SUNRISE, Fla — SUNRISE, Fla. - While the Panthers long-awaited home opener was soaked in nostalgia revolving around the franchise's 20th anniversary, a couple of kids who were either in diapers or not born yet made their presence felt.
During a prolonged power play in the second period Jonathan Huberdeau, 20, and rookie Aleksander Barkov, 18, gave a glimpse into the next 10 years with highly skilled goals to lift the Panthers to a 6-3 victory over the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night in front of 18,584 enthusiastic fans at BB&T Center.
The Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak and "stopped the bleeding" as center Scott Gomez had talked about on Thursday because of some sharp goaltending from a more seasoned 23-year-old Jacob Markstrom.
The gangly Swede, who got the start over backup Scott Clemmensen and an injured Tim Thomas (groin) despite giving up six goals the night before, finished with 36 saves.
The 2-3 Panthers have won four straight home openers and are 11-5-2-2 all-time. It was 20 years ago almost to the day that the Penguins spoiled the Panthers' inaugural home opener at Miami Arena with a 2-1 victory.
After a Dmitry Kulikov turnover, Penguins aging superstar Sid 'The Kid' Crosby set up Pascal Dupuis for a point-blank wrister to slice Florida's lead to 4-3 after two periods.
With the Penguins pinching in, the Panthers got the insurance goal they needed at 6:22, when Barkov found Tomas Fleischmann, who swatted in his own rebound to go with his three assists. Barkov had a goal and two assists for his first multiple-point game.
With Crosby in the box, Boyes applied the icing with 34 seconds left on Florida's third power-play goal of the game or triple their season's output.
Cue the rats.
Tied at 2-2 after a wide-open first period, two Penguins were sent to the penalty box 26 seconds apart. Less than a minute into a two-man advantage, Kris Versteeg flicked a puck off of nervous rookie goalie Jeff Zlatkoff into the air where Huberdeau jabbed it in as if he was knocking an 8-ball into the side pocket.
Just 56 seconds later while on the same power play, albeit 5-on-4, Barkov, also resorted to a billiard's type shot as he banked it off the leg of Pens defenseman Paul Martin for a 4-2 lead.
"We are just putting pucks at the net," Huberdeau said. "Have a presence out there and we are just shooting to score. I think there are a lot of guys that want it tonight."
Just 1:55 after original Panthers owner H. Wayne Huizenga and new owner Vincent Viola dropped pucks to end the pregame festivities, Fleischmann stole the puck and fed Boyes, who wristed it home for a 1-0 lead. Boyes has scored four of the Panthers' first 13 goals.
Usually reliable Marcel Goc gift-wrapped a puck to Beau Bennett, who set up Evgeni Malkin for a snap-shot and a 1-1 tie at 5:38.
The fast pace continued with center Scott Gomez winning a puck battle and centering toVersteeg, who one-timed a blast from the right circle for a 2-1 lead at 9:10. It was Versteeg's first goal since March 12, the same game he tore his ACL.
"It always feels good to get back on the score sheet," said Versteeg, now playing with Gomez and Huberdeau. "Finding chemistry now with some linemates is nice too, and I hope we keep building off of that goal."
Perhaps Panthers coach Kevin Dineen should send Penguins coach Dan Bylsma a thank-you note for giving Zatkoff his first NHL start seven years after he was drafted by the Kings, because he preferred to save his starter Marc-Andre Fleury for the more potent Lightning on Saturday.
Crabb demoted
Panthers forward Joey Crabb finally got a chance to play Thursday after being a healthy scratch in the first three games, but apparently his 15 shifts wasn't enough to impress management, so he was sent to San Antonio Friday morning.
"Joe didn't have a good training camp; it wasn't just one thing," Dineen said. "This isn't a closed door."
