Jarry Saves Point in 3rd-Period Barrage, Penguins Stumble in SO

SUNRISE, Fla. — Pittsburgh Penguins (29-32-11) winger Bryan Rust and center Sidney Crosby had a little fun in the first period.

With Crosby bearing down on a record held by Wayne Gretzky, he assisted both of Rust’s tallies in the first period. Rust obliged his linemate’s record chase with a pair of pretty finishes over Florida Panthers (43-25-3) goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker. However, the Penguins couldn’t hold a 3-1 second-period lead when Anton Lundell tied the game with 5:31 remaining in the third period.

Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry was again very good, salvaging a point. Aleksander Barkov scored the only shootout goal, and Florida beat the Penguins 4-3 in the shootout at Amerant Bank Arena Sunday.

The Penguins are now just 1-6 in shootouts this season.

“I thought we competed hard all night,” said coach Mike Sullivan. “You know, we played against a real good team. I thought we competed hard all night. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get two points.”

Crosby began the game just four points shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 19 seasons with at least a point per game. After 20 minutes, Crosby was just two away.

Rust’s first goal was a power play tally at 14:26 of the first. Rust (24) received defenseman Erik Karlsson’s cross-ice pass at the right hash marks. Turning the puck over to his backhand, he swept the puck around Florida defender Nate Schmidt and elevated the backhand shot over Bobrovsky.

Exactly five minutes later, the Penguins added their second goal of the first period when defenseman Kris Letang jumped forward in the neutral zone to break up Florida’s breakout, creating a turnover. Crosby and Rust raced into Florida’s zone. From the right wing, Crosby’s pass led Rust perfectly behind defenseman Uvis Balinskis and Rust (25) was able to one-handedly deflect the pass into the same top corner as the first.

However, Rust was also involved in Florida’s first goal. As he received Conor Timmins’s breakout pass in the defensive zone, Sam Reinhart pounced, taking the puck away. Reinhart (34) quickly skated to the slot and whipped a high wrister past Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry.

The Penguins power play notched another goal in the second period, just 19 seconds after referees called former Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues for hooking. After quick rotations and puck movement, Rust set up Evgeni Malkin (15) for a one-time blast at 6:50 for a 3-1 lead.

Florida closed the gap midway through the second period. Reinhart treated Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves like a traffic cone on his way to the net. With extra time and space and much closer to the goal, Reinhart (35) turned the puck to his forehand for a quick shot past Jarry at 9:25.

That was the last shift Graves got in the second period.

The Penguins’ 19-10 shot advantage quickly evaporated, and Florida held the Penguins without a shot for more than nine minutes through the middle of the second period.

Jarry was the difference in the third period, making a few tough stops, including a point-blank shot by Gustav Forsling with about 11 minutes remaining.

“(Jarry) made some big saves on some really good opportunities,” Rust said. “And I think that’s big. I think that just kind of boosts confidence from the bench.”

However, Eetu Luostarinen fooled everyone from the players to the camera coverage and made a filthy pass to Lundell (16) for a one-timer in the right circle.

Jarry held the fort in the third period as the Penguins were under siege, mustering just three shots on goal. Florida peppered the Penguins with 12 shots on goal in the third, but in a sign of where the game was played, fired 30 shot attempts.

“I think there’s a lesson moving forward. A good team wins those games,” said Rust. “When you’re up, and you’ve got that goal lead with however many minutes left, good teams find ways to win those games.”

Penguins Notes

Sullivan shuffled his defense pairing at the start of the game, extending his “experiment” from Saturday’s practice in which he put Karlsson on the left side with Conor Timmins on the right.

In the second period, Sullivan benched Ryan Graves after Reinhart walked him on the power play goal. The Penguins played with five defensemen in the final 10:25 of the second period. Graves returned for normal shifts in the third period.

In addition to a pair of assists, Crosby led the Penguins with two blocked shots through 40 minutes.

Florida played without it’s top winger and leader, Matthew Tkachuk, who has been injured since the Four Nations Face-Off, newly acquired winger Brad Marchand, and top defenseman, Aaron Ekblad.

Shootout

Florida Aleksander Barkov: Goal

Penguins Rickard Rakell: X

Anton Lundell: X

Sidney Crosby: X

Sam Reinhart: X

Bryan Rust: X

Penguins Starting Lines

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Connor Dewar-Evgeni Malkin-Philip Tomasino

Joona Koppanen-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari

Danton Heinen-Kevin Hayes-Boko Imama

Defense

Conor Timmons-Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves-Vladislv Kolyachonok