With forwards Sidney Crosby achieving another milestone and Rickard Rakell maintaining a torrid scoring pace, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Florida Panthers, 5-2, at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.
Crosby ensured he would finish with a point-per-game scoring pace for the 21st consecutive season — he is in his 21st campaign as an NHLer — while Rakell extended a scoring streak to eight games as the Penguins (40-22-16, 96 points) maintained comfortable control on second place of the Metropolitan Division with only four games remaining on their regular season schedule.
Starting his second game in less than 24 hours, rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs unofficially made 30 saves on 32 shots, boosting his record 19-10-8.
Silovs’ presence in net was required for a second consecutive day because of veteran goaltender Stuart Skinner being scratched with a presumed facial injury.
On Saturday, Silovs stopped 19 of 23 shots in a 9-4 home win against the Panthers.
Penguins forward Elmer Soderblom opened the scoring Sunday with his sixth goal of the season exactly 11 minutes into regulation.
Lugging the puck from behind his own net, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang fired a stretch pass toward the far blue line that was off the mark and hit off Florida’s end boards. Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov vacated the crease to play the puck from near the lower-left hashmark, but thanks to pressure from Penguins forward Connor Dewar, he was hurried into directing it toward the left boards. Soderblom gladly accepted the charity and immediately fired the wrister into an open cage. There were no assists.
The visitors tied the score via forward Cole Schwindt’s fourth goal at 16:15 of the first period.
Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling beat Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin to a loose puck along Pittsburgh’s left half-wall and poked it below the near circle. Ex-Penguins forward Vinnie Hinostroza settled the puck, spun off a check from Penguins forward Tommy Novak and fed a pass to the top of the left circle for Schwindt, who pumped a wrister on net. The puck appeared to strike Silovs’ mask, then trickled through his gear and into the cage. Hinostroza and Forsling found assists.
Crosby responded with his 29th goal only 45 seconds later.
Off a neutral-zone pass by linemate Egor Chinahkov, Crosby raced into Florida’s zone on the left wing, got a step on Panthers defenseman Seth Jones and rocketed a wrister to the far side past Tarasov’s glove. Chinakhov and forward Bryan Rust recorded assists.
With the goal, Crosby ensured he would average a point per game for the season.
The Penguins converted a power-play opportunity at 19:12 of the first frame when Rakell scored his 23rd goal.
From the left point of Florida’s zone, Malkin slipped a cross-ice pass to the right circle for Crosby, who one-touched the puck to the high slot. From there, Rakell gripped and ripped an off-balance wrister past Tarasov’s blocker. Crosby and Malkin merited assists.
Rakell struck again at 18:08 of the second period.
Generating a two-on-one rush with linemate Tommy Novak, Malkin gained the offensive zone on the left wing and forced a pass that was broken up by Panthers forward Tobias Bjornfot. The puck bounced off the end boards, where Malkin was able to chop another pass attempt toward the slot. The puck hit off of Tarasov’s stick and bounced to the an onrushing Rakell, whose dribbler got past Tarasov’s glove. Malkin and Novak negotiated assists.
Rust got in on the act with his 28th goal at 3:48 of the third period.
Pushing the puck into Florida’s zone on the left wing, Crosby spun away from Bjornfot and centered a pass to Rust, who was alone in the slot. The puck was a bit behind Rust, who had to reach back to accept it before lifting a backhander on net. Tarasov got his blocker on the puck but couldn’t prevent it from rolling into the cage. Crosby and Chinakhov collaborated on assists.
Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe capped the scoring with his 24th goal at 14:15 of the final frame during a power-play sequence. Jones and forward Matthew Tkachuk had assists.
Notes:
• Skinner was scratched because of an apparent facial injury he suffered while on the bench serving as the backup during Saturday’s game. There was no substantive word on a potential recovery timeframe for Skinner.
With Skinner sidelined, the team recalled goaltender Taylor Gauthier from Wheeling of the ECHL. Recalled to the NHL roster for the first time in his four-year professional career, Gauthier served as the backup.
Gauthier was recalled instead of one of the franchise’s more prominent goaltending prospects with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League level, as Skinner’s availability was not determined until Sunday morning.
With Sunday’s game starting at 3:08 p.m., Gauthier was able to make the relatively short drive from Wheeling, W.Va., while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltenders Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov would have required a longer trek from Northeast Pennsylvania.
Should Skinner be sidelined for any length of time, Murashov is expected to be recalled on a more permanent basis.
• Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon recorded a fighting major at 18:20 of the first period when he battled Tkachuk.
The Penguins have recorded fighting majors in four of their past five games. Overall, they have 14 fighting majors this season. During the 2024-25 campaign, they recorded only seven fighting majors.
• The Penguins formally placed defenseman Caleb Jones on injured reserve Sunday. On Friday, the team announced he would miss the remainder of the season following surgery on his right shoulder.
• The Penguins recalled rookie forward Avery Hayes from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He was a healthy scratch on Sunday along with defensemen Ryan Graves, Ilya Solovyov and Jack St. Ivany.
• Penguins forwards Kevin Hayes and Blake Lizotte were scratched with undisclosed injuries.