Sheary goal caps Penguins' comeback
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Conor Sheary scored the go-ahead goal with 2:53 left to play to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night at the BB&T Center.
With the Penguins on the power play, Sheary beat goalie James Reimer with a backhander.
The Penguins, who went 3-for-4 on their power play, also got goals from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with the man advantage. Malkin added an assist on Crosby's goal in the second period as the Penguins (5-2-1) beat the Panthers (2-4-0) for the second time in one week.
Crosby has five goals and five assists while Malkin has three goals and seven assists on the season.
Goalie Matt Murray (28 saves) earned both wins against Florida, although this was the first home loss of the season for the Panthers in three games.
Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo left the game with 15:14 left in the second period after Sheary backed into him.
Luongo, who appeared to suffer a hand injury, was replaced by Reimer, who stopped 11 of 12 shots in the game.
Florida led 2-0 after the first period, scoring twice within a span of 1:34.
Jamie McGinn scored the first goal after Murray struggled to stop a bouncing puck. Murray swept the puck to his right, but McGinn swooped in, outskated two Penguins to the loose buck and beat the goalie stick-side.
Panthers star Aleksander Barkov, who has 49 goals the previous two seasons, got his first score of the year to make it 2-0. Barkov, set up at the bottom of the right circle, took a pass from Keith Yandle and beat Murray with a sharp-angled high wrist shot to his glove side.
But just as Florida owned the first period, Pittsburgh dominated the second with three goals, including a pair by Malkin and Carter Rowney just 27 seconds apart.
On Malkin's goal, Phil Kessel threaded a pass, and Pittsburgh scored just seven seconds into their power play. Kessel's pass, which went through a maze of defenders and deflected off of Luongo's stick, made it an easy goal for Malkin, who tapped it in.
Rowney, who scored after the puck deflected off the skate of Florida's Michael Haley, tied the score 2-2. It was his first goal of the season.
Pittsburgh took the lead 3-2 with 11:12 expired in the second as Crosby, parked on the doorstep, redirected a perfect pass from Malkin.
Rookie defenseman MacKenzie Weegar tied the score 3-3 with 10:41 left in the third, unloading a slap shot from above the right circle. It was Weegar's first NHL goal, and it came in his first game of the season and just the fourth of his career.
But Sheary's score proved decisive.
NOTES: Florida had three healthy scratches: D Ian McCoshen, C Denis Malgin and LW Connor Brickley. Malgin has yet to play this season, but this was the first absence for McCoshen and Brickley. ... Pittsburgh scratched D Zach Trotman, C Scott Wilson and RW Josh Archibald. Trotman, though, may play soon. He was called up on Thursday from AHL Wilkes-Barre to make up for the loss of D Matt Hunwick (concussion). ... RW Owen Tippett, Florida's first-round pick, was on the third line, playing his second game in a row. He had seven shots on goal in his NHL debut on Tuesday at the Philadelphia Flyers. ... Pittsburgh plays at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. ... Florida plays at the Washington Capitals on Saturday.