Aleksander Barkov scored the lone goal in the shootout, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all three Pittsburgh attempts as the Florida Panthers rallied to defeat the Penguins 4-3 on Sunday night.
Sam Reinhart led the charge for Florida with two goals, bringing his season tally to 35, while Anton Lundell added the crucial game-tying goal late in regulation. The win helped the Panthers bounce back from a 2-4 road trip that ended with a 6-3 loss to league-leading Washington. Despite their recent struggles on the road, the defending Stanley Cup champions have been nearly unstoppable at home, winning 11 of their last 12 games at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Penguins got a strong offensive performance from Bryan Rust, who scored twice in a five-minute span late in the first period. His first goal at 15:02 tied the game after Reinhart had opened the scoring at 11:25. Rust struck again at 19:56 to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. Sidney Crosby assisted on both of Rust’s goals, extending his points streak to seven games.
In the second period, Evgeni Malkin widened the Penguins lead with a power-play goal from the left circle, making it 3-1. However, Reinhart responded with his own power-play tally, slipping a wrist shot between the pads of Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the final period.
With time winding down, Lundell delivered the game-tying goal with 5:31 left in regulation. Eetu Luostarinen set up the play with a crisp pass to the right circle, where Lundell one-timed a shot past Jarry to send the game to overtime.
Florida had just four shots on goal in the first period but finished with 30, outshooting Pittsburgh 26-16 over the final two periods and overtime.
After a scoreless overtime, the game moved to a shootout. Barkov provided the decisive goal for Florida, while Bobrovsky was perfect, denying all three Penguins shooters to secure the win.
With just nine games remaining, the loss was another setback for Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes. They entered Sunday seven points behind Montreal for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Sunday’s game marked the first of four remaining sets of back-to-back games to close the regular season.
The Penguins continue their road trip at Tampa Bay on Tuesday, while the Panthers will host the Utah Hockey Club on Friday.
