Apr 5, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Tobias Bjornfot (22) pokes the puck away from Pittsburgh Penguins center Tommy Novak (18) during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Alberti-Imagn Images
The Florida Panthers were beaten 5-2 by the Piitsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena, giving the home team a convincing sweep of both the weekend set and the season series.
Rickard Rakell scored twice; Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists; and Elmer Soderblom and Bryan Rust also scored for the surprising Penguins, who are currently in second place in the Metropolitan Division.
After Soderblom gave Pittsburgh the lead with an unassisted goal at the 11-minute mark, Cole Schwindt countered for the Panthers at 16:15. Schwindt sniped Arturs Silovs after receiving a fantastic backhand centering pass from Vinnie Hinostroza after Gustav Forsling won a 50-50 puck near the left boards.
The Penguins would run off four-straight goals with Rakell’s power-play marker late in the first, which followed Crosby’s go-ahead goal, and his second of the afternoon late in the middle frame putting the Panthers in a deep hole.
Carter Verhaeghe loaded up and beat Silovs from long range, with Connor Clifton in the sin bin, after taking a pass from Seth Jones, who did a good job holding the puck in a the right point, with 5:45 remaining in the tilt. Mackie Samoskevich provided a screen as the Cats finally converted on the sixth power-play chance.
The Panthers put forth a much better effort than they did on Saturday, out-shooting the Penguins 31-23 and leading 19-11 in scoring chances at 5-on-5, but Silovs outplayed Daniil Tarasov, who finished with 18 saves, and the talent disparity was just too much for the crippled Cats to overcome. They’ll head north of the border for three games in Canada this week before coming home to finish off this lost season with pair at home.
The Five Hole
Cole Schwindt’s fourth goal of the season was his first since returning to the lineup after missing the entire month of March in Saturday’s game, which saw him collect an assist in the 9-4 loss to the Penguins.
Carter Verhaeghe notched his sixth power-play marker of the campaign. Verhaeghe finished a game-high five shots.
Seth Jones logged a game-high 24:50 of ice time and collected his 24th assist of the season on Verhaeghe’s 24th goal.
Nolan Foote was effective in his 5:37 of ice time, registering two shots and dishing out a game-high four hits.
Mackie Samoskevich had his four-game goal streak halted and Sam Bennett saw his four-game point streak come to end.
Stat Card
