This evening, the Florida Panthers (32-18-6) hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins (28-19-7) at the BB&T Center. Coming off of a five-game losing streak, the Panthers came into tonight’s game hoping to end the streak that began with the Penguins earlier this month.
The first period gave way to something Penguins fans have seen far too often, turnover after turnover, and a team that acts like they do not want to be on the ice. Halfway through the period, Panthers center Nick Bjugstad scored the first goal of the night, giving Florida a 1-0 lead.
As usual, the second period showed a change in the Penguins as they began to fight back against the Panthers. However, their fight was not enough to earn them a goal, but they did manage to keep the Panthers from scoring another goal, keeping the score at 1-0.
The third period proved to be a fighting period for both teams with the Panthers playing a great defensive game thanks to goalie Al Montoya, and the Penguins fighting to tie the game. With less than three minutes left in the game, Chris Kunitz tied the game, making it 1-1.
The shootout:
The Penguins fell to the Panthers 2-1 after an extended shootout, with the final Panthers goal again scored by Nick Bjugstad.
Penguins Struggle against goalie Al Montoya
Panthers’ goalie Montoya fought hard against the Penguins tonight, only letting the Penguins score with minutes left in the third period, and again in the shootout. However, he held his ground, only allowing in a goal by Crosby, giving the Panthers the upper hand.
Flower Power
Despite the Penguins hazardous offense in the beginning of the game, Marc-Andre Fleury saved the game, reinforcing the talented player that he is. During the second-period Panthers power play, Fleury saved the team from falling after making great saves when the defense could not get the puck out of the Pens zone.
Throughout the entire game, Flower stopped various wraparounds by Jaromir Jagr, stopped the Panther’s player from scoring on his birthday.
Sid Showed Up
Penguin’s captain Sidney Crosby showed up to tonight’s game despite his failure to score tonight except in the shootout. The captain filled Evgeni Malkin’s shoes tonight, who is still out with an injury, leading the team to fight during the last two periods of the game.
What’s Next?
The Penguins will host the Detroit Red Wings at the Consol Energy Center on Thursday, February 18, at 7 p.m.
