In Pittsburgh, the visiting Florida Panthers scored a 4-3 win over the Penguins on Tuesday night.
Florida’s Anthony Duclair hit for a goal in the third period.
“I really liked our resilience and our grit, and certain situations in the puck battles,” Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. “Down the stretch, I thought we did a lot of good things that allowed us to win the hockey game where we really buckled down and defended. Maybe people don’t see us as a strong defensive team, but I think we are willing and we are capable.
“These are great experiences for us to learn from. They were able to do it against a really good hockey team on the road.”
Carter Verhaeghe also scored for the Panthers in the final frame.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves in the Florida win.
The Panthers improved to 39-13-5.
Sam Reinhart and Aaron Ekblad scored for the Panthers for a 2-0 lead in the first period.
The Penguins tied the game, 2-2, on two goals from Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel, the goals were scored nine seconds apart.
“I think we thought we were playing well. Sometimes you get these breaks,” the Panthers’ Jonathan Huberdeau said. “Two quick goals obviously hurt, but we just stuck together. It’s just the identity of our team. That’s what we did.”
Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist for
“That’s how you win against good teams, win the net-front battles,” the Penguins’ Brian Dumoulin said. “They scored two, obviously, there. We can clear the puck a little bit better and, also, box guys out early. That’s a main focus for us.”
The Penguins dropped to 34-15-9.
“A lot of it boils down to attention to detail, knowing what your job is when we don’t have the puck,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “What your role is, what your responsibility is. It takes collective effort to win in this league. When we bring a sufficient level of structure to our game without the puck, I think we’re hard to play against.”
Tristan Jarry made 25 saves in the Pittsburgh loss.
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