Boyes Scores 2 In Panthers' 6-3 Win Over Penguins
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Boyes scored two goals, Tomas Fleischmann had a goal and three assists, and the Florida Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their home opener on Friday night.
Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Kris Versteeg also scored for Florida and Jacob Markstrom stopped 35 shots.
Pascal Dupuis, Craig Adams, and Evgeni Malkin scored for Pittsburgh, which lost for the first time in four games. Jeff Zatkoff made 24 saves in his NHL debut. The 26-year-old Zatkoff was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 2006 NHL draft.
Fleischmann stretched Florida's lead to 5-3 at 6:27 of the third. His shot from the left circle was blocked by Zatkoff, but Fleischmann skated in and poked in the rebound.
Boyes' second goal came during a power play with 34 seconds left to make it 6-3.
Florida scored two power-play goals in the second to take a 4-2 lead. Huberdeau poked in the puck from in front during a 5-on-3 at 7:08. Barkov followed 1:06 later when his shot bounced off Pittsburgh's Paul Martin and into the net. They were the first power-play goals against the Penguins this year.
The Penguins closed to 4-3 on Dupuis's goal. Dupuis took a drop pass from Sidney Crosby and beat Markstrom on the short side at 12:13 of the second.
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead on Versteeg's goal at 9:10 of the first. The Penguins tied it at 2 later in the first. Tanner Glass tried a wraparound but the puck bounced around in traffic, then Adams poked in the rebound at 16:49 for his third goal of the season.
The Panthers scored first when Boyes got the puck in the right circle and beat Zatkoff on the glove side at 1:55 of the opening period. Boyes has scored in three straight games.
Pittsburgh tied it at 1-all on Malkin's goal at 5:38. Beau Bennett intercepted a pass at the blue line and passed to Malkin in the left circle. His wrist shot went under Markstrom's blocker.
NOTES: Pittsburgh lost its first road game after winning its first three games at home. ... Pittsburgh played its first of back-to-back games of the season. They play at Tampa Bay on Saturday night. .Florida celebrated its 20th home opener on Friday, and played its first back-to-back set of the season. They lost at Tampa Bay 7-2 on Thursday. ... Florida had just one power-play goal in its first four games.
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