Welcome to the Penguins, Mark Streit.
After an eventful trade deadline day that saw the 39-year-old defenseman traded from Philadelphia to Tampa Bay and then dealt again later on to Pittsburgh, Streit settled in with his new team by scoring the game-winning goal Friday -- against those same Bolts.
Nice pass from Sidney Crosby, who found Streit all alone in front after a breakdown in the defensive end from Tampa Bay. That goal, just 1:28 after Nikita Kucherov scored to tie the game, gave Pittsburgh the lead once again and the Penguins wouldn’t let it go this time in a 5-2 victory.
Streit also had an assist and played more than 19 minutes of ice time, with a few key defensemen in Kris Letang, Trevor Daley and Olli Maatta out of the lineup. Ron Hainsey, acquired prior to the deadline to add depth to Pittsburgh’s blue line, saw more than 25 minutes of ice time versus the Bolts.
Pittsburgh’s trio of stars -- Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel -- was dominant. And Justin Schultz, acquired last season from Edmonton, continued his resurgence with a goal, his 10th of the season, and an assist.
While the Bolts had gone into sell mode at the deadline, dealing Ben Bishop, Brian Boyle and Valtteri Filppula, and opening up cap space ahead of the summer, they still had the chance to move, at least temporarily, within two points of the final wild card spot in the East on Friday.
But the Penguins have one of the most dangerous lineups in the league and they surged ahead after the Kucherov equalizer.