Jonathan Drouin is taking some pressure off his captain in Game 7.

The 21-year-old forward drew the Tampa Bay Lightning even with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final elimination game, firing a bullet over goaltender Matt Murray midway through Thursday's second period.

Bryan Rust scored his second goal of the game to restore the Penguins' lead 30 seconds later.

Drouin's marker was his fifth goal and 14th point in 17 postseason contests this spring.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

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Rust is clearly just a name.

For the second straight game Thursday, Bryan Rust scored a clutch goal for his Pittsburgh Penguins. After scoring the insurance marker in Game 6, the 24-year-old sniped his fourth of the playoffs for a 1-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7.

After Jonathan Drouin scored to tie the game 1-1, Rust would reply with his second of the contest moments later to restore the Penguins' lead.

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The captain is back.

Eight weeks to the day of his last NHL game, Steven Stamkos made his return to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup for Thursday's Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was evasive when asked about Stamkos beforehand, but the forward took part in the warmup and began the game on the the third line between Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan.

Stamkos had been out of the lineup since March 31 after having vascular surgery to treat a blood clot condition.

His surgeon, Dr. Karl Illig, told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times that Stamkos was cleared to play "a while ago," and the issue was blood thinners.

Illig added that the risks are "very, very low," and the decision was left up to Stamkos, who received several opinions before opting to play.

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Jared McCann - the newest member of the Florida Panthers - is looking forward to picking Jaromir Jagr's brain.

However, McCann is less interested in the future Hall of Famer's outstanding NHL career, or any type of playing advice he might have. No, what McCann is interested in is what makes Jagr's famous flow so lustrous.

"I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll ask him what conditioner he uses or something like that," McCann told NHL.com's Jameson Olive about his first encounter with Jagr. "I’ve also always looked up to Jaromir Jagr, who is one of the best players in the world. I’m very excited to meet him."

McCann was acquired Wednesday from the Vancouver Canucks in a deal for defenseman Erik Gudbranson, and should compete for a roster spot on the team's bottom six next season.

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Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper isn't tipping his hand about whether Steven Stamkos will play in Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

Speculation swirled after TVA's Renaud Lavoie reported Stamkos boarded the early bus to the arena with his teammates, but Cooper refused to confirm it either way.

"Before we get going, there's a lot more people here than normal, don't ask about the lineup at all, because I don't know," Cooper told reporters before any questions were asked at Thursday's pregame media availability.

The media proceeded to ask about the lineup anyway, specifically the status of the Lightning captain.

"We're preparing to put the best team possible on the ice to win Game 7," Cooper said.

"This is the top couple games of our careers as a group together, and we're going to put our best foot forward. And if Stamkos is in the lineup, it's our best foot forward, and if he's not in the lineup, it's because he wasn't eligible to play."

Stamkos has been out of the lineup since March 31 after having vascular surgery to treat a blood clot condition.

He took part in Thursday's optional skate, as he's done frequently in the playoffs, but Stamkos said after that session that his status hadn't changed.

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Gary Bettman is occasionally the butt of jokes among NHL fans, but one fan took that literally.

On Wednesday, Daylen Hopkins honored a pledge he made in February to get the commissioner's face tattooed on his backside if both the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Hopkins proved a man of his word, although backing out on his promise would have been hard to do with the amount of shares and media coverage the original tweet received.

The New York Rangers fan had a hilarious reaction upon realizing what he'd done.

"Hahahahahaha s--t I have a tattoo of Gary Bettman," he tweeted.

We're just glad this story didn't fall through the cracks.

- With h/t to r/hockey

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Jimmy Fallon took aim at several NHL players with a playoff edition of his superlatives segment a couple of weeks ago, and now he's at it again.

This time around, the host of "The Tonight Show" went at some of the players vying for a berth in the Stanley Cup Final.

He roasted four members of the Tampa Bay Lightning (Steven Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula, Victor Hedman, and Anton Stralman) and four San Jose Sharks (Mirco Mueller, Joe Thornton, Tommy Wingels, and Logan Couture), as well as Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray.

For the record, here's actual Gilbert Gottfried:

(Courtesy: Getty Images/Randy Brooke)

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The Detroit Red Wings made a minor move Thursday, acquiring forward Dylan Sadowy from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a third-round pick in 2017.

Upon making the trade, the Red Wings also locked up Sadowy, inking the 20-year-old to an entry-level contract, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie. If not signed prior to June 1, Sadowy would have been re-entered into next month's draft.

Sadowy is coming off his fourth OHL season, where he split his time between the Saginaw Spirit and Barrie Colts. He had 20 goals and 34 points in 36 games with the Spirit, but erupted with the Colts, netting 25 goals and 36 points in 28 contests.

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