Friday, December 8, 2023

Panthers Survive Penguins

     The Pittsburgh Penguins were edged by the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Friday night at Amerant Bank Arena. The Panthers honored former center Patric Hornqvist with a ceremony prior to the contest. 
     After a scoreless opening frame, Pittsburgh(11-12-3) pulled ahead 1-0 at 8:05 of the second period. Evgeni Malkin centered the puck from the right wing. Former Panther Reilly Smith went in alone in the low slot and backhanded a shot by Sergei Bobrovsky for his seventh goal this season. 
     Florida(16-8-2) evened it up 1-1 with 2:06 left in the second when Oliver Ekman-Larsson poked in the puck from the right of the crease for his seventh goal of the year. Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe were credited with assists on the play. 
     The Panthers took the lead 2-1 at 6:10 of the third period. Lundell won the faceoff in the right circle and Evan Rodrigues fired a shot which was saved. Eetu Luostarinen put in the rebound on a wrist shot from the top of the crease for his third tally of the campaign. 
     The Penguins would pull their goalie for an extra attacker in the final minutes of the contest. Aleksander Barkov scored an empty-net goal from the neutral zone with 26.7 seconds to go in the third for a 3-1 lead. It was the ninth goal for Barkov in 2023-24. 

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