Jeff Carter got the deciding goal in a shootout Thursday as the Pittsburgh Penguins topped the visiting Florida Panthers 3-2 to snap a two-game losing streak.
Carter slipped the puck past Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s left skate. Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry stopped Anton Lundell to seal the win.
Pittsburgh’s Bryan Rust and the Panthers’ Jonathan Huberdeau scored earlier in the shootout.
Teddy Blueger and Evan Rodrigues scored during regulation for the Penguins, and Jarry made 36 saves. It was Pittsburgh’s fourth straight game going beyond regulation.
Frank Vatrano and Aleksander Barkov got the goals for Florida, which lost its third straight. Bobrovsky, who did not play the previous three games because of an upper-body injury, made 29 saves.
Pittsburgh played the majority of the game with five defensemen. Marcus Pettersson, in his first game back after missing three games due to COVID-19, took a hit up high by Florida’s Owen Tippett in the first period and left the game.
Blueger gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 13:37 of the first. Kris Letang cut through the left circle and fed Blueger below the right hashmarks. Blueger’s shot sailed past Bobrovsky’s glove.
At 16:55 of the first, Vatrano tied it. Lundell, in the neutral zone, chipped the puck past Pittsburgh’s Brock McGinn and moved into the offensive zone. He hit Vatrano in stride with a pass, and Vatrano shoved the puck past Jarry’s blocker.
With the only goal of the second, Rodrigues pushed the Penguins back in front. On a semi-breakaway as he got between two defenders, Rodrigues cruised down the slot and deposited the puck under Bobrovsky’s glove to make it 2-1 at 17:53.
Barkov tied it once more, 2-2, at 2:30 of the third. Carter Verhaeghe moved from down low part way up the right boards, then fed a pass to Barkov above the near hashmarks. Barkov’s shot appeared to tick slightly off a Penguins player’s stick and into the net.
Florida thought it took the lead with 4:45 left on a goal by Anthony Duclair, but the Penguins successfully challenged that the play was offside.
–Field Level Media