Crosby has 2 goals, assist, Penguins top Panthers to win 4th in row

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist, running his goal streak to four games, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their fourth straight with a 5-3 victory against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

Crosby, who has nine points (five goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak, is also two points away from becoming the ninth player in NHL history to reach 1,700. He has five goals during his goal streak.

“So many stats, I don’t really think about that,” said Crosby, the Pittsburgh captain. “It is great to be in that company and this is a big two points [against] a tough team. [Tristan] Jarry bailed us out a lot. They carried the fight in the second half of that game.”

Rickard Rakell had a goal and an assist, and Erik Karlsson and Evgeni Malkin each had two assists for the Penguins (6-2-0). Tristan Jarry made 34 saves, including 16 in the third period.

“We want to be seeing contributions from throughout the lineup and we have seen that in a lot of games,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said.

Brad Marchand scored twice, and Mackie Samoskevich and Seth Jones each had two assists for the Panthers (4-5-0), who have lost five of six. Sergei Bobrovsky made 11 saves.

“They capitalized on their opportunities,” Marchand said. “After the first period on, we really controlled that game. But every time we pushed, they made a play. When you have the caliber of players they do, some of the best ever to play this game, that’s what they do. They show up in those moments.”

Crosby gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead on the power play at 6:26 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer from the left face-off dot off Bryan Rust’s pass from behind the net.

Rakell made it 2-0 at 6:36 of the second period. He knocked in a rebound in the low slot after Karlsson’s shot from the right point was blocked by Eetu Luostarinen in front of Bobrovsky.

Marchand cut it to 2-1 on the power play at 8:26. He scored at the right post by tapping home a backdoor pass from Samoskevich.

Florida had a 31-9 advantage in shots on goal over the final two periods after being outshot 7-6 in the first.

“After the first and second, I thought we carried a lot of the momentum even though the shots might have been what they were,” Jarry said. “We did a great job protecting the scoring areas. We played really hard and I made the saves that I had to.”

The Panthers had an 81-43 edge in shot attempts for the game.

“The first half of the game we looked like we have for a while. Just slow offensively,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “In the back half of the game, we got to the right pace and there was a little bit of freedom. We have been really tight with the puck, turned pucks over that we normally do not or expect we should. … We looked the way we’re supposed to look.”

Ben Kindel pushed the lead to 3-1 at 15:24. He beat Bobrovsky with a one-timer from the left circle to the short side, finishing a give-and-go with Tommy Novak.

Florida pulled to within 3-2 at 2:24 of the third period on Sam Reinhart’s power-play goal. He scored from low in the left circle with a wrist shot that went in off Jarry's blocker.

Connor Dewar then restored the two-goal lead, making it 4-2 at 4:49. His shot from the right circle skipped off Bobrovsky’s stick and went underneath his blocker.

Marchand cut it to 4-3 at 11:06 with his second of the game, going forehand to backhand from the low slot off a pass from Luostarinen.

“They’re the Stanley Cup champions. They don’t quit, and they’re not going to go away,” Muse said. “You know that, have to expect that. We want to respond to things, whether it’s a shift we don’t like, or it’s a goal against. We want to have that mentality to take momentum back.”

Crosby responded with his second of the game at 11:49, scoring on the power play from the bottom of the right circle for the 5-3 final.

“We got some timely goals,” Crosby said. “When they scored we were able to bounce back. That’s big. Teams get momentum like that, they score and we have to respond. Hopefully we can carry the play a little bit more.”

NOTES: Crosby had his 497th multipoint game, tying Mario Lemieux for the sixth-most in NHL history. … Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones (undisclosed) left the game with 6:48 remaining in the third after his feet went into the boards while he battled Marchand for the puck. He did not return, though he never left the bench area. Muse said Jones was being evaluated and had no further update. … Florida entered Thursday 7-for-7 on the penalty kill through three home games this season before going 0-for-2 against Pittsburgh.