Panthers can't catch efficient Penguins, fall 5-3 in return home

"Sidney Crosby opened the scoring and closed the door on the Cats with a pair of power-play goals. The legendary Penguin also had an assist to earn First Star honors. A tripping penalty on Jeff Petry led to Crosby's first marker 6:24 into the tilt. After Erik Karlsson ripped a shot towards the net that struck Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin and Rust joined forces to work the puck free to set up Crosby's wrister, which easily beat a swimming Sergei Bobrovsky, from the left circle."

"The Penguins doubled the lead 6:36 into the second when Crosby fed Karlsson and he sent a soft shot into the slot where it deflected off Eetu Luostarinen. Anton Lundell tried to whack it out of harm's way, but he missed and Rickard Rakell was able to get just enough of the puck to send it into the net. Florida would quickly take advantage of a hooking call on Connor Clifton, scoring 18 seconds after he was sent to the sin bin. Mackie Samoskevich took a return pass from Seth Jones and his back door feed deflected off Brad Marchand and by Tristan Jarry 1:50 after Rakell's goal. The Cats would carry most of the play for the rest of the period, but they fell two back again when rookie Ben Kindel and Tommy Novak worked some give-and-go magic that resulted in the former one-timing in a shot at 15:24 after getting a second pass from the latter for his second NHL goal. The goal came in large part to a turnover by Jesper Boqvist."

"Sam Reinhart would notch Florida's second power-play goal 2:24 into the third to halve the deficit. Reinhart beat Jarry from the left circle after getting the puck back from Samoskevich, with the secondary helper again going to Jones. With the teams back to 5-on-5, Pittsburgh would answer back just 2:25 later. Karlsson's aerial pass sailed by both Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer, finding the blade of Connor De"

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3 at Amerant Bank Arena. Sidney Crosby scored two power-play goals and added an assist, earning First Star honors. A tripping penalty on Jeff Petry led to Crosby's opening goal after a sequence involving Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh extended the lead early in the second, while Florida responded quickly with a goal from Mackie Samoskevich. Rookie Ben Kindel added a goal for Pittsburgh after a turnover by Jesper Boqvist. Sam Reinhart scored on the power play in the third, but Pittsburgh answered shortly after.

Read at Litter Box Cats