Reinhart scores twice, Panthers rally for shootout win against Penguins

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Reinhart scored twice, and the Florida Panthers rallied to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday.

Aleksander Barkov scored the only goal in the shootout, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all three shots he faced to seal the win for Florida.

“We had a tough road trip, did not get the points we wanted to,” said Barkov, whose team went 2-4-0 on its recent trip, which ended Saturday. “It’s always nice to come home, play in front of our own fans. I think that gave us the boost we needed to play a little harder.”

Anton Lundell tied it with 5:31 remaining in the third period for the Panthers (43-25-3), who were coming off a 6-3 loss at the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Bobrovsky made 24 saves.

Florida moved two points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have one game in hand, for first place in the Atlantic Division.

“I think we were resilient in our game,’’ Reinhart said. ‘’We didn’t force anything, try to press anything. We stuck with it and started to control the play a little bit.’’

Bryan Rust scored twice and had an assist, and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins (29-32-11), who had won five of six. Sidney Crosby had two assists, and Tristan Jarry made 27 saves.

Pittsburgh moved within six points of the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Montreal has played three fewer games.

“I thought we competed hard all night,’’ Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We played against a real good team. … It’s unfortunate we did not get the two points.’’

Reinhart gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 11:25 of the first period by getting to a loose puck in the left circle and sending a shot over Jarry’s glove.

Rust tied it 1-1 at 14:26 with a backhand on the power play. He then put Pittsburgh ahead 2-1 at 19:25 when he redirected a pass from Crosby as he charged the net on a rush.

“That’s obviously a good team that pushed really hard,” Rust said. “We had a few breakdowns there, would have liked to come out a little tighter. … For the most part, we played really hard. There are going to be mistakes, that’s just the nature of the game. It’s a lesson in how good teams win those games, when you’re up by a goal, teams find a way to win those games.”

Pittsburgh outshot Florida 16-4 in the first period.

“They came out so fast, and their sticks are world-class with some of the players that they have,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Back to backs are not easy in this league, we got in a little later than I thought we would. We were slow in the first. [Barkov] throws a hit on the first shift of the second period, and after that, our game just rounded, and we got better.”

Malkin extended it to 3-1 at 6:51 of the second period, scoring a power-play goal with a one-timer off Rust’s feed from the goal line.

Reinhart’s second goal came on the power play to cut it to 3-2 at 9:25. He skated up the ice, split two defenders and put the puck between Jarry’s skates.

Lundell tied it 3-3 at 14:29 of the third by one-timing a cross-ice pass from Eetu Luostarinen.

“I think we were all surprised how he faked that pass to me,’’ Lundell said. “It was an unbelievable pass and a huge goal for us.’’

NOTES: Crosby recorded his 20th multipoint game of the season, marking his 16th season with as many. He passed Gordie Howe (15 seasons) and moved into a tie with Marcel Dionne for the second most in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky (18). … Florida center Sam Bennett left the game in the third period after blocking a shot. He returned and played two shifts in the third, but was not on the ice during overtime. “He’s going to be fine … Sam’s on the bike now, so he is 100 percent,’’ Maurice said. … Reinhart has 70 power-play goals since joining the Panthers in 2020-21, which is the second most in the NHL over that span behind Leon Draisaitl (92).