Panthers Roll By Penguins

     The Florida Panthers drove by the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday night. The Panthers won their ninth consecutive game on the road. 

     The Panthers started a three-game road swing and will play four of their next five contests away. The Cats and the Pens met each in the same venue less than three weeks ago. 

     Neither team scored during the opening frame. Pittsburgh(23-19-7) had a Rickard Rakell goal disallowed at 2:32 of the second due to a high-stick pass by Lars Eller. 

     Florida(33-15-4) took a 1-0 lead at the 4:28 mark of the second period. Gustav Forsling made an outlet pass from deep in his own defensive zone. Matthew Tkachuk made a give-and-go pass with Evan Rodrigues in the slot area. Tkachuk put in a one-time forehand shot from the left side of the crease. 

     The Panthers had a 2-0 lead just 36 seconds later. Kevin Stenlund connected a pass from the left corner to Brandon Montour at the right point. His slap shot was redirected in by Johan Gadjovich from the top of the crease for his second tally of the year. 

     It became 3-0 for the Cats with the man advantage at the 8:27 mark. Rodrigues steered the puck from the end wall and Tkachuk angled a pass from the low left circle. Aaron Ekblad snapped a shot from the right circle for his third goal in 2023-24. 

     Florida increased it to a four-goal margin with 6:58 left in the frame. Nick Cousins sent a long lead pass from inside his own blue line. Tkachuk made a diagonal pass from the top right circle and Anton Lundell put in a wrist shot from the left of the crease for his fifth goal this season. Tkachuk compiled his third assist of the contest on that play.

     The Penguins broke the shutout with 4:36 remaining in the second. Sidney Crosby connected pass from the end wall. Chad Ruhwedel fired a shot from the top of the zone which was blocked. Jake Guentzel made a turnaround wrist shot from the high slot which got by Sergei Bobrovsky for his 23rd goal of the season. 

     In the third period, Florida made it 5-1 at 5:35. Lundell scored his second tally of the game and sixth goal this season when his shot from the left circle went off the skate of Marcus Pettersson high in the air and into the Penguins cage. 

     The Penguins cut it to 5-2 at the 6:07 mark of the third. John Ludvig burned his former team with his first NHL goal on a wrist shot from the right circle.