Reinhart pushes point streak to 12, Panthers top Penguins in shootout

PITTSBURGH -- Sam Reinhart scored to extend his point streak to 12 games, and the Florida Panthers recovered for a 3-2 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.

Reinhart also scored the deciding goal in the shootout. He has 17 points (13 goals, four assists) during the streak, scoring 18 of his 36 goals this season in the past 16 games.

"[Reinhart is] an unbelievable pro,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “He's completely unselfish. He's just such a leader in that, so unselfish. I'm glad that he gets rewarded for it. So, in some ways, there's no sacrifice to him because he's still just scoring for us.”

Evan Rodrigues scored, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two assists for the Panthers (30-14-4), who have won three in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves.

Evgeni Malkin scored the tying goal late in the third period for the Penguins (21-17-7), who have lost three straight and five of six. Jake Guentzel scored, Bryan Rust had two assists, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves.

“We have to stick with it; it has not been easy,” Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang said. “We’ve got some traction sometimes. At some other points, we get discouraged. We have to stick with it.”

Malkin tied it 2-2 with 42 seconds remaining, scoring on a one-timer off a backhand pass from Sidney Crosby.

Malkin had one goal in his previous 10 games.

“I think it will be big for him,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Malkin. “‘Geno’ is someone, he loves to score goals. When he scores, I think it helps his own confidence. Nobody is harder on himself than Geno. He understands that we rely on him to produce offense for us. When he doesn’t, nobody feels it more than he does. It’s never from a lack of effort with ‘G.’ He’s a hardworking guy. He’s a real competitive guy.”

Guentzel gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 1:51 of the first period on the power play, redirecting a pass from Rust.

Rodrigues tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 4:52 on a backhand just outside the crease.

Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov temporarily left at 9:48 of the second period, falling backward into the boards on a push from Letang. He returned after remaining down for several minutes and being helped to the locker room.

Letang was given two penalties: one for interference on Barkov, and one for tripping on Rodrigues.

Reinhart put Florida ahead 2-1 at 11:49, scoring on a one-timer during the four-minute power play.

The Panthers committed four penalties in the final 7:05 of the period.

Kevin Stenlund was called for hooking at 12:55, and Sam Bennett went to the box for cross-checking and unsportsmanlike conduct at 14:33. The Penguins did not score on a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 22 seconds, the remaining 3:38 at 5-on-4 or after Anton Lundell was called for roughing at 18:54.

“There were a lot of PK reps; I thought guys did a great job,” Bobrovsky said. “I thought guys did a great job. Defensively, they protected me. They let me see the puck. It was good unit kills.”

Pittsburgh was 1-for-8 on the power play; Florida was 2-for-3.

"I think they had fun again,” Maurice said. “So, the coach has been grinding. You're into January. We've traveled an awful lot. You need, sometimes, the spark.

“Having adversity in a game, being in the penalty box all night can be a real negative or it can be a real positive. It can be a real rallying cry. I think they had a little bit of fun going through that game."

NOTES: Reinhart’s power-play goal tied the Panthers’ single-season record of 19, shared by Pavel Bure (2000-01) and Scott Mellanby (1995-96). His point streak is five games behind Mike Hoffman’s team record (17 games in 2018-19). ... Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson had the secondary assist on Guentzel’s goal to extend his point streak to 10 games (11 points; one goal, 10 assists), his second-longest in the NHL behind a 14-game run last season.