SUNRISE, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Penguins (6-2-0) have won four in a row, but their win Thursday was anything but easy.

The Florida Panthers (4-5-0) dominated most of the second period and good portions of the third period, too. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions pushed around the Penguins and looked firmly in control.

However, the Penguins answered every Florida goal, including twice in the third period to reclaim a two-goal lead, and the Penguins beat Florida 5-3 in a tense, hard battle at Amerant Bank Arena Thursday.

Sidney Crosby scored a pair of goals. Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry was spectacular in the third period, stopping 16 of 18 in the final period, and 34 of 37 overall.

The Penguins led 2-0, 3-1, 4-2, and 5-3 against relentless Florida. The first big goal came from Penguins rookie Ben Kindel (2), who worked a perfect give-and-go with Tommy Novak before whipping a short-side one-timer to the top corner. Kindel’s second career goal gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead at 15:24 of the second period.

Florida was pushing hard again in the third period, too. However, unlikely hero Connor Dewar (3) split a pair of defensemen and pushed a half-hearted shot toward the goal. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky seemed to deflect the puck over his own pad and into the net at 4:49 of the third period.

The goal gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead in the third, and Dewar’s tally stood as the game winner.

Midway through the third period, Florida’s domination brought them to within 4-3 before Crosby (5) scored his second power play goal of the game on beautifully executed tic-tac-toe play from top to down low to Crosby (5) in the right circle at 11:49.

The second period was the start of Florida’s push.

Despite being outshot 13-5 in the second period and going about nine minutes without a shot on goal, the Penguins held the line, albeit with some shaky play. Florida outchanced the Penguins 13-5 according to NaturalStatTrick.com, but each time scored only once, and the Penguins escaped the second period with a 3-1 lead.

“They don’t quit. They’re not gonna go away. You’ve got to know that, you’ve got to expect that,” said Penguins coach Dan Muse. “But we want to respond to things … we want to have that mentality that whether it’s good or bad, we’re going out there and we’re trying to take momentum back when it has gone over to their side.”

The game started well for the Penguins, as their power play is currently converting at a franchise record rate, above 26% and marked another in the first period, to give them some breathing room in the sluggish first period.

Bryan Rust could not jam a rebound past Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, but was the first on a loose puck behind the net. Rust quickly passed to Crosby in the left circle before Bobrovsky could regain his feet, and Crosby (4) snapped a shot past the diving goalie at 6:24.

(The Penguins set their power play conversion record in the 2017-18 season, when the team converted 26.2%)

The relatively benign offensive output at even strength ever so slightly favored the Penguins in the first period, and they held a slim 7-6 shot advantage.

The Penguins did yield a power play toward the end of the first period that carried over into the second when defenseman Parker Wotherspoon saw Rust at the bottom of a scrum and launched himself into the fray to even the numbers.

Wotherspoon’s leap into the fray drew countless social media memes, but it was sticking up for a teammate. Wotherspoon’s teammates were teasing him for getting air as he dove into the scrum, but the defenseman was on instinct.

“I mean, I might have taken a little too much pre-workout before the game and got a little too excited,” admitted a grinning Wotherspoon. “I just saw (Niko) Mikkola throw a punch at Rusty while he was already on a guy, so I just kinda went over there. I’m not really sure what happened after.”

The Penguins’ second goal was a bit of grinding as the top line worked over Florida for nearly a minute before Rickard Rakell lunged to poke a rebound past Bobrovsky at 6:36 of the second period.

After an emotional win on Tuesday in which Brad Marchand made his first return to Boston to face the Bruins, the team that he captained and played for over a decade, Florida finally found their legs in the middle of the second period.

Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton took a tripping penalty, and Florida scored a power play goal just 18 seconds later when Marchand (4) was alone near the crease for an easy tap-in at 8:26 of the second.

Marchand’s goal closed the first Penguins’ two-goal lead to 2-1.

Trailing 3-1, Florida’s power play capitalized, scoring its second power-play goal early in the third. Following an Evgeni Malkin tripping penalty, Sam Reinhart firmly snapped a high wrister past Jarry at 2:24 to pull Florida within 3-2 and put substantial pressure on the Penguins.

Florida controlled play until Dewar’s goal, but the resilient champs would not go away. After several outstanding saves by Jarry, Marchand scored his second goal of the game when Clifton failed to cover him in the slot. Marchand had time to pull the puck around Jarry on the backhand for the dramatic goal at 11:06 of the third.

After Marchand’s goal, Florida trailed 4-3 and held a commanding 28-16 shot advantage.

Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry was brilliant in the third period, stopping several high-danger chances, including a couple by Anton Lundell. By late in the third period, Florida was outshooting the Penguins 32-16.

“It’s exciting. It’s exciting to be a part of that. It’s exciting to play this team. They’re obviously a very good team,” Jarry said. “They’ve been a very good team for a long time now. Just to play well and play well against them and come out with the two points that we did, it’s it’s good for us.”

Bobrovsky made 11 saves on 16 shots before being pulled for the extra attacker with over two minutes remaining.

The Penguins are off on Friday, and that is a good thing. Florida outhit the Penguins XX

Penguins Notes

With his assist on Rickard Rakell’s goal, Crosby has tied Mario Lemieux for the most multi-point games in Penguins history (497).

According to Penguins historian Bob Grove, the Penguins were 18-8-4 in their last 30 games against a defending Stanley Cup champion.

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