SUNRISE, Fla. — After six days of gallivanting across sunny Florida, the Pittsburgh Penguins spent enough time on beaches to come away with thoroughly increased levels of melanin and vitamin D.

They even managed to collect two points Saturday thanks to a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center.

But they may have lost an important defenseman.

Rookie John Marino missed the game because of a facial injury he suffered during Thursday’s 4-2 road loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning when he was struck on the left side of his face by a deflected one-timer.

“He’s being held out for precautionary reasons,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’ll be evaluated on Monday when we get back to Pittsburgh to determine a course of action from there.”

A source with first-hand knowledge of Marino’s status indicated he suffered broken bones, but further examination is needed before a decision is made on potential surgery. Following Saturday’s game, Marino walked out of the visiting dressing room with considerable bruising under his left eye.

Any absence by Marino would create a considerable void.

In 51 games this season, Marino has 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) and has averaged 20 minutes, 19 seconds of ice time.

As for Saturday’s game, the Penguins never trailed, but they barely hung on to victory.

A breakaway by Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov with two seconds went wide of the net thanks to goaltender Tristan Jarry challenging the shot (and a possible slash by defenseman Jack Johnson, which escaped penalty).

Off the rebound, Dadonov whipped a last-second shot from the end boards towards the crease but was denied by Jarry.

“It just can’t happen,” forward Jared McCann said. “We kind of had a brain cramp there. It was unfortunate, but (Jarry) bailed us out.”

That late spasm by Florida punctuated a third period that saw the Panthers outshoot the Penguins, 11-5.

“We had opportunities to get clears, and we didn’t,” Sullivan said. “That was part of it. We’ve got to be stronger at the lines. Then the last (few) seconds, we can’t give up a breakaway. We do a great job working hard down low, we get that clear. We just can’t allow people to get behind us. We’ve got to have five guys inside the dots. We just have to have more awareness in that circumstance.”

The Penguins seemed to have plenty of awareness early in the contest as they struck first 6:30 into regulation.

As a Florida power play expired, Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad failed to keep a bouncing puck in the offensive zone at the left point. The puck bounded to the neutral zone, where Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, emerging from the penalty box, claimed it and hustled up ice on a breakaway.

Approaching the net, he deked to his backhand and lifted a shot over the right leg of sprawling goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for his 12th goal and the sixth unassisted score of his career.

They made it a 2-0 score at 10:44 of the first period. Corralling a rimmed puck on the left half wall, Johnson whacked a slapper toward the crease.

The puck hit off the stick and legs of Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar then bounced to the right of the crease, where forward Teddy Blueger was able to clean up the garbage with a forehand shot for his eighth goal.

The Panthers got on the scoreboard at 17:22 of the first when forward Mike Hoffman scored his 21st goal.

A power-play goal 3:50 into the second gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead.

Settling a puck above the right circle, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin fed a pass to McCann above the right circle.

Surveying the net, McCann spotted forward Sidney Crosby signaling with his stick and chopped a slapper towards the crease.

Crosby directed the puck with his backhand past Bobrovsky’s left skate for his 10th goal.

Only 69 seconds later, Florida responded with forward Brett Connolly’s 17th goal.

Jarry made 33 saves, but his non-save on Dadonov might have been the most important one.

“One pass beat all of us,” Johnson said. “It was pretty poor execution out there. As one of the (defensemen) out there, we’ve got to protect the middle better than that. Our effort was there, but our effort and smarts weren’t quite up to par on the (final rush).”

Follow the Penguins all season long.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)