The Florida Panthers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the shootout, 2-1 on Monday night at the BB&T Center.
Nick Bjugstad (10) opened the scoring at 7:30 of the first period, assisted by Alex Petrovic and Brian Campbell for a 1-0 lead over the Penguins. The lead would hold for the next 49 minutes and 11 seconds, when Chris Kunitz (11) lit the lamp with an unassisted equalizer to force the extra period.
Five minutes of three-on-three failed to return a winner, despite a lot of heartburn inducing end-to-end play on the part of either club.
Sidney Crosby opened the Penguins half of the shootout by fooling Al Montoya, but Nick Bjugstad extended it by equaling him in the third round. Jussi Jokinen ended it in the fifth.
Montoya earned the win to get his record to 9-3-1 on the season, making 31 saves (plus four more in the shootout) Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 27-of-28 shots to earn the overtime loss for the Pens.
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The Panthers will get back into it against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night, back here at BB&T Center. Todd’s AM recap goes live in the morning – and check us out throughout the week for other Panther refinements.