5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 4, Penguins 1

SUNRISE, Fla. -- With a fully healthy lineup finally at their disposal, the Florida Panthers reignited their playoff push with a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.
Sitting at 31-27-6, Florida sits three points out of a playoff spot with 18 games left to play.
"It was awesome," forward Sam Bennett said. "You could feel the energy in the room. Everyone's excited. It's great having a full lineup. We've got a lot of confidence right now and we're ready to do whatever it takes and make that push."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. BENNY'S BACK

Welcome back, Bennett!
Returning from an injury that had kept him out of the lineup since Feb. 14, the grizzled forward made an immediate impact when he pounced on a juicy rebound in the slot and backhanded it past Casey DeSmith to break the ice and put the Panthers up 1-0 at 19:38 of the first period.

"I feel great," Bennett said. "Obviously it's tough to be out and watch your team. You want to be out there helping them. It was definitely a great feeling to be out there tonight and get a win."
Letting it rip in his return, Bennett led the Panthers with seven shots on goal. He also finished tied with Ryan Lomberg for the most hits among the team's forwards with three. Overall, when he was on the ice at 5-on-5, Florida led 11-7 in shots on goal and, most importantly, 2-0 in goals.
In 57 games this season, Bennett has amassed 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists). "
He's a physical force down there," head coach Paul Maurice said. "He's strong and he hits hard."

2. SASHA ON THE SCORESHEET

Bennett wasn't the only Panther to have a big game in their return to the ice.
Working his way back from an injury that had sidelined him since Feb. 20, captain Aleksander Barkov dished out a pair of primary assists over 19:55 of ice time against the Penguins.
"I'm happy to be back," Barkov said. "I'm excited and excited to play with these guys."

Making history in his first game back, Barkov recorded the 158th multi-point game of his career to move past Jonathan Huberdeau (157) for the most in franchise history. Additionally, he also became the second player in franchise history to post at least 80 games with multiple helpers.
A critical player for the Cats both on the ice and in the locker room, Barkov, like Bennett, will give the team an incredible shot in the arm as they head down the home stretch. Better than a point-per-game player in 2022-23, Barkov has registered 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 50 games.
An unsung statistic, he also leads Florida with a 54.6 winning percentage in the faceoff circle.
"We're confident," Barkov said. "This was obviously a big win. We have a good stretch at home here. We just need to get ready for each game like it's the main game of our careers."

3. EETU ON TOP

Eetu Luostarinen looked more than comfortable on the top line.
Shifting back to the wing with the return of Barkov and Bennett, the versatile forward extended Florida's advantage to 3-1 at 19:50 of the second period when he crashed the net and sent a rebound past DeSmith.
Helping the Panthers go 4-for-5 on the penalty kill, he also had 3:30 of shorthanded ice time.

"He's been really good this year," said Barkov, who joked that he didn't want to make Luostarinen's head get too big. "He's just making those little plays that not too many guys can do. He's always there, so you can count on him to find him when you're open. He's a really good hockey player."
Seemingly getting a little better each and every time he steps onto the ice, Luostarinen, who's still just 24 years old, is in the midst of arguably the best stretch of his young career. Over his last 12 games, he's tallied 12 points (five goals, seven assists) and a team-high 11 takeaways.
In 64 games this season, he's already set new career-highs in goals (15) and points (34).
"Eetu moves pretty well, so that's now a big, fast line," Maurice said of the line of Luostarinen, Barkov and Anthony Duclair. "What I really liked is that they straight-lined the game. They weren't slowing the game down at the offensive line. They drove straight through."

4. BOB IN THE ZONE

Sergei Bobrovsky was a brick wall against the Penguins.
Turning aside 31 of 32 shots, the veteran goaltender also went a perfect 25-for-25 at even strength and stopped all eight of the high-danger shots that Pittsburgh fired in his direction.
Over his last 20 games, Bobrovsky has gone 12-6-1 with a strong .917 save percentage.
"It was a great effort," Bobrovsky said. "It was high intensity. It was fun to be part of. We protected the house very well. The sticks, backcheck, everything was at a very high-end level."
Bobrovsky's biggest save of the game came when, despite losing his paddle, he lunged to his right just in time to rob Sideny Crosby of a surefire goal with his blocker in the second period.

"That one save was unbelievable," Bennett said. "He was steady all night."
At one point, Bobrovsky also went on the offensive. After being run over by Penguins forward Jason Zucker while coming out to play the puck, Bobrovsky, whose mask had been knocked off during the violent collision, joined his teammates in the dogpile that ensued in the corner of the ice as the Panthers leapt to defend their goalie.
"I love seeing Bobby jump in the scrum," Bennett said. "It shows his passion. We had five guys ready to jump in there right away, which is always great to see. … We're a really tight group and we stand up for each other."

5. CLIMBING THE CHARTS

More than a few Panthers reached some nice round numbers on Saturday.
With two assists, Brandon Montour earned the 50th and 51st points of his season. Just the fifth defenseman in franchise history to earn 50 points in a season, he joined Robert Svehla, Aaron Ekblad, Brian Campbell and Keith Yandle (x2) as the only Panthers blueliners to hit that mark.
As it stands now, Montour's 51 points place him eighth among NHL defensemen in 2022-23.
Up front, Matthew Tkachuk also dished out a pair of helpers to cruise past the 80-point mark. Leading the Panthers in scoring, Tkachuk's 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) are the sixth-most in the NHL this season and the second-most ever by a player in their first season in South Florida.
With two more points, he will pass Sam Reinhart's previous team record of 82 points set in 2021-22.
Last but not least, make it double digits for Ekblad once again. With his power-play goal in the second period, the 27-year-old defenseman reached 10 goals for the eighth time in nine seasons in the NHL.
Since his debut season in 2014-15, Ekblad, the first-overall pick in the 2014 draft, ranks tied for sixth among NHL defensemen in goals with 107.