RECAP: Penguins 9, Panthers 4

PITTSBURGH – Evgeni Malkin recorded the 14^th hat trick of his career to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 9-4 win over the Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Gaining some breathing room in their playoff push, the Penguins now sit at 39-22-16, while the Panthers, who saw their winning streak snapped at two games, are 37-36-3.

“It was kind of a barrage of goals,” defenseman Seth Jones said. “It was 2-2 after the first. We did a good job coming back and making it 2-2 after a slow start, but then you blink and it’s 9-2. We just couldn’t stop the bleeding. They did a good around the net.”

Noel Acciari broke the ice for the Penguins just 20 seconds into the first period when he grabbed his own rebound and shoveled it straight over Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-0.

Earning a trip to the power play, Erik Karlsson doubled Pittsburgh’s early advantage when he buried a slap shot from the top of the right circle to make it 2-0 at 5:06.

Getting the Panthers on the board, A.J. Greer followed up on a shot from Cole Reinhardt in transition and sent the rebound past Pittsburgh goaltender Arturs Silovs to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 7:10. Building on his career-best campaign, the goal was Greer’s 15^th of the season.

Wiping the slate clean, Jones pulled the Panthers back to even when he teed up as pass off the boards from Cole Schwindt and unloaded a long slap shot that caught a piece of a body in front before fluttering past Silovs and into the cage to make it 2-2 at 14:31.

Making an impact in his return, Schwindt had been out since Feb. 26 with an injury.

“I’m living the dream every single day,” said Schwindt, who the Panthers picked up off waivers from Vegas back in October. “It sucked to be hurt, but every time I get to step on the ice, put this jersey on and play beside these guys, it’s a moment I don’t take for granted.”

Regaining the lead for the Penguins early in the second period, Anthony Mantha snuck a shot through Bobrovsky’s five-hole to make it 3-2 with his 31^st goal of the season at 1:51. On the shift prior to the goal, Bobrovsky had robbed Tommy Novak on a point-blank shot.

On the power play, the Penguins struck again when Malkin re-directed a pass from Karlsson into the top of the cage to make it 4-2 at 5:51. Not too long after that, Malkin was at it again, this time crashing the blue paint and depositing a centering feed to make it 5-2 at 8:27.

With his first goal, Malkin became the 23^rd player in NHL history to reach 1,400 points.

Keeping up with the trend of re-directs, Elmer Soderblom stuck out his stick and sent a pass from Connor Dewar into the net to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to 6-2 at 9:53. Following the goal, Bobrovsky was replaced in Florida’s net by backup goaltender Daniil Tarasov.

“I thought he had had enough,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the switch. “It didn’t look like things were going to change for us, and he didn’t need to be in anymore.”

Stepping up after a bit hit on teammate Carter Verhaeghe, Luke Kunin didn’t hesitate and immediately dropped the gloves with Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton at 15:05.

Not taking their foot off the gas, the playoff-bound Penguins padded their lead when Rickard Rakell cashed in on the power play to make it 7-2 at 17:48. Just 19 seconds later, Ryan Shea increased Pittsburgh’s lead to an unsurmountable 8-2 with a goal at 18:07.

“We had a good first [period] in the sense that we left it tied,” Schwindt said. “Obviously, we’ve got to clean some things up in the second. They kind of took it to us a little bit there.”

Completing his hat trick in the third period, Malkin forced a turnover in the offensive zone and sent a shot past Tarasov to put the Penguins on top 9-2 at 3:30. Getting that one back, Noah Gregor drove to the net and went five-hole on Silovs to bring the score to 9-3 at 7:36.

Scoring in his fourth straight game, Mackie Samoskevich kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and buried a shot from the center of the right circle to cut Florida’s deficit to 9-4 at 10:46.

A quick shot at revenge, the Panthers will battle the Penguins again in less than 24 hours on Sunday.

“We’re playing the exact same team,” Schwindt said. “We’ll clean up some things and get another crack at ‘em tomorrow.”

THEY SAID IT

“We had touches on almost all the pucks that ended up in our net.” – Paul Maurice

“Looking to get the two points for the team every single night. We’ll look to clean some things up. It’s nice we get to put this one behind us and get right back at ‘em tomorrow.” – Cole Schwindt

“They’re one of the best teams in the league at second and third chances, getting bodies there (to the net). We didn’t do a good job boxing out around our goalies.” – Seth Jones

CATS STATS

- Sam Bennett extended his point streak to four games.

- Mackie Samoskevich reached the 10-goal mark for the second straight season.

- Eetu Luostarinen went 10-for-17 (58.8%) in the faceoff circle.

- Matthew Tkachuk had a team-high four hits.

- Donovan Sebrango saw 22:42 of ice time.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Right back at it.

Closing out their back-to-back, the Panthers will return to PPG Paints Arena for a rematch with the Penguins on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

To find a place to watch in South Florida, click HERE.