bay for two periods at PPG Paints Arena Saturday before wilting in the first half of the third.

Tampa Bay rallied from a 4-1 deficit going into the third with three goals in the first 10 minutes, 45 seconds, but Michael Bunting put the Penguins back in front to stay at 14:32 by taking a feed from Evgeni Malkin and backhanding in a shot from the front lip of the crease.

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