The vibes were good and the lead almost felt too big for even the Penguins to lose.
Owen Pickering had provided an early turning point with his first NHL goal. Marcus Pettersson put them up 4-1 with a beauty in the third period. And with the way the resurgent Tristan Jarry was playing, a fourth straight victory was nearly in the bag. But just like that, their lead was gone. The defending champion Florida Panthers roared back to tie the score.
But the Penguins would get the last laugh Tuesday.
Bryan Rust scored in overtime to give the Penguins a 5-4 win at PPG Paints Arena.
Pickering’s first NHL goal gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead 9:20 into the opening period.
Blake Lizotte hustled to a loose puck and poked it back to Pickering at the left point, and the 20-year-old defenseman flung a fluttering wrist shot on goal. With Michael Bunting parked in front, Spencer Knight could not see it sneak between his pads.
Pickering’s incredulous grin said it all as teammates raced to embrace the rookie.
He was the 11th-youngest defenseman in franchise history to score his first career goal. It took the 2022 first-round pick six games to light the lamp for the first time.
Pickering has been a pleasant surprise during the last two weeks. He made his debut on Nov. 16 and earned his first career assist on the same night. Since then, he has helped to stabilize the third pair for a Penguins team that is defending much harder in recent games, and it doesn’t look like he will be going anywhere anytime soon.
Just 72 seconds after Pickering’s goal, Evgeni Malkin scored off the rush to increase the lead to 2-0. Philip Tomasino set up Malkin with a clever behind-the-back pass.
That was Malkin’s first goal since he got the winner at Washington back on Nov. 8.
The game took a U-turn with those two quick goals from the Penguins. Prior to that, Jarry made a tough save on Matthew Tkachuk on a 2-on-1 rush. Then the Panthers had a goal taken off the scoreboard because they were offside entering the zone.
The visitors kept coming after Pickering and Malkin made it 2-0, and when Bunting failed to get a clear, Tkachuk swiftly beat Jarry on Florida’s 12th shot of the game.
Kris Letang restored the two-goal lead when he beat Knight seven minutes into the second period. He teed up a short-angle slap shot from the right wall after partner Matt Grzelcyk got the puck to him with a calculated carom off of the back boards.
Looking like a lanky Bobby Orr, Pettersson scored early in the third period to push their lead to 4-1. The defensive-minded defenseman joined the rush, beat Knight with a nifty move in tight then went flying after a Panthers player tripped him up.
But the Penguins would let the Panthers tie it with three goals in the span of 4:32.
Sam Bennett scored from the slot with 13:05 left in the third period. Then Tkachuk stickhandled through a few Penguins before setting up defenseman Adam Boqvist.
Tkachuk tied it up with 8:33 to go, with Blake Lizotte in the penalty box. The feisty winger deflected a shot out of midair that hit the post behind Jarry then skittered out into the slot. Tkachuk pounded home the rebound to tie up the score at 4-4.
