Panthers Fall To Penguins

     The Florida Panthers played their first road game out-of-state this regular season and lost to the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night. The Panthers, who had their two-game winning streak snapped, face the Pens again this coming Friday in Sunrise.
     In the first period, Pittsburgh(3-2-1) got the only goal in the frame. Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal with assists from Phil Kessel and Kris Letang at 6:46.
     Both teams interchanged goals twice in the second period. Florida(2-2-0) picked up a goal from Jonathan Huberdeau on a feed from Evgenii Dadonov at the 5:25 mark. Former Panthers Greg McKegg connected with a shorthanded goal less than a minute later for a Penguins 2-1 lead.
     Huberdeau was able to tally his second goal of the contest with Florida on the power play at 8:30. Dadonov and Keith Yandle were credited with assists on the play.
     The Penguins moved ahead 3-2 with 6:24 left in the second. Patric Hornqvist buried in a shot on assists from Olli Maatta and Bryan Rust.
     The third period had the Pens extend their margin almost two minutes into the stanza. Crosby nailed his second goal of the game and third goal of the season.
     The Cats had some hope in the third as they closed the gap to 4-3 with 13:42 remaining in regulation. Aaron Ekblad got the goal on a primary assist from Pittsburgh area native Vincent Trocheck.