Penguins 3, Panthers 1: Brenden Morrow collected two goals and an assist as visiting Pittsburgh posted its fourth straight win and 19th in 21 outings.
Defenseman Kris Letang also tallied and rookie Beau Bennett notched a pair of assists for his first career multi-point game. Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 25 shots for the Penguins, who moved within two points of Western Conference-leading Chicago in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.
Scottie Upshall scored for the first time since March 21 and Jacob Markstrom finished with 19 saves for the Panthers, who have dropped two straight and reside in the basement of the league with 32 points.
After Letang opened the scoring with a slap shot through traffic at 14:49 of the first period, Morrow scored just over 3 1/2 minutes later by settling his own rebound and banking a shot off Markstrom.
Upshall answered by poking home his own rebound at 4:10 of the second period, but Florida failed to solve Fleury again. Morrow capped the scoring with an empty-net tally for his fifth point in three games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh C Evgeni Malkin sat out with an upper-body injury. The team went so far as to officially dismiss a report on Twitter that claimed the reigning Hart Trophy winner missed the contest due to sunburn. ... Florida C Tomas Fleischmann saw his seven-game point streak come to an end. ... Penguins C Joe Vitale notched an assist and won 13 of 17 faceoffs.
Pittsburgh | Florida | |
Brenden Morrow 3 | Points | Scottie Upshall 1 |
Brenden Morrow 2 | Goals | Scottie Upshall 1 |
Beau Bennett 2 | Assists | Brian Campbell 1 |
Brenden Morrow 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Marc-Andre Fleury .962 | Save Percentage | Jacob Markstrom .905 |
Marc-Andre Fleury 25 | Saves | Jacob Markstrom 19 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Pittsburgh | 22 | 3 | 1-3 | 4-4 | 8 | 31 |
Florida | 26 | 1 | 0-4 | 2-3 | 6 | 21 |