Florida Panthers Get a Point. But They Aren’t Happy About It

Considering the circumstances they were in Tuesday, the Florida Panthers should have been happy to escape Pittsburgh with a point in the standings.

And they were.

Sort of.

But not really.

The Panthers put themselves in a tough spot Tuesday night, a position they know they never should have been in the first place.

The Penguins, which came into the game in last place in the Metro even after winning three straight, had a 4-1 lead in the third period despite getting off just 13 shots on goal.

Florida had been dominating the play on the ice, but were losing the battle on the scoreboard.

That changed in the third period with Florida scoring three straight goals to tie the score, only Bryan Rust scored in overtime and the Penguins got their fourth straight win by beating the Panthers 5-4.

“I guess it is a point that we’re happy to get,” said Matthew Tkachuk, who had a night with two goals and four points as he eclipsed the 600-point mark for his career.

“When you fight back, you just really want to get that win. It sucks not getting it in overtime. We were pressing pretty good in the third, found a way to put some in at the end which was nice. But, like I said before, it doesn’t mean much if you finish it off. We’ll take the point.”

Spencer Knight, who was coming off a shutout Saturday, had a tough night as the Penguins scored five goals on 16 shots.

Florida held Pittsburgh to five shots on goal in all three periods of regulation with Rust scoring on the one shot in the overtime.

“I just won’t,” coach Paul Maurice said when asked to evaluate Knight’s game Tuesday. “I will think about the shutout that he just had on the bus.”

The Panthers, meanwhile, struggled to put anything past Tristan Jarry until the third period when Sam Bennett, Adam Boqvist, and Tkachuk all scored to tie the game up.

Florida almost trippled the Penguins on shots on goals and attempts through the first two periods yet trailed 3-1 going into the third.

The Panthers did get a point after trailing after 40 — something they had not done all season.

Florida is 0-8-1 in such situations.

“We gave up five shots a period, but were still down 4-1,” Maurice said. “I liked the fact that the bench did not change. They felt good about their game in terms of us getting going in the right direction. We put up a bunch, didn’t give up a lot. You don’t like to lose.”

ON DECK: GAME 27

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia 
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series (Florida Leads 1-0) — At Panthers: Florida 4, Philadelphia 3 SO (Nov. 9). At Flyers: Thursday; Jan. 13.
• Last Season: Flyers Won 2-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: Philadelphia leads 59-38-6, 7 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. San Jose Sharks, 6 p.m.