Florida Panthers Stage Comeback, Lose In Overtime

Pittsburgh, PA – It looked like it was going to be one of those nights for the Florida Panthers. They largely controlled the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, but found themselves in a 4-1 hole early in the third period. The Panthers managed to stage a three-goal comeback that was capped off with a late Matthew Tkachuk goal to force overtime, but a Bryan Rust wrister on an odd-man rush clinched the extra point for Pittsburgh.

Matthew Tkachuk Is Scoring Again

Tkachuk has a way of changing the game even when he doesn’t score. He came into Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with just five goals in 20 games. Still, he was on a four-game point streak with six in his last five games and was playing solid defense. But it’s nice to see him flex his ability to score. His two goals Tuesday snapped a six-game goal drought, and they couldn’t have come at better times.

Down 2-0 with 2:36 left in the first period, Tkachuk was served a juicy drop pass by Aleksander Barkov in the slot and ripped a wrister into the back of the net. 

The Panthers still had to chase the rest of the night, playing with a two-goal deficit for a majority of the second period, and falling behind by three early in the third.

But after Sam Bennett and Adam Boqvist scored within two minutes of each other midway through the third period to cut the Penguins’ lead to 4-3, Tkachuk tipped in a power play goal for the equalizer with 8:33 left in regulation.

Panthers Controlled Play

Don’t let the four goals fool you: it felt like it should’ve been more.

The Panthers looked like they got on the board first about 10 minutes into the first period. Nate Schmidt stole the puck in the neutral zone and delivered an entry pass for Jesper Boqvist for the goal. But the Penguins challenged for offside and won, as Anton Lundell was caught on the other end of the ice. 

The Penguins scored the actual first goal of the game 56 seconds later — a Blake Lizotte slapshot that went off Owen Pickering. 

The Penguins scored again 1:12 later on an Evgeni Malkin wrist shot from the slot. 

Real crisp 1st period for the Panthers despite the score

7 high-danger scoring chances to Pittsburgh’s 1, per Natural Stat Trick. Defense isn’t letting them get anything off near the crease pic.twitter.com/5EdN6UHP6W

— Alex Krutchik (@AlexKrutchikFOF) December 4, 2024

Despite trailing 2-1 after 20 minutes, it was about as crisp an opening frame as you could ask for. The Panthers had eight high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Penguins, one. They kept the Penguins from getting shots off, especially directly in front of the net. They also outshot Pittsburgh 13-5. 

The trend continued into the 2nd period. The Panthers outshot Pittsburgh 11-5 and put pucks on net, but Tristan Jarry was impenetrable. He had 37 saves in regulation, and stopped 11 of 14 high-danger chances. 

Cardiac Cats

Coming into the game, the Panthers were 0-0-8 in games where they entered the third period with a deficit.

Tuesday’s overtime loss was the first time this year where they earned a point in such a game.

They certainly earned it. They outscored Pittsburgh 3-1 in the third period and outshot them 17-5.