Having gone six games without scoring the opening goal or holding a regulation lead, the Lightning finally ended that dubious run early in the second period. Brayden Point zipped through the neutral zone with the puck after being set up by a one-touch feed from Alex Killorn and elevated a backhander over Tristan Jarry to put the Bolts in front 1-0.
Midway through the second, the floodgates cracked open for Tampa Bay's offense, and they put on display that quick strike fire power that had been lacking early in the season.
On the heels of a dominating shift from the Pens in Tampa Bay's zone, Alex Barre-Boulet found a fresh Ondrej Palat off the bench, and he ripped a wrist shot home from the high slot. After the Bolts won the ensuing faceoff, Steven Stamkos circled the net and fed Ryan McDonagh, who had snuck down from the point, for the Lightning's second goal in a 10 second span.
Mikhail Sergachev pushed the lead to four with an empty net goal at 16:55 of the third period.
Jason Zucker responded for Pittsburgh on a late power play to break up Andrei Vasilevskiy's shutout bid, but the Bolts answered back with another empty netter from Killorn.
Vasilevskiy was strong in net, finishing with 29 saves and only conceding the late goal to Zucker when the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Tampa Bay's power play continues to struggle, however. After going 0-for-2 with the man advantage on Tuesday, the Bolts have now failed to score on their last 14 power play chances going back to the second game of the season.
The Lightning now return to Tampa, where they'll start a two-game homestand on Thursday against the Coyotes at Amalie Arena.
