PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins (4-6-1) had the deck stacked against them going into their game with the Florida Panthers (5-4-2) on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. They were returning home from a winless four-game road trip and were without Ben Kindel, Bryan Rust, and Egor Chinakhov, all key cogs of their offense. On top of that, their opponent was a Florida team many consider a Stanley Cup contender.
With all that working against them, it would have been easy to write this one off, but that was not the case. The Penguins showed resilience, grit, and determination in defeating the Panthers 4-0. Nick Robertson scored twice and Arturs Silovs turned aside all 24 Florida shots for his second shutout of the season.
Pittsburgh had the better of the play in the first, outshooting Florida 8-5. The Panthers managed only five shots in the period, but Arturs Silovs had to be sharp on the very first one, a point-blank chance from Sam Bennett 5:39 into the game. Without three of their top scorers, the Penguins needed offense from elsewhere, and they got it when Nick Robertson and the fourth line broke the scoreless stalemate at 15:19.
The second period saw the Penguins jump out to a 2-0 lead on a great passing sequence between Evgeni Malkin, Ville Koivunen, and Hendrix Lapierre that ended with Lapierre stickhandling in a phone booth in tight and firing it past the Florida netminder. Things threatened to unravel when Silovs was assessed a double minor for high-sticking, but the Penguins’ goaltender and penalty killers were up to the task. Pittsburgh was outshot 12-6 in the frame but still kept Florida off the board.
The Penguins had to kill the final 17 seconds of Silovs’ double minor to start the third, and they turned that momentum into an early goal from Evgeni Malkin to make it 3-0. The Penguins went into defensive mode after Malkin’s tally, including killing another Panthers power play late in the period, which became a six-on-four when Florida pulled its goalie in favor of the extra attacker.
The Penguins’ first line did not factor into the scoring at all, but they were not needed on this night. Secondary scoring, stellar goaltending, and a strong defensive effort propelled the Penguins past the Panthers. The Penguins will look to make it two in a row on Saturday night at home versus Nashville.
Goals:
1-0 Penguins: Nick Robertson started and finished the sequence that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Robertson (5) created a turnover at the Penguins’ own blue line, passed the puck up to Kris Letang, and then sped up the ice to join the rush. Connor Dewar spotted Robertson streaking into the zone and hit him in stride from the left wing in the high slot. Robertson then toe-dragged and wristed the puck under the glove of 6’9″ rookie goaltender Cooper Black, who was making his NHL debut. The goal came at 15:19 and was Robertson’s first goal at home after four on the road. Elmer Soderblom did not get an assist on the play, but his drive to the net took two defenders with him, creating the space for Robertson to shoot.
2-0 Penguins: Silovs made a save in tight and, in one motion, poked the rebound to Evgeni Malkin, who quickly broke the other way on a three-on-two with Ville Koivunen and Hendrix Lapierre. Malkin drove into the zone and passed the puck over to Koivunen in the left wing circle. Koivunen then found Lapierre streaking down the right wing with a cross-ice pass. Lapierre corralled the pass on his backhand in the slot, shifted to his forehand, and wristed it past the blocker of Black at 9:59 of the second period.
3-0 Penguins: A chip pass off the boards from Lapierre sprang Malkin (6) into the zone. He skated down the left wing, slipped the puck past a sprawling Gustav Forsling, and unleashed a laser of a wrist shot past the glove of Black to give the Penguins a 3-0 advantage at 1:40 of the third.
4-0 Penguins: Empty net goal from Robertson (6).
Forward Lines:
Tommy Novak – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Ville Koivunen – Hendrix Lapierre – Evgeni Malkin
Andrei Kuzmenko – Blake Lizotte – Rutger McGroarty
Elmer Soderblom – Connor Dewar – Nick Robertson
Defensemen:
Spencer Stastny – Erik Karlsson
Declan Carlile – Kaedan Korczak
Ilya Solovyov – Kris Letang
Notes:
Erik Karlsson’s five-game point streak was snapped.
Sidney Crosby sits one assist away from tying Ray Bourque for the most helpers with one franchise in NHL history.
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