Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
No homecoming for Rowe
SUNRISE — Tom Rowe had no complaints about the way the Panthers responded to the change in leadership in his first five games as interim coach.
The results were lacking in a 1-1-3 conclusion to the tumultuous road trip, but the effort was admirable.
The same could not be said for the stupefying first period of Rowe’s home debut Thursday when the high-octane Pittsburgh Penguins scored three times on five shots in the first 7½ minutes on the way to a 5-1 victory.
The Panthers showed life after that, but Jaromir Jagr’s 755th goal — his 25th in 56 games against his former team — wasn’t enough to fuel a comeback against one of the premier offensive machines in the NHL.
The Penguins came in averaging 3.31 goals a game, second in the league and leading in shots per game (34.7).
Not a good idea to have a slow start against the defending Stanley Cup champs, who were fourth in goals allowed (3.04), even with backup goalie Matt Murray in net instead of Marc-Andrew Fleury. Murray had won eight of his first 10 decisions, and his 2.01 GGA was sixth-best in the league.
Rowe said following morning skate that when he made the move from general manager to the bench following the Nov. 27 firing of Gerard Gallant, his wife asked if he had any concerns.
“I said yeah, just how the [players] are going to react, and they’ve been unbelievable,” Rowe said.
“We had a short meeting before the Chicago game and they said we’re going to be battling for you just like we did everybody else. It’s a good group, it’s a fun group to coach.”
Rowe’s newly implemented zone defense had been effective in allowing nine regulation goals in five games. But there was no fun in the early going as the Panthers were caught flatfooted by the torrid Penguins, who arrived like an offensive juggernaut having scored 19 goals on a threegame winning streak.
It didn’t take long for Sidney Crosby to continue his scoring binge, firing a wrist shot past Roberto Luongo on the glove side for his 18th goal in his 21st game just over three minutes in. Crosby carried the puck out from the corner and was given space to set up and measure his shot from the top of the circle.
The Panthers got a power-play chance soon after, but it was negated when Reilly Smith was sent off for holding. Pittsburgh scored with the teams skating 4-on-4 when Conor Sheary followed his own missed shot behind the net and banked it in off the back of Luongo’s right leg. Luongo unwittingly kicked the puck into his own goal as he sprawled on the ice.
The opportunistic Penguins kept buzzing the Florida net and made it 3-0 at 12:26 when Tom Kuhnhackl, camped on the doorstep, deflected Scott Wilson’s shot past the shellshocked Luongo. Justin Schultz had taken a shot that was blocked and careened Wilson, who wasted no time keeping the pinball act alive.
The Panthers challenged, claiming goalie interference on Kuhnhackl. The goal stood, but the brief break gave the Panthers a chance for a breather and to take stock of their predicament, which was as dire as it appeared.
Someone in the crowd shouted, “We want Gallant back.”
They slowed the Pittsburgh express the remainder of the period, which ended, mercifully, with shots even 7-7. Aaron Ekblad had a scoring chance in the final minute off a centering pass from Keith Yandle, but Murray made the glove save.
The Panthers got on the board 17 seconds into a power play in the second period on a power move by Aleksander Barkov, who carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the Penguins’ end. As he bore in on Murray, Barkov slid a soft backhand pass to Jagr, who had an easy potshot for his sixth goal of the season.
The Penguins regained a three-goal advantage at 14:12 of the third when Matt Cullen threaded his seventh goal between Luongo’s pads. Carl Hagelin added an empty-netter late.