Panthers Take Down Penguins

The Florida Panthers returned to the Bank Atlantic Center beginning a four-game homestand on Saturday night and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. The Panthers now stand alone in first place in the Southeast Division with 23 points. The Penguins were without Sidney Crosby, however they jumped on the lead early. Chris Kunitz won a face-off in the neutral zone, then Pascal Dupris brought the puck across the Panthers line. His shot was redirected by Kunitz on net and followed through on his rebound shot at 1:09. Florida tied the game at 7:28 on a nifty play where Stephen Weiss dropped a pass on the right-wing wall to Kris Versteeg. He then passed into the slot area to Brian Campbell who skated into the crease and went around Brent Johnson finishing with a backhand shot. In the second period, the Panthers took the lead on a power play goal at 5:48 as Tomas Fleischmann picked up a loose puck in the high slot area for his eighth goal of the season. Pittsburgh tied it at 12:38 when Jordan Staal scored his tenth goal this season as he followed up a left circle shot by Dupuis in the crease area and waited for Jose Theodore to be out of position. The Penguins were called for a bench minor with too many men on the ice at 15:55 and the Panthers capitalized on the power play. Versteeg's shot front the left edge of the crease was saved by Johnson, however Weiss placed a soft shot from the top of the paint that hit the right post. With the backward momentum of Johnson falling down, his body pushed the puck across the goal line at 16:30. The Panthers play their next game on Monday night against Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils.