Penguins Beat Panthers 5-4 In Overtime To Extend Win Streak To 4 Games – Hockey Writers – Florida Panthers

The Pittsburgh Penguins welcome the Florida Panthers to Pittsburgh for a week one game. Both teams looked to extend their winning streaks to four in what ended up being a 5-4 Penguins victory in overtime after trailing 4-1. With the win, the Penguins moved to 11-12-4, and the Panthers dropped to 15-9-2.

Recap of the game

The Panthers thought they got on the board when a Penguins turnover on a neutral zone pass ended up on Jesper Boqvist's stick. But Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan challenged the play with an offside call. Minutes after a successful challenge, Penguins forward Owen Pickering scored the first NHL goal of his career assisted by Blake Lizotte. The Penguins scored again less than two minutes later after a slick layup led to Evgeni Malkin's sixth goal of the season for a 2-0 lead.

The Panthers seemed to control the clock in the second 10 minutes, showing their constant foreskin and pressure on the Penguins and goalkeeper Tristan Jarry. The Panthers broke through, Matthew Tkachuk cashing in from the slot to close the gap to 2-1. The first half ended with the Penguins leading 2-1, although the Panthers beat them 13-5.

The second 20 minutes was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams playing hard defensively. The Penguins got some solid puck movement and cycling in the offensive zone when Kris Letang found his way down and beat Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight with a short shot. After two periods, the Penguins led 3-1, with the Panthers holding a 24-10 advantage in the shooting department.

The Penguins extended their lead to three with Sidney Crosby feeding Marcus Pettersson, who made a strong move in net to put the Knights up 4-1 early in the third. The Panthers' comeback began with Jesper Boqvist finding Sam Bennett in space for a quick goal that beat Jarry from point blank range to bring the Panthers within two. It continued with Adam Boqvist and Tkachuk scoring to tie the game after the Panthers scored three goals in less than five minutes. The third period ended in a 4-4 tie, pushing it into overtime.

In overtime, Bryan Rust played hero for the Penguins, cashing in with two and one to give his team a 5-4 victory.

In the win, Jarry saved 37 of 41 shots, while Knight stopped 11 of 16 he faced.

The Penguins are off until Friday (Dec. 6), when they travel to New York to face the Rangers. The Panthers look to get back into the win column on Thursday (Dec. 5) when they travel to Philadelphia to face the Flyers.