Panthers Push Penguins

     The Florida Panthers held off the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. Both clubs began the second half of the regular season. It finished off a four-game road trip for the Panthers which was their longest stretch on the road since October. Pittsburgh native Vincent Trocheck played in in 400the NHL game.
     The Panthers won their first game in Pittsburgh since January 20, 2014 and have been victorious in seven of their last 10 contests. The Penguins lost for the first time in regulation after six games.
     Florida(22-15-5) got the first goal of the contest 2:28 in. Frank Vatrano beat Tristan Jarry and scored his second goal in the last three games with an assist from Mike Hoffman.
     Pittsburgh(25-12-5) scored on their first shot of the first period at the 3:52 mark. After a Patric Hornqvist outlet pass, Dominick Simon skated the puck from center ice to the top right circle on a 2-on-1 breakaway. He passed to his left and former Panther Jared McCann snapped a shot from the slot area past Chris Driedger for his 11th goal of the campaign.
     The Panthers took a 2-1 lead at 10:44 of the period. Mike Matheson forwarded the puck from above the left circle to Trocheck on the end wall. His centered it and Brett Connolly scored on a wrist shot from the low slot for his 15th goal of the season.
     In the third period, Florida increased their lead to 3-1 at the 8:52 mark. Hoffman sent a backhand pass across the ice to Vatrano in the low right circle. He returned it to Hoffman in the high slot for a snap shot to get his 14th goal.
     The Cats added an empty-net goal with 2:28 remaining for a three-goal margin. Alekander Barkov angled a pass out of the defensive zone to Jonathan Huberdeau. He flipped a lead pass in the neutral zone ahead and Engenii Dadonov tapped in a shot for his 18th goal of the season. Huberdeau chalked up his 40th assist on the play.