• Who: Penguins (29-32-10) vs. Panthers (42-25-3) • What: NHL regular season, Game 72 • When: 6:08 p.m. • Where: Amerant Bank Arena • Goaltenders: Tristan Jarry (12-9-4, .895 SV%) vs. Sergei Bobrovsky (29-15-2, .908 SV%) • TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Scripps Sports • Radio: Penguins Radio Network • Streaming: SNP 360 • Boxscore: NHL.com • Medianotes: Penguins | Panthers
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Rust's stopped. That's game.
• Reinhart off the bar. Big clang.
• Sid with a ... yikes. Not much on that one.
• Jarry stops Lundell's backhander.
• Rakell stopped.
• Barkov converts. Very easily.
• End overtime.
• Now Sid for Letang, and that's a no-go.
• Geno hands the Panthers a three-on-one. Jarry neutralizes it.
• I don't know why Lizotte's out there, but he nearly just won it. First shot of OT for either side.
• No chances in first two minutes. Either side. Awful.
• Overtime underway.
• Shots finished up 29-25 for Florida.
• End regulation.
• Rust with another shot at the HT. Misses high and wide.
• GOAL. The Panthers tie it up. Lundell with a one-timer from the right dot. Whole shift was going badly, to be honest. Assists: Luostarinen, Schmidt. Time: 14:29, third period. Tie, 3-3
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 24, 2025
• Timmins down momentarily after blocking a shot. He's back up.
• Halfway mark of third.
• Enormous save by Jarry on Forsling. Point-blank, set up by Reinhart. Into the glove. He's really been something since the return.
• Rust with an isolated chance off a Florida turnover. Can't quite corral the puck in front of Bob.
• Terrific kill. Two shots for the Panthers. Big blocker by Jarry near the end of it.
• Heavy pressure for Florida right away. Five hard minutes. Timmins off for cross-checking Samoskevich with 14:52 remaining. Not great.
• Third period underway.
• I should be the one to remind that the Panthers played -- and lost, 6-3 -- last night in D.C. So the Penguins absolutely should have the fresher legs into these final 20 minutes.
• Shots are 23-17 for the Penguins, shot attempts 47-36.
• End second period.
• Letang and Karlsson taking shifts together as Graves apparently is being benched. Can't know the latter for certain, obviously, but he's not playing. And he hasn't been good.
• Rust nearly with the HT on the high point flick from Geno.
• Florida's hit with a too-many-men penalty and, at the risk of giving too much credit here, it sure looked like Jarry shot it in that direction on purpose to pounce on the bad change.
• GOAL. Reinhart again, this time on the rush. Turned Graves inside out. Assists: Barkov, Bobrovsky. Time: 9:21, second period. Penguins, 3-2
• Florida power play coming. Rust hooked Verhaeghe in the slot to disrupt a scoring chance. Easy call.
• GOAL. Geno on the power play. Remarkably, it was only his second-best play on that shift, behind a deft back-touch pass to the point. Assists: Rust, Grzelcyk. Time: 6:51, second period. Penguins, 3-1
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 23, 2025
• Now a surge for the Penguins, who get a high-grade shot from Karlsson and a partial break for Hayes and, to top it off, a power play. Rodrigues off.
• Predictably, some pushback from the Panthers, who have seven of the first eight shots through five minutes of this period.
• Second period underway.
• The Penguins just lost a shot. So it's 16 now.
• How dominant? The Penguins had 29 of the 42 shot attempts in that period, as well as all six of the official high-danger scoring chances.
• Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't retroactively point out Jarry's blocker save on Sturm's short-handed break right before Rust's first goal. Didn't have time to type it at the time.
• Sid's two points away, by the way.
• End first period. And shots were 17-4. Amazing.
• GOAL. And a WOW goal at that. Sid with a breathtaking aerial feed across to Rust, who somehow topped that with a one-handed, backhand redirect. One of the team's prettiest goals of the entire season. Assists: Sid, Rakell. Time: 19:26, first period. Penguins, 2-1
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 23, 2025
• Imama's hit by a puck to the face off Forsling's blade. Down for a bit, but he's up and on the bench now. He'll be fine.
• My goodness, the Penguins have just commandeered this game. Shots are now 15-4.
• Noteworthy that Forsling was just credited with an assist on the Reinhart goal. Takes a bunch of the blame off Rust, obviously.
• GOAL. Rust gets it right back. Karlsson with an elite look down low on the power play. Rust with a slick -- and VERY rare -- move to his backhand to finish. Time: 14:26, first period. Tie, 1-1
Power play goal for Pittsburgh!
Scored by Bryan Rust with 05:34 remaining in the 1st period.
• Lundell's off for holding Graves. First power play. Geno at right point.
• GOAL. Reinhart goes top-shelf for his team-best 34th when Rust can't control a puck along the near boards. Not a flagrant giveaway, but also not great. No assist. Time: 11:25, first period. Panthers, 1-0
Florida goal!
Scored by Sam Reinhart with 08:35 remaining in the 1st period.
• Can't stress enough how weird it feels for this place to be filled. It's like I've never been here before. And when the Penguins' starting lineup was introduced, I could hardly hear a cheer. Man, the magical powers of the Stanley Cup, huh?
• It's all even in the early going, including the 4-4 count on shots. Jarry's been tested a bit more.
• Amusing that, on Karlsson's first shift on left defense ... he worked the right side the entire time. So very on brand.
• Faceoff: Penguins vs. Panthers, Sid vs. Sasha, 6:08 p.m.
Gustav Forsling-Seth Jones Niko Mikkola-Uvis Balinskis Nate Schmidt-Tobias Bjornfot
• No surprises on the ice. Jarry and Bob lead their teams.
• Warmups underway. Weird to see this place with people in it ... not to mention those people wearing the home team's sweater.
• Hi, everyone!
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THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
5:03 am - 03.23.2025Sunrise, Fla.Final: Panthers 4, Penguins 3, SO
• Who: Penguins (29-32-10) vs. Panthers (42-25-3)
• What: NHL regular season, Game 72
• When: 6:08 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena
• Goaltenders: Tristan Jarry (12-9-4, .895 SV%) vs. Sergei Bobrovsky (29-15-2, .908 SV%)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Scripps Sports
• Radio: Penguins Radio Network
• Streaming: SNP 360
• Boxscore: NHL.com
• Media notes: Penguins | Panthers
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Rust's stopped. That's game.
• Reinhart off the bar. Big clang.
• Sid with a ... yikes. Not much on that one.
• Jarry stops Lundell's backhander.
• Rakell stopped.
• Barkov converts. Very easily.
• End overtime.
• Now Sid for Letang, and that's a no-go.
• Geno hands the Panthers a three-on-one. Jarry neutralizes it.
• I don't know why Lizotte's out there, but he nearly just won it. First shot of OT for either side.
• No chances in first two minutes. Either side. Awful.
• Overtime underway.
• Shots finished up 29-25 for Florida.
• End regulation.
• Rust with another shot at the HT. Misses high and wide.
• GOAL. The Panthers tie it up. Lundell with a one-timer from the right dot. Whole shift was going badly, to be honest. Assists: Luostarinen, Schmidt. Time: 14:29, third period. Tie, 3-3
• Timmins down momentarily after blocking a shot. He's back up.
• Halfway mark of third.
• Enormous save by Jarry on Forsling. Point-blank, set up by Reinhart. Into the glove. He's really been something since the return.
• Rust with an isolated chance off a Florida turnover. Can't quite corral the puck in front of Bob.
• Terrific kill. Two shots for the Panthers. Big blocker by Jarry near the end of it.
• Heavy pressure for Florida right away. Five hard minutes. Timmins off for cross-checking Samoskevich with 14:52 remaining. Not great.
• Third period underway.
• I should be the one to remind that the Panthers played -- and lost, 6-3 -- last night in D.C. So the Penguins absolutely should have the fresher legs into these final 20 minutes.
• Shots are 23-17 for the Penguins, shot attempts 47-36.
• End second period.
• Letang and Karlsson taking shifts together as Graves apparently is being benched. Can't know the latter for certain, obviously, but he's not playing. And he hasn't been good.
• Rust nearly with the HT on the high point flick from Geno.
• Florida's hit with a too-many-men penalty and, at the risk of giving too much credit here, it sure looked like Jarry shot it in that direction on purpose to pounce on the bad change.
• GOAL. Reinhart again, this time on the rush. Turned Graves inside out. Assists: Barkov, Bobrovsky. Time: 9:21, second period. Penguins, 3-2
• Florida power play coming. Rust hooked Verhaeghe in the slot to disrupt a scoring chance. Easy call.
• GOAL. Geno on the power play. Remarkably, it was only his second-best play on that shift, behind a deft back-touch pass to the point. Assists: Rust, Grzelcyk. Time: 6:51, second period. Penguins, 3-1
• Now a surge for the Penguins, who get a high-grade shot from Karlsson and a partial break for Hayes and, to top it off, a power play. Rodrigues off.
• Predictably, some pushback from the Panthers, who have seven of the first eight shots through five minutes of this period.
• Second period underway.
• The Penguins just lost a shot. So it's 16 now.
• How dominant? The Penguins had 29 of the 42 shot attempts in that period, as well as all six of the official high-danger scoring chances.
• Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't retroactively point out Jarry's blocker save on Sturm's short-handed break right before Rust's first goal. Didn't have time to type it at the time.
• Sid's two points away, by the way.
• End first period. And shots were 17-4. Amazing.
• GOAL. And a WOW goal at that. Sid with a breathtaking aerial feed across to Rust, who somehow topped that with a one-handed, backhand redirect. One of the team's prettiest goals of the entire season. Assists: Sid, Rakell. Time: 19:26, first period. Penguins, 2-1
• Imama's hit by a puck to the face off Forsling's blade. Down for a bit, but he's up and on the bench now. He'll be fine.
• My goodness, the Penguins have just commandeered this game. Shots are now 15-4.
• Noteworthy that Forsling was just credited with an assist on the Reinhart goal. Takes a bunch of the blame off Rust, obviously.
• GOAL. Rust gets it right back. Karlsson with an elite look down low on the power play. Rust with a slick -- and VERY rare -- move to his backhand to finish. Time: 14:26, first period. Tie, 1-1
• Lundell's off for holding Graves. First power play. Geno at right point.
• GOAL. Reinhart goes top-shelf for his team-best 34th when Rust can't control a puck along the near boards. Not a flagrant giveaway, but also not great. No assist. Time: 11:25, first period. Panthers, 1-0
• Can't stress enough how weird it feels for this place to be filled. It's like I've never been here before. And when the Penguins' starting lineup was introduced, I could hardly hear a cheer. Man, the magical powers of the Stanley Cup, huh?
• It's all even in the early going, including the 4-4 count on shots. Jarry's been tested a bit more.
• Amusing that, on Karlsson's first shift on left defense ... he worked the right side the entire time. So very on brand.
• Faceoff: Penguins vs. Panthers, Sid vs. Sasha, 6:08 p.m.
• And for Mike Sullivan's visitors:
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Connor Dewar-Evgeni Malkin-Phil Tomasino
Joona Koppanen-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Boko Imama-Kevin Hayes-Danton Heinen
Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang
Erik Karlsson-Conor Timmins
Ryan Graves-Vladislav Kolyachonok
Emil Bemstrom's the scratch.
• Paul Maurice's combos for the champs:
Carter Verhaeghe-Sasha Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich-Sam Bennett-Jesper Boqvist
Eetu Luostarinen-Esa Lundell-Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer-Nico Sturm-Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling-Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola-Uvis Balinskis
Nate Schmidt-Tobias Bjornfot
• No surprises on the ice. Jarry and Bob lead their teams.
• Warmups underway. Weird to see this place with people in it ... not to mention those people wearing the home team's sweater.
• Hi, everyone!
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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