Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 27 shots and Eetu Luostarinen snapped a one all tie early in the third period to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-1 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins to close out a three-game homestand in fine fashion.
After a scoreless first period that saw Pittsburgh out-shoot Florida 11-7, fail to score the on the only power play of the frame, and dodge a bullet when Matthew Tkachuk caught iron, the Penguins opened the scoring 8:05 into the second when Evgeni Malkin found former Panther Reilly Smith with a pretty pass in front of the net and he finished on the backhand. Rookie call-up Valtteri Puustinen collected the second assist on the goal.
The Cats countered at the 17:04 mark just after a power-play chance came to an end. Oliver Ekman-Larsson got the goal by creeping in from the point to poke in a loose puck after Trisitan Jarry made a stop on Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell took a couple unsuccessful whacks at the rebound.
Luostarinen’s game-winner came 6:10 into the third after a Lundell faceoff win in the right circle. After Lundell beat Lars Eller on the draw, Evan Rodrigues took possession of the puck and snapped a rising wrister on Jarry that was too hot to handle. Luostarinen crashed the net and cashed in on the rebound for his third of the season. A fitting goal on the night the Panthers were honoring Patric Hornqvist.
Aleksander Barkov would clinch it with 27 seconds left in regulation, shortly after Bobrovsky made a big save on Jake Guentzel, with Jarry off for an extra attacker. Sam Reinhart drew the lone assist on Barkov’s empty-netter.
After opening the homestand with a well-played, but disappointing loss to the New Islanders, the Panthers rebounded with tight back-to-back wins over Dallas and Pittsburgh. The Cats really turned up the heat in the third period to break the tie and claim two points, out-shooting the visitors 13-2 before the Penguins got a late power-play chance and put three more shots on Bobrovsky. Florida (16-8-2) will kick off a season-long five-game road trip with a matinee game in Columbus on Sunday against the lowly Blue Jackets.
Emperors & Snares
- Sergei Bobrovsky earned First Star honors for his 26-save effort. His best denials were on Jake Guentzel (one a second period breakaway and then the late-game dandy) and Sidney Crosby, who he stretched out to stop after a Niko Mikkola turnover right after Ettu Luostarinen had given the Panthers the lead.
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson notched his seventh goal which tied him with Cale Makar and Drew Doughty for second in the league among defensemen. Quinn Hughes leads with nine.
- After drawing a helper on the goal which ended Reilly Smith’s 15-game drought, Valtteri Puustinen has an assist in each of the two NHL games he’s played. Puustinen was one of three forwards who made their season debuts, along with Jonathan Gruden and Marc Johnstone. Johnstone was making his NHL debut.
- Anton Lundell’s two-assist performance was just his second multi-point game of the season. Lundell also registered a game-high five shots on goal and was credited with a hit.
- Tristan Jarry delivered a quality start (30 saves) for the Penguins, who haven’t scored on 37 straight power plays.