Panthers Begin Homestand Against First Place Penguins
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami/AP) – Following their penalty-filled matchup on Saturday night, the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins will face off against each other again on Monday in Sunrise.
Another strong defensive effort allowed the Penguins to keep rolling their last time out. They'll try to push their win streak to four and point streak to eight as they go for a home-and-home sweep of the host Panthers.
Pittsburgh (22-6-4) defeated Florida 3-1 on Saturday behind Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped 45 shots. The Penguins have given up three goals during their winning streak, and Fleury has gone 6-0-1 with a 1.41 goals-against average and two shutouts in his last seven starts.
Prized defensive prospect Derrick Pouliot scored in his NHL debut and Sidney Crosby snapped an eight-game goal drought with his 10th of the season. Crosby, who missed three games with the mumps, remains among the league leaders in scoring despite recording just three points in his last seven games.
"I thought Florida pushed us really hard and I thought those guys responded well," coach Mike Johnston told the team's official website. "Pouliot was in that group, but you look at (Scott) Harrington's job defensively and (Brian) Dumoulin's job, it was a hard game to play for them, because there was a lot of special-teams work."
It remains to be seen whether the chippy play of Saturday carries over - the teams combined for 15 penalties and 38 penalty minutes during the first period.
Pouliot and fellow young defensemen Harrington and Dumoulin were in the lineup with Olli Maatta and Robert Bortuzzo sidelined due to upper-body injuries.
Top-line winger Chris Kunitz returned to a Penguins team battling injuries and a recent bout with the mumps after missing eight games with a broken foot.
"The more guys you see coming back, the better it feels," Crosby said. "We haven't let it frustrate us."
The efforts of players like Kris Letang have allowed Pittsburgh to weather the personnel losses. Letang set up Crosby's goal and has four goals and five assists in his last eight games, a stretch in which he's posted a plus-9 rating.
Florida (14-9-8) was also on a good roll before Saturday, as it had a 3-0-1 streak snapped. The Panthers, who had played four consecutive games past regulation to give them an NHL-high 13, are 7-2-2 in the previous 11.
"(The Penguins are) a great team, they're leading our conference, but we want another crack at them," coach Gerard Gallant said of Monday's game.
Vincent Trocheck scored on the power play for Florida and Roberto Luongo stopped 31 shots. The Panthers' 2.10 non-shootout goals scored per game are among the lowest marks in the league, while Pittsburgh's 2.19 allowed are third best.
"It was a tough-fought battle and we played better than the outcome," Trocheck told Florida's website. "I thought we deserved a win there. We deserved a little bit better. It got a little chippy, but we responded really well to everything they threw at us and we just didn't get the bounces."
Florida, opening a four-game homestand, has alternated losses and wins in the last six meetings with Pittsburgh. The Penguins won the latest matchup at Sunrise by a 5-1 score Nov. 30, 2013.
Fleury has allowed one goal in eight of his last 10 games against the Panthers. Luongo has lost four straight starts against Pittsburgh, allowing three goals each time.
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