Jones wiped a clean slate and brought the Panthers back to even as they teed up a pass from Cole Schwindt, firing a long slap shot that caught part of the body in front of him before leaping over Sirovs and sucking him into the cage to make it 2-2 at 14:31.
Schwindt, who made an impact in his return, has been sidelined with injury since February 26th.
“I live the dream every day,” said Schwindt, who the Panthers claimed off waivers from Vegas in October. “It sucked to get injured, but every time I get to step on the ice and put on this jersey and play next to these guys, it’s a moment that I don’t take for granted.”
Anthony Mantha regained the lead for the Penguins early in the second period, sinking a shot from Bobrovsky’s 5-hole for his 31st goal of the season at 1:51, making it 3-2. In the substitution in front of goal, Bobrovsky took out Tommy Novak with a shot from close range.
The Penguins struck again on the power play when Malkin redirected a pass from Karlsson to the top of the cage to make it 4-2 at 5:51. Not long after that, Malkin was on the offensive again, this time crashing through the blue paint and sinking a centering feed to make it 5-2 at 8:27.
With his first goal, Malkin became the 23rd player in NHL history to reach 1,400 points.
On a trend toward redirection, Elmer Soderblom stuck out his stick and sent a pass from Connor Dewar into the net, extending Pittsburgh’s lead to 6-2 at 9:53. After the goal, backup goaltender Daniil Tarasov, replacing Bobrovsky, found the net for Florida.
“We thought he’d had enough,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the move. “I didn’t think things would change for us and he didn’t need to play anymore.”
Luke Kunin, who stepped up after being hit lightly by teammate Carter Verhaeg, didn’t hesitate and immediately dropped gloves with Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton at 15:05.
The Penguins didn’t let up as they headed into the playoffs, and Rickard Rakell took advantage of the power play to extend the lead to 7-2 at 17:48. Ryan Shea extended Pittsburgh’s lead just 19 seconds later with a goal at 18:07, extending an unbreakable lead to 8-2.
“We had a good first (period) in terms of keeping it tied,” Schwindt said. “Obviously we have to sort some things out in the second game. They gave us a little bit of trouble there.”
Malkin, who completed his hat trick in the third period, forced a turnover in the offensive zone and fired a shot past Tarasov to put the Penguins on top, 9-2, with 3:30 to play. Getting that one point back, Noah Gregor drove to the net and hit the five-hole for the Shilovs to make the score 9-3 at 7:36.
Macky Samoskevic, who had scored in four straight games, kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and sank a shot from the center of the right circle, cutting Florida’s lead to 9-4 at 10:46.
