In Pittsburgh, the visiting Florida Panthers rolled the dice and started Chris Driedger in net for the match with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday; he made 31 saves in a 4-1 win for the Panthers.
Two goals in the third period broke open what had been a tight 2-1 affair since the first period.
“I liked how we played in the third period with a lead,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. “Second period wasn’t bad, but I think in the third period we played to score and played well, played smart. … I think all the lines were playing the right way. It was good four-line rotation.”
Jared McCann was the lone goal scorer for the Pens.
“I don’t think we had the juice that we have had in a number of the games, in most of the games this year,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “But I think one of the challenges of this league is the grind of the schedule and good teams just have to understand how to manage those games. I thought we could have done a better job in certain circumstances in not putting ourselves in difficult positions where we had to defend when we were tired, or things of that nature.”
Frank Vatrano and Brett Connolly helped build the 2-1 lead in the opening frame.
“It was great, honestly. I was happy with the way we were able to shut it down in the third period,” Driedger said. “Playing with a lead like that, good teams find ways to win. I thought we did everything that we needed to do in the third just to shut it down. Had a couple goals there, obviously, and played well defensively.”
Mike Hoffman extended the lead for Florida with a goal in the third period.
“It was good that we played a full 60 minutes. It’s been an issue of ours, closing out games in the third period, coming out a little bit flat when we have a lead,” the Panthers’ Vincent Trocheck said. “Tonight we came out in the third and played just as well as we did in the first and second. Had a good closeout.”
Evgenii Dadonov added an empty net goal late to seal the win for the Panthers.
[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Penguins highlights]
Tristan Jarry made 31 saves in the loss.
“I feel like we had some good opportunities tonight, but we have to be better defensively,” McCann said. “That’s what cost us.”
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