• GOAL. Verhaeghe with a long-range floater from center point. Another softy. Doesn't matter with this lead, though, obviously. Assists: Jones, Tkachuk. Time: 14:15, third period. Penguins, 5-2
• Huge chunk of this crowd's still here. Just having fun on Easter, I guess.
• GOAL. Rust. Sprung for a mini-break by Sid, whirls a backhander that eventually seeps through Tarasov. Other assist: Chinakhov. Time: 3:48, second period. Penguins, 5-1
• Geno takes a hard hit from Sebrango into the top of the Penguins' bench, and he's really slow to peel himself away from it.
• Third's underway.
• That's period. Just get this over with, yeah?
• GOAL. Rakell again. Geno chips it out from behind the net. Other assist: Novak. Time: 18:08, second period. Penguins, 4-1
• The double-minor's a kill but only after Geno grazes the left pipe on the final rush. Just didn't work low enough throughout those four minutes.
• Neither ref saw Luostarinen high-stick Rakell, but Toronto did, and he'll sit for a double-minor. That's an unusual one.
• Second period's underway.
• Geno clinched his own 16th point-a-game season with that last Rakell goal.
• That's period. One more goal, and it'll feel like the lead's Silovs-proof.
• GOAL. Rakell with a power-play one-timer from between the hashes. That's his 10th goal in as many games. He's terrible. Assists: Sid, Geno. Time: 19:12, first period. Penguins, 3-1
• What a teammate Wotherspoon's been. He sees Tkachuk cross-check Dewar, steps in not only to say something but also to drop the gloves and fight. Yet another superlative find for this front office.
• GOAL. Sid. That clinches his point-a-game season. Blistering wrister to the top far corner, through Tarasov's glove. Nice spring from Chinakhov. Other assist: Rust for his 500th NHL point. Time: 16:50, first period. Penguins, 2-1
• GOAL. Silovs has it ... oh, wait, he doesn't. Good Lord, this goaltending. Schwindt shot it. Assists: Hinostroza, Forsling. Time: 16:15, first period. Tie, 1-1
• GOAL. Soderblom. Tarasov stepped forward from his crease to try to play the puck on a waved-off icing, but Dewar beat him there, and the big boy capitalized. Time: 11:00, first period. Penguins, 1-0
• Sebrango flips the puck into the crowd. He'll sit.
• Partial break for Geno up the right side. Tarasov with a blocker save and no rebound.
• This already feels like it'll be something of a slog.
• Not much doing on that power play.
• Bennett's off for a hold ... and I'm only half-kidding when I say it could've been a major. Hilarious. Like he just felt like going to the box for a couple minutes.
THE ASYLUM
Final: Penguins 5, Panthers 2
• Who: Penguins (39-22-16) vs. Panthers (37-36-3)
• What: NHL regular season, Game 78
• When: 3:08 p.m.
• Where: PPG Paints Arena
• Goaltenders: Arturs Silovs (18-10-8, .889 SV%) vs. Daniil Tarasov (10-14-2, .895 SV%)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh+
• Stream: SNP360 (local), ESPN+ (out-of-market)
• Radio: Penguins Radio Network
• Boxscore: NHL.com
• Media notes: Penguins | Panthers
► FOLLOW ALONG
• GOAL. Verhaeghe with a long-range floater from center point. Another softy. Doesn't matter with this lead, though, obviously. Assists: Jones, Tkachuk. Time: 14:15, third period. Penguins, 5-2
• Huge chunk of this crowd's still here. Just having fun on Easter, I guess.
• GOAL. Rust. Sprung for a mini-break by Sid, whirls a backhander that eventually seeps through Tarasov. Other assist: Chinakhov. Time: 3:48, second period. Penguins, 5-1
• Geno takes a hard hit from Sebrango into the top of the Penguins' bench, and he's really slow to peel himself away from it.
• Third's underway.
• That's period. Just get this over with, yeah?
• GOAL. Rakell again. Geno chips it out from behind the net. Other assist: Novak. Time: 18:08, second period. Penguins, 4-1
• The double-minor's a kill but only after Geno grazes the left pipe on the final rush. Just didn't work low enough throughout those four minutes.
• Neither ref saw Luostarinen high-stick Rakell, but Toronto did, and he'll sit for a double-minor. That's an unusual one.
• Second period's underway.
• Geno clinched his own 16th point-a-game season with that last Rakell goal.
• That's period. One more goal, and it'll feel like the lead's Silovs-proof.
• GOAL. Rakell with a power-play one-timer from between the hashes. That's his 10th goal in as many games. He's terrible. Assists: Sid, Geno. Time: 19:12, first period. Penguins, 3-1
• What a teammate Wotherspoon's been. He sees Tkachuk cross-check Dewar, steps in not only to say something but also to drop the gloves and fight. Yet another superlative find for this front office.
• GOAL. Sid. That clinches his point-a-game season. Blistering wrister to the top far corner, through Tarasov's glove. Nice spring from Chinakhov. Other assist: Rust for his 500th NHL point. Time: 16:50, first period. Penguins, 2-1
• GOAL. Silovs has it ... oh, wait, he doesn't. Good Lord, this goaltending. Schwindt shot it. Assists: Hinostroza, Forsling. Time: 16:15, first period. Tie, 1-1
• GOAL. Soderblom. Tarasov stepped forward from his crease to try to play the puck on a waved-off icing, but Dewar beat him there, and the big boy capitalized. Time: 11:00, first period. Penguins, 1-0
• Sebrango flips the puck into the crowd. He'll sit.
• Partial break for Geno up the right side. Tarasov with a blocker save and no rebound.
• This already feels like it'll be something of a slog.
• Not much doing on that power play.
• Bennett's off for a hold ... and I'm only half-kidding when I say it could've been a major. Hilarious. Like he just felt like going to the box for a couple minutes.
• Faceoff: Sid vs. Luostarinen, 3:08 p.m.
• Paul Maurice's lines and pairings:
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Mackie Samoskevich-Eetu Luostarinen-A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor-Tomas Nosek-Jesper Boqvist
Nolan foote-Cole Schwindt-Vinnie Hinostroza
Gustav Forsling-Dmitry Kulikov
Tobias Bjornfot-Seth Jones
Donovan Sebrango-Mike Benning
• Lines and pairings for Dan Muse today:
Egor Chinakhov-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Tommy Novak-Rickard Rakell-Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau
Elmer Soderblom-Connor Dewar-Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard-Kris Letang
Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton
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