Reinhart Scores Twice, Panthers Defeat Penguins in Shootout

SUNRISE, Fla. — Coming off a six-game road trip where they went 2-4-0, the Florida Panthers got back in the win column on Sunday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

Aleksander Barkov scored the shootout winner and the Panthers won its sixth straight home game in a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 of 27 shots en route to his 30th win of the season.

The Panthers improved to 42-25-3 on the season as they hold onto its slim Atlantic Division lead (89 points) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (87 points) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (85 points).

“Obviously we’re focusing on what we’re doing but at the same time you want to know what’s going on in the standings,” Anton Lundell said postgame. “Every team has improved a lot during this year. It makes us have to step up as well.”

Sam Reinhart broke the game open 11:25 into the game with his first of two goals of the evening. He later scored his team-leading 35th goal of the season 9:25 into the second period.

This was Reinhart’s first multi-goal game since Jan. 13 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“You guys know, you guys see him every single day, what he’s doing,” Barkov said of Reinhart. “He’s such a smart player… his hockey IQ, skill set and his shot is elite. There’s only good things to say about [Reinhart].”

Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers, tying the game at 3-3 with 5:31 to go in regulation.

Penguins forward Bryan Rust matched Reinhart with a two goal performance of his own — picking up goals No. 24 and 25 on the season. Evgeni Malkin had the other Penguins goal.

Both sides saw success on the power-play, with the Penguins going two-for-three on the man-advantage, while the Panthers went one-for-two.

Panthers forward Sam Bennett had an injury scare 5:17 into the third after taking a puck to the inside of his knee. After hobbling back to the bench on his own power, he went back to the dressing room, but would return to finish the game.

Bennett  — who has been one of their best players this season with 23 goals, 24 assists and 47 points —  would return to the game but did not play in overtime.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said both Bennett and Niko Mikkola — who got banged up earlier in the game — will both be fine.

“He’s 100%, just some bruising,” Maurice said of Bennett’s health postgame. “Sam just didn’t feel he put enough pressure on it to come out and skate the way he would need to at the end of that game and into overtime.”

The Panthers will have a few days to recover before its next game, which is at home on Friday night against the Utah Hockey Club, where 2024 Stanley Cup champion Kevin Stenlund will return to Sunrise for the first time since Game 7 of the Cup final.