RECAP: Penguins ride special teams to win over Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Missing key players due to injuries and illness, the Florida Panthers fought hard but came up short in a 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at FLA Live Arena on Thursday.
Among the pool of players that missed the game was Matthew Tkachuk, who leads the Panthers in scoring with 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists) in 28 games so far this season.
"It's tough losing guys, especially important players on the team," said Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe, who missed last game with an illness. "It is what it is. We have to battle through it."

Putting in some hard work to break the ice, Ryan Lomberg followed up on a shot from Eric Staal and sent the rebound past Tristan Jarry to put the Panthers on top 1-0 at 5:30 of the first period.
Coming out hot, the Panthers played well enough to have more than just their lone goal heading into the first intermission as they led 8-4 in high-danger shot attempts after the first 20 minutes.
"They got in and got on the forecheck and had their game going," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of the line of Lomberg, Staal and Nick Cousins. "The first two shifts we had off the bench were not good. We were behind it, and then their line came out and got us right."
Tying things up for the Penguins early in the second period, Kris Letang took a pass from Bryan Rust and beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a 2-on-1 rush for a shorthanded goal to make it 1-1 at 4:17.
Earning a power play of their own, the Penguins then took the lead when Jake Guentzel stuck out his right skate to re-direct a shot from Evgeni Malkin into the cage to make it 2-1 at 12:42.
Standing on his head to keep the Panthers off the board, Jarry stopped all 18 shots he faced in the second period, including numerous high-danger chances from right around the blue paint.
Finding the back of the net again on the power play, the Penguins pushed their lead to 3-1 when Sidney Crosby fired a slap shot that went off Malkin, who was injured on the play, and into the cage at 8:05 of the third period.
Pittsburgh finished 2-for-3 on the power play, while Florida went 0-for-3.
"I think they definitely won that battle," Verhaeghe said when asked about special teams. "One shorthanded and [two] on the power play, and that was definitely the difference. At 5-on-5 I think we controlled a lot of the play, but it's special teams that wins and loses games in the NHL."
Getting that goal back quickly for the Panthers, Sam Reinhart teed up a cross-ice pass from Verhaeghe and unleashed a blistering one-timer past Jarry to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 10:13.

With 1:18 left in regulation, Guentzel made it 4-2 with an empty-net goal.
"For a lot of the game, the effort was there," Lomberg said. "We played the right way for the majority of the game, but without the win we've obviously still got work to do."
Facing off in a great goaltending battle, Bobrovsky made 35 saves, while Jarry made 32.
"Both guys tonight made great saves," Maurice said.

KEY QUOTES

"That game that we played tonight, we can win with it. We can hopefully get a guy or two back at some point on this trip. If we play that hard at 5-on-5, we can win with that game." - Paul Maurice on the road ahead
"He was good. Like every goalie in the league, they can make saves when they see pucks. It's too late now, but we've got to do a better job of getting to the net." - Ryan Lomberg on Tristan Jarry's performance

CATS NOTES

• Eric Staal has tallied a point in six of his last eight games.
  - Sam Reinhart has scored goals in back-to-back games.
  - Marc Staal blocked a team-high three shots on goal.
  - Florida led 17-11 in high-danger shot attempts at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
  - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 30 shots he faced at even strength.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Panthers (14-13-4) will kick off a two-game road trip with a matchup against the New Jersey Devils (21-7-2) at Prudential Center on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.