Tampa Bay has a history of starting slowly in playoff series. That’s bad news for the Penguins, because the Lightning still were good enough to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, 3-1, at Consol Energy Center Friday.
And to do it despite losing No 1 goalie Ben Bishop to an undisclosed injury in the 13th minute of play.
The victory was just Tampa Bay’s fourth in 10 all-time Games 1 on the road, and improved the Lightning’s overall record in series openers to 8-12.
Game 2 will be Monday at 8:10pm at Consol Energy Center.
This is the second consecutive series in which the Penguins, who had a four-game winning streak on home ice snapped, have lost the opener.
Tampa Bay scored the only goal of the opening period, as defenseman Victor Hedman threw a long pass to Alex Killorn, who got around Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta on the left-wing side, then cut to the net before tossing a backhander between the legs of goalie Matt Murray at 18:46.
Killorn’s goal, though, was all but overshadowed by a series of lost-time incidents.
The first came at 2:50 of the first, when Lightning right winger Ryan Callahan drove his elbow into the neck of Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, knocking Letang into the glass head-first.
Callahan was assessed a five-minute penalty for boarding, but did not receive a game misconduct.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety will review the hit to determine whether it was worthy of a suspension.
Letang appeared to be knocked out for a few seconds and eventually went to the locker room, returning to the bench just as Bishop was leaving the game with an apparent injury to his left knee.

Bishop leaves on a stretcher
Bishop went down in the crease without being touched while trying to scramble back into position during a Penguins flurry at 12:25, and eventually was taken off the ice on a stretcher.
There was no immediate word on the nature or severity of Bishop’s injury.
He was replaced by 21-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made just his second appearance in these playoffs but who is a highly regarded prospect.
During the final minute before intermission, Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson was hurt on a hit - possibly knee-to-knee - by Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz along the boards behind the Lightning goal line.
Johnson, who turned into the hit just as Kunitz was about to make contact, was helped to the locker room after appearing to injure his right knee.
Kunitz was not penalized, and Johnson returned in the middle of the second period.
Those first-period injuries left the Lightning, already missing No. 1 center Steven Stamkos (blood clots) and top-pairing defenseman Anton Stralman (leg), seriously undermanned, but the Penguins weren’t able to take advantage.
And when Penguins center Evgeni Malkin took an offensive-zone hooking minor at 1:46 of the second period, the Lightning needed only 47 seconds to take advantage.
Left winger Ondrej Palat made it 2-0 at 2:33, backhanding a rebound past Murray.
Jonathan Drouin seemed to put the game away for Tampa Bay when he capped a three-on-one break by beating Murray from inside the right circle at 18:25, but the Penguins finally broke through with less than a minute to go before the intermission.
Patric Hornqvist got the goal during a power play at 19:05, as he got a feed from Sidney Crosby and beat Vasilevskiy from near the right dot. Phil Kessel received the second assist.
The goal was Hornqvist’s sixth in these playoffs and his eighth in nine career playoff games at Consol Energy Center.
Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin was shaken up when Palat shoved him face-first into the glass behind the Penguins’ net at 15:14 of the third period. Palat was given a minor penalty and Dumoulin was helped to the locker room.
Now to see what happens next.