Penguins gain, lose 2-goal lead in 3rd before falling in OT

SUNRISE, Fla. — Once upon a time, NHL teams making a two-game swing through Florida usually came away with an easy four points.

Both clubs located in the Sunshine State were bumbling expansion franchises that seemingly had trouble in every conceivable fashion on and off the ice. The biggest danger to established NHL squads might have been a nasty case of sunburn.

But today, the Florida Panthers are one of the league’s up-and-coming franchises and their rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, happen to be the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

So even after the Penguins’ come-from-behind/come-from-ahead 5-4 overtime loss to the Panthers at the FLA Live Center on Thursday — two nights after their 6-2 road win against the Lightning — they came away with a sense of accomplishment in taking three of four points against two strong opponents to open the season minus some major components in injured forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

“To get three out of four points against two really good hockey teams, for me, we should take that as a positive,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We know we can be better. There’s areas, no doubt, that we can improve. We’re playing against two really good teams down here. I just thought our guys competed hard.”

The most significant drawback Thursday was the departure of forward Bryan Rust, who left the contest 13 seconds into the third period after absorbing a violent check from Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. Sullivan did not have an update on Rust’s status following the game.

The Panthers, playing in their season opener, built a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by forward Carter Verhaeghe (9:17 of the first period) and Anthony Duclair (3:57 of the second).

Power-play goals allowed the Penguins to tie the score 2-2. First, Danton Heinen scored his second goal of the season at 11:45 of the middle frame.

Then, at 18:58 of the second, Carter collected his first of the season and 400th of his career with a bit of luck. Motoring up the right wing, he forced a pass to the crease for Rust only to have it strike off of the stick of Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and into the cage.

“A nice tip by Ekblad,” Carter chuckled.

The Penguins claimed their first lead 8:01 into the third period. Appearing in his first game since testing positive for covid in the preseason, forward Jake Guentzel controlled a puck behind Florida’s net and fired it into the right leg of Weegar, causing a deflection into the cage.

“The goal he got is a goal-scorer’s goal from below the goal line,” Sullivan said. “He might have learned that one from 87 (Crosby). … It’s a high-intellect play. “

The Penguins went up 4-2 only 30 seconds later thanks to forward Evan Rodrigues collecting his second goal.

Ekblad put two more pucks into the net — the Penguins’ cage this time — to force another tie, 4-4.

First, at 15:07 of the third, almost every skater on the ice was piled up in the Penguins’ crease, denying goaltender Casey DeSmith anything resembling sound positioning. Ekblad fished the puck out of that chaos and whipped in an easy wrister.

“I don’t know how (the officials) kept sight of the puck,” Sullivan said. “My question to them was if you lose sight of the puck, you’re supposed to blow the whistle. They said they saw the puck. I don’t know how they saw the puck. There (were) 10 people in the crease.”

Ekblad scored again at 15:07 of the third on a rebound scramble.

Verhaeghe’s second goal 1:32 into overtime claimed victory.

DeSmith made 34 saves on 39 shots in a defeat the Penguins lamented — but not without perspective.

“Obviously, we would have liked to hang on at the end there,” Carter said. “It’s a good — if you want to call it learning experience, building block, whatever you want to call it — for our team right now at this point of the year. We can take a lot out of this game. Three out of four points against these teams is really good.”