Panthers Fall 3-2 In Overtime To Penguins
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PITTSBURGH (CBSMiami/AP) — The Florida Panthers fell 3-2 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
Evgeni Malkin scored on the power play in overtime and Sidney Crosby picked up his first goal of the season to lead the Penguins.
Malkin's third goal in as many games withstood a video review. He took a pass from Kris Letang at the top of the right circle and fired a slap shot past Roberto Luongo at 1:21 of the extra period. It was the second power-play goal of the game for the Penguins, who entered on an 0-for-17 slump with the man advantage.
Crosby netted his first three points of the season on the first-period goal and two assists.
Phil Kessel scored his second goal and Malkin has five points during a four-game point streak for the Penguins, who won their third straight. Marc-Andre Fleury, who has won 10 of 12 against the Panthers, stopped 31 shots.
Quinton Howden and Derek MacKenzie scored goals for the Panthers, who battled back from a two-goal deficit despite a disallowed goal early in the third period. Luongo made 32 saves for Florida, which lost its second straight after opening the season with three wins in four games.
Trailing 1-0, Florida thought it had the equalizer 1:16 into the third when Reilly Smith deflected Brian Campbell's point shot between Fleury's legs. But the goal was disallowed after a lengthy video review because of a high stick on the puck.
Kessel extended the Penguins' lead two minutes later.
Luongo had trouble gloving Rob Scuderi's shot from the top of the circle. The rebound fell to the ice between Willie Mitchell's skates where Kessel swept it into the net.
Howden pulled the Panthers within a goal, 2-1, midway through the periods, setting the stage for another momentum shift.
Pittsburgh thought it had a 3-1 lead soon after, but the goal was waved off after it was ruled that Luongo made the initial stop and was pushed into the net.
The Panthers tied it a little more than a minute later.
Howden's initial shot bounced off the glass behind the net to Connor Brickley. He quickly centered to MacKenzie, who snapped a shot past Fleury to tie the game.
The embattled Crosby broke a lengthy drought when he scored the team's first power-play goal and notched his first point six games into the season. It was a career-worst start to the season for the two-time scoring champion, tying an overall personal low by going five games without a point.
The Penguins, who scored seven goals in their first five games, were one of two teams yet to convert on the power play before Tuesday. They were 0-for-17 before Crosby's goal and nearing a franchise-worst 0-for-21 streak to begin the season.
Crosby put a stop to the skid for the Penguins, who finished 10th last year and are two seasons removed from boasting the league's best power play. He netted the lone goal of the first two periods 11 minutes into the game when he took a cross-ice pass from Malkin at the top of the left circle and whipped a wrist shot past Luongo to the blocker side.
Panthers' forward Jaromir Jagr returned to Pittsburgh where he won a pair of Stanley Cups and five scoring titles, totaling 1,079 points in 806 games from 1990-01. He has seven points in his last nine trips to Pittsburgh but was held off the scoresheet Tuesday with three shots in 17:33. The 43-year-old, who is in his 22nd NHL season, leads the Panthers in scoring and ranks fourth all-time in NHL history in points, fifth in goals and sixth in assists.
NOTES: Luongo played in his 869th regular-season game, surpassing Grant Fuhr for ninth among goaltenders. . Penguins' second-round pick Daniel Sprong missed Tuesday's game because of work visa issues. . Campbell played in his 300th consecutive game for Florida. . Pittsburgh finishes a season-long five-game homestand Thursday against Dallas. Florida visits Chicago, also on Thursday.
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