Penguins Handle Panthers

     The Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Florida Panthers 3-2 at BB&T Center on Saturday night. Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov returned to action after missing the last two contests due to an upper-body injury. The Panthers will play the Philadelphia Flyers in two games over the next five days.
     In the first period, Pittsburgh(34-15-5) made it 1-0 at the 6:30 mark. The Cats made a backpass out of the Pens zone at the end of their first power-play opportunity. Kris Letang stepped out of the penalty box, skated in alone on a breakaway and then shoveled a backhand shot by Sergei Bobrovsky.
     The Penguins got a 2-0 lead with 9:16 left in the first. Letang sent a cross-ice pass from the right point. Jack Johnson released a snap shot from the left point that went off the stick of MacKenzie Weegar in the crease area. Teddy Blueger pounced on it and scored from the right of the blue paint.
     Florida(29-19-6) cut the lead down to 2-1 with 2:38 remaining in the period. Frank Vatrano brought the puck into the Penguins zone and stopped on the right wing. He centered it to Mike Hoffman and he scored on a snap shot past Tristan Jarry. Dominic Toninato got the secondary assist on the play.
     The Pens converted on a power play at 3:50 of the second period. Evgenii Malkin fired a shot from the top right circle which was saved. Jared McCann created a slap pass from the top left circle and Sidney Crosby redirected the puck from the top of the crease for his 10th goal of the season. Malkin extended his assist and point streaks to four games.
     The Panthers answered back quickly at the 4:59 mark and trailed 3-2. Hoffman backhanded a pass from the neutral zone. Vincent Trocheck raced for the puck in the right circle, centered it and Brett Connolly took a one-time shot from the slot for his 17th goal of the campaign.