Malkin’s Hatty, Penguins 6-run Second Leads to Rout of Panthers
With a pair of goals in the first five-plus minutes, it looked like the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to blow […] This article: Malkin’s Hatty, Penguins 6-run Second Leads to Rout of Panthers originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.
Screenshot 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. And, they did. It just took a little longer than it initially appeared.
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. 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. For the Panthers, the loss did not officially take them out of the playoffs although it is close.
If the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Winnipeg Jets later tonight — and the Islanders get a point against the Hurricanes — the Panthers would be out. With six games left, the most Florida could finish with is 89 points. The Panthers are sticking around Pittsburgh with these two playing again Sunday at 3.
On Saturday, the Panthers trailed 2-0 before A. J. Greer and Seth Jones evened things up.