PITTSBURGH — Kris Letang tied Hall of Famer Paul Coffey’s franchise record for career goals by a defenseman, Matt Murray stopped 33 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Wednesday night.

Letang’s shot from the right circle in the second period beat Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 12th goal of the season and 108th of his career to pull the five-time All-Star even with Coffey, who set the mark while playing for the Penguins from 1987-92.

Riley Sheahan, Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby scored during a first-period outburst by Pittsburgh, which responded from a lifeless loss to Eastern Conference also-ran New Jersey on Monday by jumping on the NHL-leading Lightning.

Evgeni Malkin picked up two assists to become the fifth Russian-born player in league history to reach 600 career assists. He and Steven Stamkos each drew 5-minute fighting majors after tussling early in the third period.

Murray withstood an early barrage by Tampa Bay to hand the Lighting – the highest-scoring team in the NHL – just the fourth regulation loss in their last 25 games.

Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on five shots before settling down to finish with 18 saves, but Tampa Bay couldn’t recover in its return from a 10-day break. J.T. Miller and Stamkos scored late in the third period to keep the Lighting from being shut out for the first time this season

STARS 1, SABRES 0: Former UMaine goalie Ben Bishop stopped 30 shots to back Jamie Benn’s first-period goal, and Dallas won at home.

Bishop made 13 saves in the third period, getting his third shutout this season and 27th of his career.

Benn scored 8:39 in off a pass from former Sabre Taylor Fedun. Benn stickhandled to the front of the net, put the puck on his forehand and sent a wrist shot inside the right post.

Linus Ullmark stopped Dallas’ other 26 shots on goal.

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