RECAP: Panthers 4, Penguins 3 (SO)

SUNRISE, Fla. – No quit in the Cats.

In a comeback win, the Florida Panthers capped off their back-to-back with a 4-3 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I thought we were a little slow in the first and then Barky (Aleksander Barkov) throws a hit on the first shift in the second period,” head coach Paul Maurice said on the team battling back. “After that our game just rounded and we got better.”

With the win, Florida (89 points) improves to 43-25-3 and sits two points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs and four in front of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Putting the Panthers on the board first, Sam Reinhart ripped a shot by Tristian Jarry at 11:24.

The goal was Reinhart’s 34^th of the season.

Striking back for the Penguins, Bryan Rust evened the score at 1-1 on the power play.

Adding another to his goal total in the game, Rust swatted in a pass from Sidney Crosby one-handed with 33 seconds left remaining in the period to put the Penguins up 2-1.

With Pittsburgh controlling much of the offense in the first, Sergei Bobrovsky kept the score close with 14 saves in the period.

"He was amazing once again,” Barkov said on Bobrovsky. “Every game he gives us a chance to win."

Extending the lead for the Penguins in the second period, Evgeni Malkin made it 3-1 with a slap shot goal on the power play at 6:50.

Trailing 3-1, Bobrovsky would close the door on Pittsburgh’s offense for the remainder of the game.

Answering back at 9:25 with a power play goal of his own, Reinhart netted his second of the game to make it 3-2.

Lighting the lamp in bunches once again this season, Reinhart’s performance Sunday was his sixth multi-goal game of the season.

The goal on the man advantage was also Reinhart’s 70^th power play goal as a Panther, per NHL Stats.

“We’re our best when one guy is on the puck and four guys are getting available,” said Reinhart. “I thought we controlled it once we started getting to our game more.”

Pressuring heavily in the third period, the Panthers outshot the Penguins 9-2 while five-on-five.

Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers had an 85.71% offensive advantage in the final 20 minutes.

Rewarded for their efforts, Anton Lundell evened the score 3-3 at 14:29, after a beautiful setup play from Nate Schmidt and Eetu Luostarinen.

“I think we were all a little surprised how Luosty (Luostarinen) faked that pass to me, unbelievable pass,” said Lundell. “It was a huge goal for us.”

Needing extra time to decide the winner, the Panthers and Penguins traded chances in overtime before Barkov and Bobrovsky sealed the deal in the shootout.

Missing some time in the second half of the game, Maurice said after the game that both Sam Bennett and Niko Mikkola would be good to go.

THEY SAID IT

"Six games on the road is a long time, so just happy to be home and get the support from our fans. I'm really happy with our battle today." – Anton Lundell on returning home from road trip

“I don't know how it went in. It's odd, I can't follow the moves and I don't know when he shot it. All I know is the puck's coming back out.” – Paul Maurice on Aleksander Barkov’s shootout goal

CATS STATS

- The Panthers outshot the Penguins 26-11 after the first period.

- Aleksander Barkov led the team with four hits.

- Seth Jones logged a team high 30:40 minutes of ice time.

- Mackie Samoskevich had three blocked shots.

- The Panthers are 31-8-0 when scoring first this season.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Some much deserved rest.

Not playing for the next four days, the Panthers will host the Utah Hockey Club on SoFlorida Night at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

To get tickets, click HERE.