For the second straight game, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 at PPG Paints Arena.
With six points over his two first games, Crosby has led Pittsburgh to wins in their first two games having defeated Arizona by an identical 6-2 score Wednesday night.
"You want to keep that going", Crosby said. "It might not last. You want to keep riding momentum if you can. If you want to win consistently, you need everyone to contribute. There's no secret to that. We've been able to do that in the first couple of games."
Jake Guentzel and Jeff Carter each had a goal and an assist and goaltender Tristan Jarry made 34 saves.
Steven Stamkos continued his hot start to the season, scoring for the fourth time in three games as well as an assist, Nikita Kucherov had two assists and Brian Elliott stopped 39 shots.
"Every single year, we're a different team", said Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper. "We have to find ourselves a bit. But the big thing is, and it comes right down to it, if we're not going to manage the puck and we're going to turn it over, especially with teams like this, it'll be a long night for you.
"We've gone through some ebbs and flows in years. This is a tough to start this year, no doubt."
Penguins offense explodes for second straight game, rout defending East champs
Stamkos took a pass from Victor Hedman and scored on a one-timer from just outside the faceoff circle a little over four minutes into the game to give the Lightning the early lead.
With three minutes left in the first period, Crosby tied it as Guentzel drove through the neutral zone on a two-on-one and passed it to him in front of a sliding Erik Cernak.
Danton Heinen made it 2-1 Pittsburgh 4:11 into the second period, beating Elliott from a sharp angle while the Penguins were on the power play.
"I think we had a pretty good start, once again", Hedman said. "They got that power-play goal to make it 2-1, then it was an uphill battle. [Elliott] kept us in the game, gave us a chance to win.
"But it all comes down to execution, that's the bottom line. We'll regroup here, go home and get ready for our home opener."
Guentzel doubled Pittsburgh's lead as he tipped a shot from Kris Letang in the third period and 82 seconds later, it was 4-1 when Carter scored on a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle.
"I think it's a good time when you're getting chances early', Guentzel said. "You don't hang your head too much. For me, the chances are coming."
A Bryan Rust deflection from Crosby's shot made it 5-1 and after Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay, Rickard Rakell completed the scoring with an empty-netter with 4:05 left.
"They're a proud group", Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. "They have an appettite to win. I think, to a man, the core group of players that has been here, they're just hungry to win. They're hungry to win. There's just no other way to say it."