With a pair of goals in the first five-plus minutes, it looked like the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to blow the doors off the Florida Panthers on Saturday.<\/p>\n
And, they did.<\/p>\n
It just took a little longer than it initially appeared.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
The Panthers tied the score with two first-period goals of their own, only the Penguins scored four before the midway point of the second and rolled to a 9-4 win.<\/p>\n
The win helped Pittsburgh further secure its second place spot in the Metropolitan Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
For the Panthers, the loss did not officially take them out of the playoffs although it is close.<\/p>\n
If the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Winnipeg Jets later tonight \u2014 and the Islanders get a point against the Hurricanes \u2014 the Panthers would be out.<\/p>\n
With six games left, the most Florida could finish with is 89 points.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
The Panthers are sticking around Pittsburgh with these two playing again Sunday at 3.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the Panthers trailed 2-0 before A.J. Greer and Seth Jones evened things up.<\/p>\n
But the Penguins retook the lead 1:51 into the second and scored four times before the 10-minute mark of the period.<\/p>\n
Sergei Bobrovsky got one of his final starts of the season and it lasted 29:53 with six goals in 19 shots. Three of the six were deflected in some fashion.<\/p>\n
Daniil Tarasov, who will likely start Sunday\u2019s game and perhaps the rest of the games on this road trip, came into the game to relieve Bobrovksy and gave up two second-period goals of his own with the Penguins running it up to 8-2 going into the third.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
After Evgeni Malkin celebrated his 14th NHL hat trick to make it 9-2 in the third, the Panthers got a couple themselves with Noah Gregor and Mackie Samoskevich each scoring.<\/p>\n
HOW THEY SCORED<\/p>\n
Penguins 1, Panthers 0 (0:20 1st): Noel Acciari sends a backhander that gets airborne and floats over Sergei Bobrovsky.<\/p>\n
Penguins 2, Panthers 0 (5:06 1st PP): Erik Karlsson sends a one-timer from the right circle.<\/p>\n
Penguins 2, Panthers 1 (7:10 1st): A.J. Greer gets his 15th of the season coming in hard and scoring off a tasty rebound off a Cole Reinhardt shot.<\/p>\n
Panthers 2, Penguins 2 (14:31 1st): Seth Jones sends a shot that goes off the glove of Rickard Rackell and past Arturs Silov.<\/p>\n
Penguins 3, Panthers 2 (1:51 2nd): Anthony Mantha throws one toward the net that clips the stick of Gus Forsling and through.<\/p>\n
Penguins 4, Panthers 2 (5:51 2nd PP): Evgeni Malkin gets his first of the day, taking a pass from Karlsson on the side of the net and going bardown.<\/p>\n
Penguins 5, Panthers 2 (8:27 2nd): Here\u2019s another one for Malkin, this one off a deflection in front of the net.<\/p>\n
Penguins 6, Panthers 2 (9:53 2nd): Bobrovsky is given the rest of the day off after another deflection gets through, this one from Elmer Soderblom.<\/p>\n
Penguins 7, Panthers 2 (17:48 2nd): Rackell gets the puck down low, drives into the slot and puts a backhander past Daniil Tarasov.<\/p>\n
Penguins 8, Panthers 2 (18:07 2nd): Ryan Shea sees his shot go off Mike Benning and through.<\/p>\n
Penguins 9, Panthers 2 (3:30 3rd): Malkin picks off the puck deep in the zone, walks in, and gets his 14th hat trick.<\/p>\n
Penguins 9, Panthers 3 (8:02 3rd): Noah Gregor rolls in and ends the Penguins\u2019 7-0 scoring run.<\/p>\n
Penguins 9, Panthers 4 (10:46 3rd): Mackie Samoskevich fires one in off the rush for his fourth goal in the past four games.<\/p>\n
FHN\u2019S 3 STARS<\/p>\n
1. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins<\/p>\n
2. Erik Karlsson, Penguins<\/p>\n
3. Sidney Crosby, Penguins<\/p>\n
ON DECK: GAME No. 77FLORIDA PANTHERS at PITTSBURGH PENGUINS<\/p>\n
Where:\u00a0PPG Arena, Pittsburgh<\/p>\n
Radio:\u00a0WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM<\/p>\n
Panthers Radio Streaming:\u00a0SiriusXM 932, NHL App<\/p>\n
Last Season:\u00a0Panthers won 2-1<\/p>\n
Up Next for the Panthers:\u00a0Tuesday at Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n