PITTSBURGH — After a few anxious moments Saturday, the Penguins find themselves in a tie for the East’s final wild-card spot after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4.

The Penguins were awesome in the first period Saturday, setting the tone with their puck pressure in all three zones. Then they shelled Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, pumping three goals past him in the second to blow the game open.

But for the third time in two weeks, they coughed up a multi-goal led in the third.

Michael Bunting scored with 5:28 left to help the Penguins avoid catastrophe.

They are now 6-0-2 in their last eight games, all with Alex Nedeljkovic in net.

The Penguins couldn’t have asked for a much better start. They shot out of the tunnel with oodles of energy, something that isn’t always the case in afternoon games like this. And the PPG Paints Arena crowd was as engaged as it’s been in weeks, sensing that the home team might have started something special.

Pittsburgh spent so much time in the Tampa Bay end in that period they maybe should have filled out change-of-address forms. The first Lightning shot on goal, fired from around Monroeville, didn’t come until 12 minutes into the period. And Crosby’s 40th goal of the season gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead 4:20 into the game.

Bryan Rust made a tremendous individual effort to put it on a platter for him.

He had mixed it up with a Lightning player while trying to exit the ice at the end of his previous shift. Rust got the last laugh when he swaggered in on a 2-on-1 rush, got both defenseman Darren Raddysh and Vasilevskiy to drop then sent a perfect pass to Crosby at the back door. He tucked it in for the ice-breaker.

The Penguins easily could have tacked on a few more goals in that period, but Vasilevskiy was in top form early. The superstar goalie denied Drew O’Connor right after Crosby’s goal, preventing them from bringing the house down. He later snared Bunting’s slapper and stuffed Emil Bemstrom on a breakaway.

Pittsburgh kept pushing in the second, and Evgeni Malkin’s spinning deflection made it a 2-0 game — much to the delight of his parents, in the building again.

The Lightning fought back after that. They pulled back within one on a signature power-play blast from Steven Stamkos and were gunning for the equalizer when Drew O’Connor deflected a point shot that dribbled through Vasilevskiy’s legs.

Malkin scored his second about two minutes later and the Penguins led 4-1.

But it quickly went kablooey in the final frame. On the first shift, Nedeljkovic let in a stoppable shot taken by Nick Paul. Then after a scary injury to referee Steve Kozari stopped play and stemmed momentum, Anthony Duclair made it 4-3.

Stamkos scored his second power play goal to tie it up with 9:15 remaining. Marcus Pettersson, the Penguins’ best defender, was sitting in the penalty box when the longtime Lightning forward roofed another one-timer on Nedeljkovic.

After Bunting got the go-ahead goal, the Penguins survived a late power-play to get the win. Nedeljkovic scrambled to make multiple saves without a stick.

ICE CHIPS

— Kozari, the referee, was taken off on a stretcher after he collided with Tampa Bay defenseman Haydn Fleury in the third period. He lay on the ice motionless after the hit and Pittsburgh’s medical team rushed out to center ice to treat him. Play resumed with just one referee, Tom Chmielewski, and the two linesmen.

— Crosby’s first-period goal clinched the captain his third ever campaign with 40 or more goals. The last time Crosby reached the 40-goal mark was 2016-17.

— Malkin has six goals in six games since his parents arrived in town last month. That includes a pair of multi-goal games in front of them at PPG Paints Arena.

— Nedeljkovic made his eighth straight start Saturday. Tristan Jarry, who backed him up against the Lightning, has not done that in his eight-year NHL career.

— Tampa Bay had capitalized on 29.1% of its power plays entering Saturday. That put the Lightning on pace for one of the 10 best seasons in league history.

— With two assists Saturday, Bunting now has 100 assists for his NHL career.

— Ryan Graves (concussion) missed his fifth straight game Saturday. There has been no change in his status in recent days. The Penguins also scratched John Ludvig and Sam Poulin. Ludvig is said to still be recovering from his illness.

— Coach Mike Sullivan said that Jansen Harkins will go on a conditioning stint in the minors. He has been out since suffering a hand injury in a March 7 fight.

— The team’s American Hockey League club, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, clinched a playoff berth Friday. Radim Zohorna’s overtime winner officially got them in.

STAT N’AT

9 — Goals combined for Crosby and Malkin during the four-game winning streak.

COMING UP

The Penguins are scheduled to practice noon Sunday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex ahead of Monday’s road matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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