Panthers Battle Past Penguins

PITTSBURGH - The Florida Panthers came to Pittsburgh expecting a tough game and they were not disappointed.

The last two times these teams met the Penguins out played and out shot the Panthers in Florida but Loungo came up strong and the Cats survived the battle with a tie.

The Penguins put up a good fight but once again it was Loungo that made the difference. The referees put away their whistles away (only 3 penalties total) in this one and let the two team battle it out.

The Pens opened the scoring on Patrik Elias' 15th of the year at 2:40 of the first period. Jamie Langenbrunner scored on the periods only power play opportunity for either team at 16:16. John Madden regained the lead for the Pens when he scored his 7th of the year at 17:09 and took their 2-1 lead into the second period.

The second period was exciting hockey to watch. No Penalties and the teams played hard ...back and forth hockey for the full 20 minutes. The Panthers third line was the difference. Niklas Sundstrom and Yanick Lehoux in particular. Sundstrom intercepted a pass and went in alone and beat Henrik Lundqvist to tie the game at 2, 14:54 into the period. Then he assisted on Yanick Lehouxs' 5th of the year at 17:54 to give the Panthers their first lead of the game and they took the 3-2 score into the third.

Sundstrom wasn't done yet.....Yanick Lehoux fed a pass to Sundstrom who tapped it in an open side for his third of the season and second of the game and eventual game winner at 2:47 to make it 4-2. Sergei Zubov made it 4-3 when he notched his 9th of the year at 13:47 but that was as close as the Pens would get on this night. Ivan Novoseltsev scored the Panthers insurance goal at 17:24 for a hard fought 5-3 victory.

"This was a huge win for us tonight." Sundstrom said at the post game conference "The second period was key. Loungo did what he has done for us all year and gave us the chance to win and we were fortunate enough to capitalize on our chances."

The Panthers will head home now for a 4 game stretch that will see them play a couple teams they have had trouble with this season and the defending Champions. First up will be the Dallas Stars who defeated the Cats 3-1 in their last meeting. Then the New Jersey Devils and NY Islanders before ending the home stand hosting the Maple Leafs who have made life difficult for the Cats with a 1-1 record and outscoring them 7-6.