Penguins Waddle By Panthers

     The Florida Panthers made a valiant three-goal comeback, however the Pittsburgh Penguins won 5-4 in overtime at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night. The Panthers and the Penguins both entered the contest on a three-game winning streaks. The Cats have not lost in regulation at Pittsburgh for the last five years. 

     Panthers center Sam Reinhart came in leading the National Hockey League with 18 goals. The Pens were tied for last place in the Metropolitan Division going into tonight. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby recently collected his 600th career goal with the club. 

     After the Cats had a goal disallowed due to offside at 8:26 of the opening frame, Pittsburgh(11-12-4) make it 1-0 at the 9:20 mark. Blake Lizotte poked the puck from the left corner. Owen Pickering sent a wrist shot from the left point past Spencer Knight for his first career NHL goal. 

     The Penguins increased it to 2-0 with 9:28 to go in the period. Drew O'Connor backhanded a pass from the right wing and Philip Tomasino made a blind backhand pass from the top right circle. EvgenI Malkin snapped a shot from the inner left circle for his sixth goal of the season and his 504th goal in the National Hockey League. He passed Peter Bondra for 45th all-time in NHL history. 

     Florida(15-9-2) found the net with 2:36 left in the first and they trailed 2-1. Dmitry Kulikov fanned on a shot from the left point. Aleksander Barkov put a square backhand pass from the high slot and Matthew Tkachuk placed in a wrist shot from the top of the right circle by Tristan Jarry for his sixth goal of the campaign. 

     In the second period, the Pens expanded their lead to 3-1 at 6:54. Matt Grzelcyk took a forehand shot from the left point that was way wide left of the cage and it rebounded off the back half-wall. Kris Letang rocketed a slap shot from the right wing for his fourth tally this year. Lizotte was credited on the sequence with his second assist in the contest. The Penguins had three goals on just 10 shots on goal during the first two periods. 

     Pittsburgh made it a three-goal margin 4-1 at the 3:45 mark of the third period. Rickard Rakell blocked a shot and cleared the puck up of his zone on his knees. Crosby angled a pass from the right wing back to the top of the zone. Marcus Pettersson carried the puck through the right circle and flipped a wrist shot from the top of the crease for his second goal in 2024-25. 

     The Panthers closed it to 4-2 at 6:55. Tkachuk pushed the puck from the right corner. Jesper Boqvist centered the puck from behind the cage with a backhand pass. Sam Bennett shot the puck from the slot area for his 13th goal of the season. 

     The Cats cut the deficit to 4-3 at 8:58 with two brothers getting on the scoresheet at the same time. Jesper Boqvist passed it from the left point. Tkachuk charged in with the puck from the left corner and connected a square pass from the inner right circle. Adam Boqvist put in a snap shot from the left circle for his second tally of the year. 

     It became a 4-4 game as Florida tied it up on the power play with 8:33 left in the third. Aaron Ekblad released a shot from the right point and Tkachuk deflected it in from the top of the crease for his second goal of the contest and his seventh of the season. 

     In overtime, the Penguins won the game at the 1:31 mark. Malkin deflected a pass by Bennett with his left skate. Bryan Rust came into the Panthers zone on a 2-on-1 breakaway and fired a wrist shot from the right circle for his eighth tally this season.