Sam Bennett and Aleksander Barkov — both back from injuries — combined for one goal and two assists as the host Florida Panthers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Saturday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves for the Panthers, who beat the Penguins for the first time in three tries.
Kris Letang scored for the Penguins, who had their four-game win streak snapped.
Bennett, who had missed six straight games, scored one goal. Florida also got goals from Aaron Ekblad, Eetu Luostarinen and Carter Verhaeghe. Barkov, who had missed three games due to a hand injury, had two assists.
Casey DeSmith made 38 saves for the Penguins. Jason Zucker had his three-game goal-scoring streak snapped.
Florida opened the scoring with just 22 seconds left in the first period.
Verhaeghe got free on a rush. DeSmith saved his shot but Bennett’s backhander went into the open right side of the net. The play was set up by a Penguins neutral-zone turnover and a Matthew Tkachuk pass to Verhaeghe.
The Panthers extended their lead to 2-0 on Ekblad’s power-play goal with 4:11 gone in the second. Florida got the man advantage when Letang slashed Nick Cousins. On the goal, Barkov’s cross-ice pass found Ekblad, who scored from the left circle.
Pittsburgh got on the board with 8:51 expired in the second as the Penguins had a 5-on-3 power play following a pair of tripping calls (Anthony Duclair on Letang; Eric Staal on Evgeni Malkin). On the goal, Letang scored from the left circle, taking a pass from Jake Guentzel as Bobrovsky couldn’t get over in time.
But Florida scored another late goal, taking a 3-1 lead on Luostarinen’s tally with 10 seconds left in the second. On the play, DeSmith stopped a Barkov shot but Luostarinen pounced on the rebound, tapping it into the open left side.
Verhaeghe’s goal with 10:07 left in the third made it 4-1. Verhaeghe’s wrist shot on the rush beat DeSmith’s glove.
Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, also acquired by Pittsburgh at Friday’s trade deadline, is expected to make his Penguins debut on Tuesday against Columbus.
–Field Level Media
