Penguins fall to Panthers in forward Nick Bonino's return

Ron Hextall is bullish on the roster he has constructed.

And really, what other assessment would the Pittsburgh Penguins’ general manager convey publicly following the NHL’s trade deadline?

Regardless, Hextall professes optimism over the current composition of the club.

“We’ve got a proven group, we’ve got a hungry group and we’ve got a group of guys that we all think of as winners,” Hextall said in Cranberry on Friday. “You’ve got to make the playoffs first and right now that’s our object. Then we’ll see where we go from there. But I feel good about this team.”

Any reason for good sensations was stunted on Saturday due to a sluggish, penalty-filled 4-1 road loss to the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Fla. The defeat snapped a four-game winning streak.

Forward Nick Bonino, re-acquired in a three-team trade Friday, made his debut in his second stint with the Penguins. Primarily deployed as the center of the fourth line, Bonino logged 11 minutes, 52 seconds of ice time on 19 shifts (including 4:36 on the penalty kill), recorded one shot on two attempts and was 5 for 11 (45%) on faceoffs.

The Panthers opened the scoring late in a sluggish opening period at the 19:38 mark when forward Sam Bennett tallied his 15th goal.

Settling a bouncing puck in front of the visiting penalty box, Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk fed a pass up the left wing to linemate Carter Verhaeghe who drove to the net, fended off a backcheck from Penguins forward Jeff Carter and fired a wrister from the left circle that was rejected by goaltender Casey DeSmith’s left leg. The rebound bounced off the inside of Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson’s left knee and sat loose above the crease where Bennett crashed in and tapped a backhander over DeSmith’s left skate. Verhaeghe and Tkachuk had assists.

A power-play goal by defenseman Aaron Ekblad 4:10 into the second period put the hosts up by a pair.

Chasing down a loose puck in the right corner of the offensive zone, Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov slipped a slick seam pass to the left circle where Ekblad leaned down and chopped a forehand shot past DeSmith’s blocker on the near side for his 10th goal. Barkov and defenseman Brandon Montour netted assists.

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang got his team on the scoreboard with his eighth goal during a five-on-three power-play sequence at 8:51 of the second.

Accepting a pass in the high slot, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin lobbed the puck toward the cage. Positioned above the crease with back to the net, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel stopped the puck with his left skate and then dealt a clever forehand pass to the left circle for Letang who swiped a forehand shot that beat goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker on the near side. Assists went to Guentzel and Malkin.

The Panthers generated another late-period score when forward Eetu Luostarinen claimed his 15th goal at 19:50 of the second.

Wrangling a puck on the left wall of the offensive zone, Luostarinen dished a forehand pass to the right circle where Barkov boomed a one-timer. DeSmith lunged to stop the shot with his left leg but allowed a rebound that sat loose just above the blue paint. Luostarinen cleaned the puck up with an easy backhand flip into a mostly vacant cage. The only assist went to Barkov.

Verhaeghe delivered the coup de grace with his 32nd goal 9:53 into the final period.

Off a cross-ice outlet pass by Tkachuk, Verhaeghe coasted through the neutral zone and gained the offensive blue line on the left wing. With Penguins forward Sidney Crosby making a furious effort to backcheck and take away Bennett as a passing option, Verhaeghe lined up Letang as a screen and snapped a wrister that toasted DeSmith’s glove on the far side. Tkachuk and Montour registered assists.

Emotions boiled over late in the contest as the squads tallied 32 penalty minutes apiece, including a handful of 10-minute misconduct infractions for Penguins forward Josh Archibald and defenseman Marcus Pettersson as well as Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg and Tkachuk in the third period.

One particularly ugly display occurred at 15:57 of the third period when Barkov, a former winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Award (which recognizes gentlemanly play), slashed Letang from behind in between his legs.

Officials initially assessed a major penalty but dropped it to a minor infraction after a video review.

Stopping 38 of 42 shots, DeSmith’s record dropped to 11-13-4.

Notes:

• Top goaltender Tristan Jarry dressed as the Penguins’ backup. Speaking with media that traveled to Sunrise, Fla. before the game, coach Mike Sullivan indicated Jarry was scheduled to start but “wasn’t feeling well.”

• New Penguins defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, was a healthy scratch as he was not able to physically join the team due to logistical travel issues.

• Penguins forward Ryan Poehling (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel (healthy) were scratched as well.

• Letang leads the NHL in scoring against the Panthers this season with seven points (four goals, three assists) in three games. Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron is second with six points (three goals, three assists).

• Forwards Jaromir Jagr and Joe Mullen hold the Penguins’ record for points in a season against the Panthers with eight each.

Jagr had four goals and four assists in five games in the 1998-99 season while Mullen totaled four goals and four assists in four contests during the 1994-95 campaign.

• Panthers forward Patric Hornqvist is currently on long-term injured reserve and is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to a concussion. The former Penguins forward has not played since Dec. 3.