Panthers 6, Penguins 3
Brad Boyes scored twice as part of a three-point performance while Tomas Fleischmann had a goal and three assists as Florida won its home opener to snap a three-game losing skid.
Rookie Aleksander Barkov added a tally and two assists, Kris Versteeg scored and set up a goal and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the Panthers, who opened the scoring for the first time in five games. Jacob Markstrom made 36 saves for his first win in front of a capacity crowd at the BB&T Center.
Evgeni Malkin, Craig Adams and Pascal Dupuis replied for Pittsburgh, which lost its first road game after opening the season with three wins at home. Jeff Zatkoff stopped 24 shots in his NHL debut while Marc-Andre Fleury rested for Saturday’s game at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Fleischmann stole the puck from Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and fed Boyes to open the scoring 1:55 into the contest. Huberdeau and Barkov added power-play goals 1:06 apart in the second period to give Florida a 4-2 lead.
Dupuis brought Pittsburgh within one before the end of the second period, but Fleischmann restored the two-goal advantage 6:27 into the third. Markstrom stopped all 11 Penguins shots in the final 20 minutes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Crosby was limited to one assist for the third time in four games. … Florida veteran G Tim Thomas returned to practice on Friday but is still sidelined with a slight groin pull. … The Panthers entered the game with seven goals scored while Pittsburgh had only allowed three.