Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning rivalry escalated quickly

1:25 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — It didn’t take long for the mayhem to arrive in the Eastern Conference finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Before the Lightning’s 3-1 win in Game 1 Friday night at Consol Energy Center, coach Jon Cooper described Game 1s in the postseason as a feel-out process, and the hatred builds as the series progresses.

Safe to say the hate is here.

Tampa’s Ryan Callahan was given a five-minute major for boarding Penguins defenseman Kris Letang from behind at 2:50 of the first period. Letang was lying on the ice motionless before a trainer tended to him. Letang was able to skate off the ice on his own and went to the locker room for tests. He returned later in the period and finished the game with no visible ill effects.

Chris Kunitz took out Tyler Johnson with a knee-on-knee hit in the first period. Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Then, in the waning seconds of the first period, the Penguins’ Chris Kunitz landed a knee-on-knee hit on the Lightning’s Tyler Johnson, who went down and needed help off the ice. There was no penalty on the play. Johnson was not on the ice to …

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