Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Panthers Outlast Penguins

     The Florida Panthers held off the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night. Florida, who have won four straight games, increased their winning streak on the road to a season-high five games. 
     The Panthers return home on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers for their only home game in Sunrise over the next three weeks. The Cats will play the following seven games on the road.
     Patric Hornqvist made his second appearance in Pittsburgh since he was traded in September 2020. He helped the Penguins win Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017. 
     In the first period, Florida(40-13-5) took a 1-0 with 7:17 left. The Cats won the faceoff in their own zone, Radko Gudas tapped it back and Gustav Forsling made an outlet pass. Sam Reinhart carried the puck through the neutral zone and the slot area. He batted it in from the top of the crease past Tristan Jarry for his 19th goal of the season. 
     It became 2-0 for the Panthers with 5:22 remaining. Carter Verhaeghe backhanded the puck around the boards from the right wing. Aleksander Barkov made a pass from behind the cage and Aaron Ekblad released a wrist shot from the top of the zone for his 15th goal this season. 
     Pittsburgh(34-15-9) scored two goals in a nine-second span to tie it up 2-2.  Bryan Rust snapped a shot from the right circle off the stick of MacKenzie Weegar and by Sergei Bobrovsky for his 19th tally of the campaign at the 3:07 mark. Marcus Pettersson and Brian Dumoulin were both credited with assists on the play. 
     Sidney Crosby would win a faceoff in the left circle and Jake Guentzel scored his 28th goal of the season with a one-time slap shot from above the left circle at 3:16. 
     The Cats reclaimed the lead 3-2 at 7:02 with the man advantage. Barkov took a slap shot from the right wing which was saved by Jarry. Jonathan Huberdeau centered it from the left circle and Anthony Duclair scored on a snap shot from the low slot. Duclair tied a career high with his 23rd goal of the season. Huberdeau chalked up his NHL-leading 60th assist this season while Barkov marked down another multi-point contest. 
     Florida extended it to 4-2 with 8:49 left in the third period. Maxim Mamin stole the puck in his own zone and pushed it ahead. Verhaeghe raced down the ice with it on a 2-on-1 breakaway. He waited and scored on a foreahand shot from the inner left circle for his 18th goal this season. 
     The Penguins closed it to 4-3 with 2:09 remaining. Jeff Carter made a cross-ice pass from the right corner and Crosby placed in the puck from the top of the crease for his 19th goal of the season. Rust got the second assist on the tally on the goal for his second point of the contest. 

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