In Sunrise, the Panthers found a solid game on Saturday and downed the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves in the Florida win.
“I think right now, no matter who we’re playing it’s a big game,” the Panthers’ Alexander Barkov said. “Obviously, we know we’re battling for the spot with them and we need to win, but the most important thing, you don’t think too much ahead, you think one game at a time, one period at a time.”
The Panthers improved to 31-27-6.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from Sam Bennett, who returned after missing six games.
“Obviously, it’s tough to be out and watch your team, you want to be out there helping them,” Bennett said. “So definitely it was a great feeling being out there tonight, and getting a win always feels great.”
The Panthers pushed the lead to 2-0 in the middle frame on a strike from Aaron Ekblad.
Pittsburgh dropped to 31-22-9.
“We have to realize the situation we’re in and every game matters,” Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry said. “I thought for a handful of games we played more sound, more structured, so I think tonight was a step back, and we’ve got to learn from it and be ready for Tuesday (against the Columbus Blue Jackets).”
Kris Letang trimmed the lead to 2-1 at 8:51 of the second on a 5-on-3 power play.
“I just didn’t think we were good enough,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we had our moments, but overall, consistently, shift in and shift out, we weren’t good enough. We didn’t play with the urgency. I just felt like we got out-quicked on a lot of pucks, and we weren’t hard enough on pucks, and it’s an important aspect of winning in this league.”
With 10 seconds left in the second period, Eetu Luostarinen restored the two-goal lead for the Panthers, 3-1.
Carter Verhaeghe scored midway through the third for the 4-1 final.
Casey DeSmith made 38 saves in the Penguins loss.
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