Penguins Ice Panthers

     The Pittsburgh Penguins got by the Florida Panthers 3-2 in a shootout at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night. The Panthers are winless in their last three contests. Patric Hornqvist made his return for the first time to the Steel City where he captured two Stanley Cup titles with Pittsburgh. 

     The Penguins participated in a shootout in the third straight game. The Cats fell in their second shootout of the 2021-22 regular season. 

     Pittsburgh(5-3-4) got out to a 1-0 lead with 6:23 remaining in the first period. Teddy Blueger  picked up his third tally of the campaign. 

     Florida(10-2-2) evened it up 1-1 with 3:05 left in the first. Frank Vatrano compiled his third goal of the year on assists from Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart. 

     The Penguins reclaimed the lead 2-1 with 2:07 to go in the second period. Evan Rodrigues chalked up his fourth goal this season. 

     In the third period, Aleksander Barkov added his ninth goal of the season at the 2:30 mark. Carter Verhaeghe and MacKenzie Weegar were credited with assists on the play. 

     The game would end up in a shootout. Jonathan Huberdeau converted on the Panthers second attempt and Bryan Rust matched it on the Penguins third attempt. Jeff Carter scored on the Pens fourth attempt to give them the victory.